Beirut #YouStink Protest, August 29, 2015. (Image stolen from stateofmind13.com)
Protesters from Lebanon’s #YouStink | طلعت_ريحتكم# movement staged a sit-in at the Ministry of the Environment today and vowed not to leave until Minister Mohammad Machnouk resigned from his post. The day ended with the police storming the building and forcing the protesters out.
I’m not in Beirut at the moment, so I’ve spent the past few days following the events on television, Twitter, Facebook, and the blogosphere. I’m struck by how readily the movement has ripped up the familiar categories of Lebanese political partisanship (March 14, March 8, Sunni, Shiite, Christian, FPM, LF, etc.) and replaced them with a call for knowledge-based solutions to universal problems. Perhaps the picture on the ground is different, but the reverberations online conjure up a great wave of disgust directed at the whole political stratum.
For example, when the FPM recently tried to smear one of the movement’s organizers, Assaad Thebian, as a cross-burning infidel, the move backfired badly (see Elie Fares and Emilie Hasrouty’s responses, in particular). Earlier today, when the M14 journalist Charles Jabbour wondered aloud why the Sunnis of Lebanon were not coming to a Sunni minister’s defense as he was “besieged” by protesters, his Facebook thread was trashed by disgusted readers.
Lebanon may not be witnessing the birth of a post-sectarian civil state but something unprecedented is taking place. The language of protest chants, placards, tweets, and media interviews is unlike anything we’ve heard in the past ten years. The Arabic speakers might be interested in listening to some of the protest rap that is coming out of the movement. My favorite is this tune by El-Rass and MC Nasserdyn (of the famous Touffar crew). The lyrics are brilliant and shocking in their audacity, even by Beirut’s cacophonous standards.
And for a taste of some ironic neo-tarab, here’s another recent anthem (“Kellon ya3ni Kellon” = “All of ’em means all of ’em!”):
Over the past few days, almost every party leader has given a press conference pledging his support for the protesters while warning them not to be co-opted by one side or another. So far, these warnings have sounded more like cries from the wilderness and pleas for relevance. I worry, though, about how much longer the protesters can hold their ranks before the inevitable infiltrations begin.
To follow the events online, I recommend Mustapha’s excellent #YouStink News page. For the best account of how Lebanon got into this mess in the first place, there’s this report by the indispensable Matt Nash.
Qifa Nabki 
Fully agree that America is backyard full of crap, except New York, for now.
Posted by Ray | September 18, 2015, 11:32 amSo please, don’t flatter yourself and insult our intelligence with this excessive bombast and bravado of yours! Just lay low and vote for Carly Fiorina come election-time, and then cry yourself to sleep when she doesn’t win! 🙂
Samer,
“There you go again!” (Reagen’s famous words), with your insults! Anyway, we just have an ideological difference, no need to get touchy!
I believe the US has to stand for freedom around the world, including our interests. This means protecting the ME from Taco Supremes and the Ruskies. We should be a positive influence there, and stay there, until the ME is devoid of Taco Supremes and Burger Kings.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 18, 2015, 11:59 amAP,
What are your/our interests and how has Iran or North Korea impeded on your safety in the US?
Seriously.
Posted by Ray | September 18, 2015, 12:23 pmRay,
Responsible, stable nations living at peace with their neighbors, who have nuclear weapons and do not threaten other nations and are in compliance with major nuclear agreements do not pose a threat to the US.
(OOk Samer, yes, that was a run-on sentence)
That is why a nuclear North Korea and Iran is a threat to not just the US, but also to most of the world.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 18, 2015, 12:57 pmAP,
For the record, I don’t care about your ideology, which as far as I am concerned only exists in your head and has no impact on others! Don’t turn this into a freedom-of-faith, belief or opinion issue!
I also don’t necessarily disagree with your “big-picture” and “official” policy goals of American leadership in the ME in pursuit of increasing freedom in the region! I endorse this, as long as it’s done correctly…
Where I start to have a problem is when I go into the weeds and discover the many mistakes, costs and blunders of American practice! It is this that I don’t think you pay enough attention to when you, for example, reminisce about GWB’s invasion of Saddam’s Iraq (which I actually endorsed at the time, not that my endorsement meant or means anything to anyone)!
Oh, and I also don’t believe in American unilateralism! I don’t want the US to jump into the Middle East militarily only to have some wanker protest in London, while the Brits bend over backwards to receive every blood-soaked, totalitarian despot on the planet! Not to mention the continental Europeans, the Pacific Asians, Africans and South Americans, the Arabs and the larger Islamic World!
These guys remind me of that saying, “With friends like this, who needs enemies?” 🙂
P.S.: I will remind you that when Obama brought the issue of whether to take military action against Bashar Al Assad in Syria to Congress (after Assad crossed the “red line” of using chemical weapons against his own people), most Republicans if I remember correctly voted against it! I will also remind you that the US was very influenced by the vote that occurred in Britain just beforehand, when the Brits similarly overwhelmingly voted against a military intervention in Syria (not that I am an expert on UK politics, but Ed Miliband comes to mind! At the time I noted that he has a lisp just like Bashar Assad, and joked to friends that his dissent was a conspiracy)!
Posted by Samer Nasser | September 18, 2015, 1:04 pmA backyard crap like America should NOT be allowed anywhere in the world, especially near the ME.
Who needs crappy American McDonalds?
America stands for crap everywhere and it claims to be standing for freedom.
What a bunch of crappy crap?
Posted by Mustap | September 18, 2015, 1:26 pmMustap,
If it were not for America, your precious Wise King would have spent all his money on tanks, guns and bullets and would not have had any left over for yachts, palaces, fancy cars and vacation homes!
Even then, all that expenditure would have literally gone up in smoke as he tried and failed to fend off his many regional threats, from Nasser’s Egypt to Saddam’s Iraq to Revolutionary Iran, etc.
But again, your gratitude while absent is also meaningless, since America does what it does not for the sake of the Wise King, but to ensure that at least 10 million barrels of oil (not to mention however many cubic feet of natural gas) make it to the global market from the Straits of Hormuz every single day…
People out there who might endorse military action against Iran also need to worry about this! There is a LOT of energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf that can’t be rebuilt overnight! This stuff will the first thing to go should any confrontation with Iran turn hot!
And that wouldn’t even be the most disastrous thing! You want a true disaster? Destroy the desalination plants that supply drinking water to tens of millions of people in the region! How long can a human being last without water in the scorching heat? 6 days?
Posted by Samer Nasser | September 18, 2015, 1:40 pmMustap,
Whatever your opinion of America is, I’m not interested in it, nor anyone with a shred of intelligence, common sense or moral decency would be interested. We criticize America all the time, we have the freedom to do so. What is poignantly evident here is your shameful and stupid (because you can’t question and criticize) idolizing of a backward culture and its ruling thugs who clearly have proved miserable failures and are way behind the rest of the world on any achievement and surely behind America the “Infidel”. You should be concerned with the stench emanating from the rotten backwater that is the Arab world under the leadership of your Gods.
FYI, all the refugees that were taken in by the West will eventually become welcomed citizens especially if they obey the law. Does Saudi Arabia, Egypt, or any Arab country offer citizenship rights to any of the “refugees”? i don’t think so.
Talk to us about the dependency of your Wisdomland on America for Military Hardware, let’s see how you’d fare without it and without US Military Engineers. Hipocrite fool.
America is your PATRONCITO and Uncle Sam’s boot is firmly shoved in your buttocks and that of your Wise ruling elites. 😀
Move on kid.
Posted by Vulcan | September 18, 2015, 2:11 pmYou got everything backward Samer.
If it wasn’t for the Wise King, America will not dream to be present anywhere in the region. Everything America does in that area, it first asks for the blessings of the Wise King. If the Wise King says no, then America knows it can’t do anything. Look at America’s recent fiasco against this thing it calls ISIS. America dared not move a single fighter plane to bomb ISIS, almost a year ago, before the Wise King sent his brave eagles as the advance scout party.
Look at Bahrain. Few years ago the Wise King sent his troops overnight and eliminated a threat singlehandedly and despite American barking. Look at Yemen. The Wise King created an Arab coalition of twenty countries without even consulting with America. Fighter planes from Morroco all the way to Qatar are making raids around the clock and are on the verge of completing the mission, without need for American blessings.
You’re living in the past. The Wise Kingdom no longer looks at crappy USA as a reliable ally. Wise Kingdom has its own policies that exclude any foreseeable role to such imbeciles like crappy U, S of A. Wise Kingdom will do whatever it takes in the service of its national interests.
Posted by Mustap | September 18, 2015, 2:15 pmCc & forward to Vulcan my previous comment.
Posted by Mustap | September 18, 2015, 2:19 pmLet’s look at this one by one:
“Saudi education system is the best in the entire world without any exception”. that is 100% correct. The “educated” Saudis go to school in France, England or USA. Absolutely correct Ice!
” So, keep your lips zipped and know America for what it really is: a backyard full of crap.”
Correct again. As you live in America’s backyard: i.e. Canuck…You are the crap. 😀
As for the rest of your unsubstantiated drivel and rant. Right again!
Posted by Danny | September 18, 2015, 2:50 pmLet’s just mellow it down on Mustap a little, he is obviously disgusted and frustrated at US policy in Syria and decided to watch Micheal Moore documentaries back to back.
Posted by Maverick | September 18, 2015, 3:05 pmYuk, Michael Moore. Ewwww!
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 18, 2015, 3:09 pm1. I’m not sure that you know who really believes everything he writes!
2. “MAVERICK”: what do you think the US policy on Syria should be?
Posted by Badr | September 18, 2015, 3:24 pmA major troll. Al Wise King and Kingdom Al, el3ama shoo waqe7
Posted by Vulcan | September 18, 2015, 3:56 pmI’m not going to reply to your crappy ad hominem you two villagers from the crappy cesspool, one ex-sla from the south and another from a mountain cave in the north. Your game has become very well known and rehearsed When you lose you resort to ad hominem. You’ll never succeed in outdoing the Great Wisdom of the Wise Kingdom and its Wise King by your crappy game.
Posted by Mustap | September 18, 2015, 4:49 pmMaverick,
I was wrong earlier when I said there’re only 1.1 million Syrians in the Wise Kingdom. It seems that my information is outdated. There’re 2.5 million Syrians in the Wise Kingdom who have been granted residence status by Royal decree. 124000 kids are getting free schooling, and about 7000 are getting free university education, in addition to countless benefits the refugees enjoy. I don’t think any other country did more than the Wise Kingdom did for the Syrian refugees,
http://www.annahar.com/article/268546-الشاورما-الدمشقية-في-الشوارع-السعودية
‘A Saudi official should not even bother to reply to the barks of those pointing fingers on this issue’ the author says.
Posted by Mustap | September 18, 2015, 5:20 pmVulcan, et al,
My advice is IGNOR and therefore not get tossed off the site. Capish?
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 18, 2015, 7:00 pmBadr,
I’m no expert on this and I express myself from the comfort of my armchair. However, I have followed the Syrian catastrophe from day one and everyday since, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the Syria file has been dealt one disaster after another revealing gaping holes in strategy, international incompetence, and a blasé attitude that has created the worst humanitarian crisis in memorable history. Perhaps we have gotten used to the quick intervention from the U.S. And its allies to intervene or mediate, heck even pulverise an entity that is as brutal as this regime but to resort to nothing but condemnation after condemnation even 5 years in, has become patronising. He did draw a red line once upon a time I’ll give him that, but a few years later there have been multiple attacks on civilians using chemical substances from the regime.
Let bygones be bygones, I won’t fuss over how the U.S. Missed the opportunity to aid and arm the FSA and moderate rebels who constituted the bulk of fighters at the onset, only to be withered away into Islamic factions.
But what they could have easily accomplished is No Fly Zones since 95% of civilian deaths have come by the dreaded barrel bombs or those 100’s of millions wasted to fund and train the basketball team to fight ISIS could have been spent on anti-aircraft hardware. Less refugees, everybody’s happy.
Or perhaps a stricter tone on the Iranian involvement and the direct assault on Syrian towns like Zabadani by the proxies. After all wasn’t there a deal with over 100 clauses.
Never mind the thousands of photos and accounts of the most vile torture in Syrian prisons, the plight of the refugees, the spread of extremism.
I can’t really tell you what they should’ve done, but I can say for sure what they should not have done. Hindsight is a wonderful thing that we all possess but like I said it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.
Posted by Maverick | September 18, 2015, 7:30 pmPerhaps expecting America to militarily intervene in the Middle East based on the Arabs selective condemnation or preference for this regime or that, is naive to say the least?
Didn’t the Arabs condemn removing their hero Saddam? Why don’t the Arab “forces” remove Bashar? why should America do it? Not long ago the butcher Bashar was the kingdom’s favorite boy, just like Saddam before him. The time Saudis can rent an Army to do it for them is over. Will see, I think they will do ok eventually, they will get the theater experience they need for 25 years in Yemen and then move on to liberate Syria from one of their own. America is done doing favors.
Most Arab Muslims consider America their enemy and both Sunni and Shia Arabs were killing Americans in Iraq, back then Daesh was called Moqawama by both camps. and they have the audacity to complain why America does what America does.
America is busy negotiating with Russia to limit and contain your very own mess and evil creations. you get busy killing each others for the coming one hundred years, you earned it.
Posted by Vulcan | September 18, 2015, 8:57 pmRight. The US has to do what is in their best interest. GWB and his advisors really wanted to bring freedom to the ME with the hope it would spread. They were naive. Plus no endeavor like that can be done in an 8 year span of time or 2 terms.
That idea has now been put to rest.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 18, 2015, 9:19 pmVulcan:
“The time Saudis can rent an Army to do it for them is over. Will see, I think they will do ok eventually, they will get the theater experience they need for 25 years in Yemen and then move on to liberate Syria from one of their own. America is done doing favors.”
Except for Israel, natch. We are in thrall to the lil’ plucky.
This tweet has the hearts beating around FDD circles all a-flutter:
Tony Badran retweeted
Nawaf Obaid @NawafEObaid Sep 16
Nawaf Obaid retweeted عاجل السعودية
#Saudi foreign minister “sooner or later #Syria will be without #Assad & military option is still an option.” #Iran Nawaf Obaid added,
عاجل السعودية @3ajel_ksa
وزير الخارجية “عادل #الجبير”: عاجلاً أم آجلاً “#سوريا_بلا_بشار”.. والخيار العسكري قائم.
#السعودية #سوريا
14 retweets 2 favorites
Suggests a stepped-up timeline for another exhibition of Saudi warfighting.
Thanks everso to Vlad for his willingness to help stabilize what portions of Syria are considered to be in Russia’s interests. Wanna bet that there may be some American (and non-Likud Israeli security pros) consensus building. The bibster is going to Moscow to advise Putin not to let any hitech goodies that constrict the IAF freedom of action in Lebanese and/or Syrian airspace fall into Hezzie hands. Or what?
This should be interesting,
Hey! Anybody seen Prince Bandar lately?
Posted by lally | September 18, 2015, 10:11 pmHey, any one seen Mardiya Afkham lately? Where’s Hussein Naknam (so-called Iran Ambassador to Yemen)? Which hospital in Tehran was he admitted to? We need to send well wishes and flowers?
What about Qassem Soleimani? Is he still fond of taking selfies for instant web-upload?
Posted by Mustap | September 18, 2015, 10:48 pmAll hands on deck to save the Middle East from the Evil Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and their backers. Let’s hope Bashar gets trampled along the way. Da3es wa sa7l bel sormeyeh.
In other news, Rouhani the so called moderate, says the Iranians are just “kidding” when they chant death to America, sure, awww how reassuring. Don’t you love it when the Muslim revolutionaries Kidd.?..3am yemzaho el shabeeb.
Lately, I heard, when talking about people and not regimes, that the Saudis and most other Arab streets are fiercely anti Western, from a cultural, religious and political view… due to the colonial scar (they don’t mind Otoman colonialism) and of course Arab mass hypocrisy (I think).(they all wanna live the American Dream but hate the infidels who invented everything they use) only a very small minority is truly pro American, mostly Christians, Jews, Druze and Kurds. The Iranians on the other hand, it is told that a sizable majority of their young are pro American or Western with emphasis on cultural attraction. How true is this? Are there any Iranians around to ask?
Too bad most Iranians are ruled with an iron fist by a bunch of 7th century flea infested bearded zealots, preparing for the Imam to come..sheh.. What if the Imam is one of us, just a stranger on the bus? And he decides not to exit at the stop.. It’s time for the Iranians to start their march to freedom.
Posted by Vulcan | September 19, 2015, 1:08 am“Maverick”,
I’m sorry for causing you to type in a long comment. However, your criticism of the US policy prompted me to see if you have an opinion on what course of action should now be followed, rather than what should have/haven’t been done in the past.
Posted by Badr | September 19, 2015, 7:04 amFair enough Badr,
Excuse the lament, you can tell I’m a little rattled by the lack of action or even will to solve this issue.
What can the U.S. Do?
1) NFZ – for all the talk about ISIS threat, barrel bombs have caused way more civilian deaths, destruction, refugees and extremism. Would they be able to carve out a NFZ along the Turkish border including Aleppo. The regime has only a few pockets there and are hardly fighting ISIS. Without barrel bombing, the rebels can concentrate on dispelling the ISIS coming from the south east. Also a NFZ in the south- Quneitra and Deraa to aid the southern storm in consolidating the area which puts them in a stronger position to fight ISIS from the North East. Both areas can be supervised by Turkey and Jordan respectively along with western allies. What’s the point of regime battalions when they don’t fight ISIS but the very people who are fighting ISIS?
2) greater support for the FSA – in FSA consolidated areas with no fear of barrel bombs, Syrians can return and rebuild. If it can work in Kobane, it can work in the South.
3) UN presence along the Lebanese/Syrian border to keep Nusra and Isis out of Lebanon of course with coordination with the Lebanese Army, diminishing the role of the unnecessary presence of Hizballah which have stoked sectarian feelings more than anything.
These are just some of the things without taking into account the diplomatic and strategic actions they can take with their allies.
Posted by Maverick | September 19, 2015, 7:58 amWe cannot criticize current American foreign policy without understanding how America changed in the last 15 years and what it has become now. What America can do in the world cannot be divorced from the fundamental changes that happened.
America, led by an amateur for 8 years under Bush, fought two disastrous wars that crippled its economy, impoverished its poor people and turned it in the end into an impotent paper tiger waiting to ripped apart. These wars were conducted for no purpose whatsoever that is of interest to the US and were designed specifically to serve the interests of special interest groups particularly AIPAC and those shadowy authors of the so called projects of Clean Break and the American Century. Instead of achieving the intended but not feasibly achievable goals, they achieved American-back break and whither-America decade.
My dear friends America is simply broke due to GWB amateurish governance. Despite of our disgust at Obama’s foreign policy in Syria, the man will turn out to be the last great American President who pulled America out of the Bush deep pit and made it occupy its real place in the world with the means at its disposal. America now is caught between the charlatans and the dishonest and outright liars. Under this environment, there’s no path forward for it except down and more down the tubes. Don’t blame us when we say America is a backyard full of crap. Because that’s only the reality which every American must face in order to live in peace with his/her self and by acknowledging first and foremost that America is NOT God’s gift to humanity. How could a country full of over 300 million ever come to think of itself as such? It’s nothing but pure hallucination and self deception.
Posted by Mustap | September 19, 2015, 10:48 amYou forgot to mention that silly actor Reagan Puppet that was brought into Power that preceded all and sanctioned Chinese Communist labour to take over American Jobs.
Made in the USA.
Posted by Ray | September 19, 2015, 1:14 pmTrump for President!
**He will be dead before he can do his hair comb over for the inaugural speech.**
Posted by Ray | September 19, 2015, 2:03 pmBest Post of Sept. 19: Vulcan
Vulcan you win the coveted “Olive Wood Camel Award”
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 19, 2015, 4:56 pmMaverick, I heat you.
It would cost very little to create a NFZ or even destroy Iranian nuclear facilities.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 19, 2015, 4:58 pmIt is important in open discussions to see beyond one’s own “tunnel vision” or “cultural bias.” To claim that groups of people dream in Western colors (American Dream) while others resent this “American Beauty” ignores the social and economic conditions of the global South (Mass Immigration to the North is not only driven by warfare) and takes for granted that “Us” (and our comfort and enlightenment) is not really built at the expense of “Them”. Culturally speaking, when you strip peoples of their tradional “hopes and dreams” and implant instead inaccessible and impossible “Hollywood dreams” you leave no outlets for populations but despair, nihilism and rage.
Let us get out of our skin a bit and put ourselves in the place of those we are calling barbarians!
Posted by Parrhesia | September 19, 2015, 5:16 pmThe last comment deserves special attention because it, at least on the surface, seeks to avoid racial bigottry characteristic of couple residents of this blog who never tire of preaching the imaginary virtues of the U, S of A. These residents are heavily inflicted by this tunnel vision. IMHO, they are beyond cure. Their disease is terminal.
Posted by Mustap | September 19, 2015, 6:06 pmIt is important in open discussions to see beyond one’s own “tunnel vision” or “cultural bias.”
I generally go with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that the UN put out, but, of course, doesn’t enforce, and in fact, works against…
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 19, 2015, 9:17 pmWhat’s goin on in Jerusalem ? It must be a economic issue. If only Carl Marx is here.
Posted by Vulcan | September 20, 2015, 12:58 amJerusalem the Eternal City of our brothers the Jews, a true Muslim must admit that Al Qods belongs to the Jewish People, anyone who rejects this, is against Islams teachings.
Posted by Vulcan | September 20, 2015, 1:02 amThis message has been approved by me and All the Prophets.
Posted by Vulcan | September 20, 2015, 1:04 amHey guys, is President Obama Suni or Shia?
Posted by Vulcan | September 20, 2015, 1:35 am😁
Posted by Vulcan | September 20, 2015, 1:35 amWhat’s goin on in Jerusalem ? It must be a economic issue.
Vulcan,
Here’s a timeline I found. There is rioting and a few missles firings, but fortunately, I don’t think anyone has been killed. I don’t think the issue is economic. I think this is the Palestinian’s preferred method of “communication” instead of sitting around a negotiating table.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4702096,00.html
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 20, 2015, 8:23 amWhen tunnel visions communicate and sing the praises of their visions you know then that the light is at the end of their tunnels.
Posted by Mustap | September 20, 2015, 8:36 amMustap,
Your comment didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but it made me think of lasers, so thanks for that at least!
Posted by Samer Nasser | September 20, 2015, 6:36 pmThe comment made a lot of sense to the two tunnel visionaries residing in this blog, I can assure you.
But you’re welcome.
Posted by Mustap | September 20, 2015, 10:32 pmAt this point, I’m feeling very trolled by the GOP. This can’t be real.
Posted by Vulcan | September 20, 2015, 10:47 pmI’m feeling very trolled by the GOP. This can’t be real.
Lots of good GOP candidates. Relax.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 20, 2015, 10:59 pmYeah..?? You missed the debates?. Lucky you
Posted by Vulcan | September 20, 2015, 11:08 pmGOP got no one so far
Posted by Vulcan | September 20, 2015, 11:09 pmHilary
Posted by Vulcan | September 20, 2015, 11:10 pmShe’s the closest to GOP 😀
Posted by Vulcan | September 20, 2015, 11:10 pmHillary did nothing while she was Sec. of State except to appease North Korea and Iran and pretend the terror attack against our Libyan embassy was due to an anti-muslim video.
The Democrats have been shown to be appeasers. That isn’t going to cut it.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 21, 2015, 8:28 amA Little ME Monday Sarcasm
Lally,
You will pleased to know that ‘lil Plucky and Russia have agreed to stay out of each others’ way in order to keep Iran, Syria and HA happy killing Syrian civilians. This is a great win for murder and meyhem, and the USA has been briefed on all the gory despotic details.
http://news.yahoo.com/israels-netanyahu-says-moscow-talks-aimed-preventing-clashes-105827470.html
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 21, 2015, 12:04 pmI see this has become a trend. Maybe the Pentagon can crowdfund or crowdthought what the U.S. Can do in Syria
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentary/565947-seven-steps-for-america-to-save-syria
Posted by Maverick | September 21, 2015, 2:25 pmBibi with Putin?
My god man! I was wondering my anti imperialist neighbour was staring into thin air today.
Posted by Maverick | September 21, 2015, 2:27 pmWe must keep in mind that only the Wise King and his Wise colleagues in the Gulf along with Turkey can put and end to the shameful behaviour of the Syrian and Iraqi regimes. Anyone who looks for the US to find a solution is looking for more of the same which means more killings, more destruction, more refugees and more misery. The US as we pointed out earlier is no more than a paper tiger. Obama is doing all he could with the means at his disposal. The Americans, however, are still not aware America is finished. This is because Americans have been brainwashed to think they’re God’s gift to humanity, and because of that they were put into a state of hallucinating self deception.
The Wise King with the Arab coalition have proven the most effective in more than one instance. An Arab Air campaign must begin over Syria and Iraq in order to destroy all the defenses of those regimes, followed by an Arab liberation army marching from the south made up of Gulf troops and those Arab states willing to contribute. It’s like the coalition of the willing. Turkey may deploy its troops in the north of Iraq-Syria and the Syrian coast.
Posted by Mustap | September 21, 2015, 2:55 pmMaverick,
The assumption is that the US wants to save Syria. All indications are that the US doesn’t give a fig.
The US gave the Syria portfolio to despots, perhaps hoping they get stuck in the mud there.
That’s all I can figure at this point.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 21, 2015, 3:12 pmYou can’t make this stuff up! On second thought, I guess you can…
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/09/21/5-suspects-stopped-at-johannesburg-airport-with-6m-cash-headed-for-isis/?intcmp=hpbt1
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 21, 2015, 3:31 pmAP,
Had the U.S. Been clear about their unconcern, maybe we wouldn’t have reached this far down the abyss. But when you threaten military action, draw red lines, have a training program, fund allies on the ground and other half assed gestures, then either do it properly or do not at all.
Obama kinda prick teased for 4 years without a happy ending, and worse cock blocked the others. He a ho.
Posted by Maverick | September 21, 2015, 4:23 pmHad the U.S. Been clear about their unconcern, maybe we wouldn’t have reached this far down the abyss. But when you threaten military action, draw red lines, have a training program, fund allies on the ground and other half assed gestures, then either do it properly or do not at all.
Obama kinda prick teased for 4 years without a happy ending, and worse cock blocked the others. He a ho.
Maverick,
I agree with you, because I am not an isolationist conservative. I believe the US must support freedom everywhere in the world and have influence in the region.
BUT, about your comment about being “clear”, what gave you the impression Obama was going to help Syria? You should have known after he pulled US troops out of the ME, failed to support regime change in Iraq, failed to support Iranian protesters, and back up his threat after the Syrian red line that he was a liberal BSer.
He appeased despots and walks away from freedom seekers. Not what you want from the “leader of the free world”.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 21, 2015, 9:07 pmWell it’s too late now, there’s a Russian, Iranian, Syrian, HA alliance on the ground now and the US is caught between playing along with the Russians and bomb bomb bomb the isis or keep the incompetent Arab Turkish alliance making things more disastrous.
I think at the end the US and Iranians will appease the Saudis in Yemen and slowly Uncle Sam will take a year off and turn the other cheek in Syria. However you look at it, we are cooked. Finito, no one knows what Israel will do. Did Bibi make a deal with Putin?
Posted by Vulcan | September 21, 2015, 10:20 pmThe communist party in Lebanon just got a major boost lol
Posted by Vulcan | September 21, 2015, 10:33 pmDid Bibi make a deal with Putin?
Vulcan,
I think the agreement is the pre-arab spring status quo: leave Bashar alone and Bashar will keep the Golan quiet.
Then everyone works in unison to kick out isis in the spirit of anti-terrorism so the wesistance axis continues to suffocate those asking for freedom.
Same shiite, different day.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 21, 2015, 10:34 pmSounds about right.
Posted by Vulcan | September 21, 2015, 10:42 pmThe axis of evil won. For now.
Posted by Vulcan | September 21, 2015, 10:44 pmQN how is the local Islam thing affecting schools
Posted by Vulcan | September 21, 2015, 10:47 pmWisdom.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-senior-royal-urges-change-amid-fears-monarchy-collapse-1612130905
Posted by Ray | September 22, 2015, 2:35 pmAmerican Cesspool.
http://www.lematin.ch/suisse/espions-controlaient-cameras-hotels-suisses/story/26110458
Posted by Ray | September 22, 2015, 2:37 pmhehehehehehehehehehehe………………………….
Posted by Mustap | September 22, 2015, 4:31 pmHezies are losing big time in Zabadani, and in other towns in Syria. Recently, they were forced to a ceasefire to last for six months.
Reason seems to be high caualties. Last Thursday 17 hezies were killed in an one day in Zabadani. Seven more were killed the previous day. The bodies are in feezers in the hospital . They will not be burried until after Eid.
Happy Eid to all Muslims. And special happy Eid for Yemenis who got their legitimate president and government back in Yemen today just in time for Eid.
Posted by Mustap | September 22, 2015, 8:15 pmThe bibster and Vlad have a deal although exactly what it consists of is unclear. Rumor has it that the Izzies have performed some creative editing on the official Kremlin dispatch: shocking. Supposedly, there was a whining moment about missile technology in the Hezzie’s hands to which Commandant Putin replied that he thought their missiles were homemade. LOL if true. There was also a mention that the Russians would have the skies at day and the Izzies will have their way with the sovereign dignity of the Syrian airspace at night.
It will take awhile for reliable details to ooze out
The Axis of Resistance +1 will be working to stabilize what they can of Syria’s most critical infrastructural assets and interests.
This is most excellent news for Lebanon. Well, for most Lebanese in-country that is.
Posted by lally | September 22, 2015, 10:17 pmthere is a disturbance in the force
Posted by Vulcan | September 22, 2015, 10:44 pmHelp us Obe Wan
Posted by Vulcan | September 22, 2015, 10:47 pmThe bibster and Vlad have a deal although exactly what it consists of is unclear. Rumor has it…
Lally,
As usual, you provide no link to a/any respected news source. So instead of “rumors”, I have a summary from Ynet:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4702869,00.html
So the Russians are going to save the famous Doctor and his beautiful wife. Good luck with that. I think the Bibster is going to have fun introducing Putin to the ME.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 23, 2015, 8:54 amThe Arab world is a myth. There is no Arab World. Just tribes incased by the former colonialists within borders defined by the Sykes/Picot agreement to divide the then cake and held in place by their offsprings, their American Cousins and their appointed and sponsored subjects for decades, within these absurdly constructed artificially created countries.
Nobody should wonder why what is going is going on.
Posted by Ray | September 23, 2015, 10:31 amHad Europa not conquered America and imported African Slave labour what would it be like today?
It leaves much to the imagination.
Posted by Ray | September 23, 2015, 12:21 pmSeems like the Wise Kingdom™ keeps making the same mistakes….
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/09/24/at-least-150-people-killed-in-saudi-arabia-hajj-stampede/?intcmp=hpbt4
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 24, 2015, 6:51 amRussian ships doing exercises in the Eastern Med…
So Russia is building up fast all of a sudden in the ME. Haven’t seen this kind of commitment since the USSR’s involvement in the early 70’s.
Is bible prophecy dead on or what? Are we witnessing the forces of Magog encroaching against Israel while using ISIS as a cover?
Here comes Obama to the rescue…
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-announces-naval-drills-east-mediterranean-082138678.html
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 25, 2015, 8:17 am“Smart Power” NewZ
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/09/25/russians-syrians-and-iranians-setting-up-military-coordination-cell-in-baghdad/?intcmp=hpbt2
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 25, 2015, 8:21 amThe KKK police organization of America continues with its gen9cide against defenseless blacks by killing a paraplegic today who was surrounded by several KKK police and murdered in cold blood.
Posted by Mustap | September 25, 2015, 8:52 amIt appears as though the tamed Lion (Assad) is turning into another Babrak Karmal, while comrade Vlad appears more and more like an Andropov on his death bed waiting for another Gorbachev to take over.
Posted by Mustap | September 25, 2015, 10:46 amOOZE NOOZE:
“Moscow imposed on Tel Aviv a military coordination in advance for any military operation carried against Syrian military targets or against Hezbollah in Syria, to prevent any fatal accident. Senior military officers on both sides will maintain regular meetings and contacts to allow a smooth Russian military presence in Syria. Above all, Russia would like to avoid shooting down an Israeli jet in case one of its officers is hit by mistake while present in a convoy or in special mission. Israel and Russia will also coordinate naval operations off the coast of Syria, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, where there is a large Russian naval base”, said a decision-maker source in Damascus.”
etc.
https://elijahjm.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/russia-the-promenade-era-of-israeli-jet-over-the-sky-of-syria-is-ending/
So the Bear says OK to hit Hezzie convoys in Lebanon but not Syria because Hezzies are protecting Russian advisors/personnel there?
Okie dokie
to be continued…….
Posted by lally | September 25, 2015, 2:06 pmDespite Vlad’s diapers, the tamed lion lost more territory today, near and around Homs.
Russian soldiers, most of whom lost parents for the sake Karmal are furious about the prospects of getting shipped to a similar fate. Vlad’s quagmire is getting deeper and deeper. He tells soldiers they’re going to Ukraine. Syria is never mentioned for fear of dissent. Rebels are promising Rusks speedy burials.
Posted by Mustap | September 25, 2015, 5:22 pmThe Saga continues
Posted by Vulcan | September 25, 2015, 8:43 pm“Nasrallah also claimed it was very possible that Russian troops would soon be fighting in Syrian territory. “The Syrians haven’t requested this up to now,” he said, “but it could happen”. The Russian intervention was, said Nasrallah, carefully planned for months and included coordination with Iran and Iraq. With characteristic bombast, he said that the Russian intervention “proves what we said years ago, when people thought Syria would collapse: We said then that Assad’s allies would not abandon him.”
Ynetnews
Posted by Vulcan | September 25, 2015, 8:58 pmI’m totally perplexed. Basically the US and the GOI are giving Russia a green light to eradicate ISIS, which, when translated, means genocide against the Sunni population. Am I wrong? Iran’s dream of a Shia Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq are coming true.
Thanks Obummer.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 25, 2015, 9:23 pmeradicating ISIS does not mean a genocide against Sunni population, AP.
unfortunately, whatever is happening, it will give Assad more time to stay and more innocent Syrians will be killed by him and ISIS.
This is just getting more difficult and no one can predict an outcome, other than more death and destruction in the Middle East.
Posted by Vulcan | September 25, 2015, 10:07 pmAnd Iran’s “dream” is not a dream it’s already a reality.
Posted by Vulcan | September 25, 2015, 10:10 pmIt’s been a downward slide since 04, for anyone who contemplated meaningful change.
Posted by Vulcan | September 25, 2015, 10:12 pmInitial investigations, ordered by the Wise King, into the reasons that led to the unfortunate hajj incident revealed that a group of 300 Iranians violated clear and specific rules requiring them to wait in their assigned camp after finishing their ritual and not head back immediately on their journey back from Muzdalifa.
An official from the Iranian pilgrim delegation revealed the information during the investigation. The 300 men did not wait for their turn in their camp and headed back on street 204. Other pilgrim delegations were scheduled at that time to take street 223 to perform their ritual. The two delegations collided at the intersection of 204 and 223. Many pilgrims were forced to take a second side street that’s not more than 20 meters wide. What happened next was not a stampede per se. It was more like a reverse flow of massive crowds. The Iranian official also revealed that the Iranians violating the rules stood still for a while at the intersection and did not reverse their advance which also aggravated the situation.
Posted by Mustap | September 26, 2015, 12:28 amComrade Vlad, realizing the deep pit he dug himself into, waited few hours on the phone seeking a conversation with the Wise King that may help him extricate himself and his soldiers from the tedious task of babysitting a condemned and terminally ill retard. In the end, Vlad’s luck changed and he was able to get through and hear the Wise advice he was looking for.
Vlad was told that it’s best for him, for Russia as well as to the Russian soldiers to avoid further involvements in a losing case and to dissociate himself from such losers like the tamed lion. He was also advised that choosing a different route will be costly to him as well as to Russia and that he should take history as a guide should try to avoid similar mistakes made by his predecessors not tool long ago.
Vlad was very attentive and grateful to the words of Wisdom he was so lucky to hear and he expressed his sincere desire to follow through with all that he just listened to.
Posted by Mustap | September 26, 2015, 7:39 pmOops, GOI hit Syrian army….what was the Bibster thinking?
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-strikes-hit-syrian-army-golan-rebel-sources-193821777.html
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 27, 2015, 5:40 pmToday’s Quiz Question:
Can anyone explain to me why there was a terrible outcry in the Arab world when the US got into Iraq, but narry a word is spoken when Russia goes into Syria?
I have my hypothesis. Let’s compare…
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 29, 2015, 7:04 amWell, it looks like Putin didn’t take the wise advice. The Russian action is causing celebrations and declarations. By the new 4 + 1 Of war of course as usual, by the Klingons. Against the Cardassian. What is the Federation gonna do.
Posted by Vulcan | September 29, 2015, 8:08 pmAP, because the majority of Arabs consider America as enemy. Besides, you can’t compare the 150 thousand troop engagement in Iraq to a Russian few thousand deployment.
Posted by Vulcan | September 29, 2015, 8:12 pmRussia is always favorite to the so called “revolutionaries” terror regimes and groups.
Posted by Vulcan | September 29, 2015, 8:15 pmAP, because the majority of Arabs consider America as enemy. Besides, you can’t compare the 150 thousand troop engagement in Iraq to a Russian few thousand deployment.
Vulcan,
Right, any nation that throws out a violent unelected despot and tries to bring in a free election is to be despised, and any nation that props up a self-elected tyrant is to be applauded. I get it.
So yes, Americans think differently. We’re “weird” “oddballs”.
Russia is always favorite to the so called “revolutionaries” terror regimes and groups.
Have you ever heard Russians talk to each other? I get my fill at the JCC. It’s not like French. The mukawamas can have them;)
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 29, 2015, 9:56 pmMeanwhile, Mr. Smartypants, Charles Krauthammer, explains it to the leyman:
It isn’t about fighting ISIS, it’s about propping up the Assad…
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/09/29/krauthammer-syrian-foreign-fighters-historically-unprecedented/
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 29, 2015, 10:14 pmThe Ruskies aren’t bombing ISIS, they’re bombing Syrian rebels. Who knew?
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4705612,00.html
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 30, 2015, 8:28 amPutin is gladly giving Obama the perfect excuse to do more nothing.
Posted by Vulcan | September 30, 2015, 11:07 amAP, wake up, all the Syrian “Rebels” are ISIS and their type, Nusra is not any better. Most moderate Syrians are either dead or ran away.
Posted by Vulcan | September 30, 2015, 11:16 amOk, then I guess the news people are clueless. That wouldn’t be the first time. Thanks.
Posted by Akbar Palace | September 30, 2015, 11:24 amThe Wise Kingdom determined that the Russian actions in Syria amount to nothing less than an invasion. The Wise Kingdom also made it clear that Russia is engaged in criminal activities against the Syrian people. It therefore demanded through its Wise ambassador at the UN that Rusdia should immediately halt its aggression and get out of Syria.
It is incumbent now upon every Muslim to fight the Russians as enemies wherever they are until Vlad gets out of Syria.
The same goes for Iranians who by the way were told to get lost regarding their dead in Mina.
Posted by Mustap | September 30, 2015, 9:03 pmVulcan,
Western media is still reporting “CIA Backed rebels”. Can you or someone else out there provide information/links showing these “rebels” are:
1.) negligible
2.) really ISIS jihadi
Thanks.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/10/01/cia-backed-rebels-civilians-reportedly-targeted-by-russian-airstrikes-in-syria/?intcmp=hpbt1
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 1, 2015, 7:49 amHere’s what I wrote my jewish-American friend this morning:
Don’t worry Bob,
Laurel and Hardy (Obama and Kerry) have Israel’s back. 😉
Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but Obama could have EASILY obliterated the Assad regime after the CW red-line was crossed 2 years ago.
But noooo, now Russia has their foot firmly in place on Israel’s doorstep supporting the regime no one but Iran wants. Very comforting don’t you think?
Sarcastically yours…
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 1, 2015, 7:52 amHolly Moses!
You just heard the freaking Gen. Lloyd Austin III declare in front of congressional committee that there are 5 CIA trained fighters in Syria!! What the freaking hell do you think that the Jewish dominated and Israel leaning media is going to report? Whatever sounds good for them!
Posted by Danny | October 1, 2015, 9:34 amDanny,
With all due respect, you make Vulcan and AP look like a bunch of geniuses, even though they are mediocre know-nothings who can’t even recognize or reconcile their own prejudices! As the saying goes, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king!”
Spare us the anti-Semitic trope about the Jewish-dominated media! This blog is too smart and too classy for that kind of nonsense!
Those 5 fighters you cited were part of the DOD (Department of Defense) T&E (Train & Equip) program.
The CIA program is different, and has been arming a coalition of thousands of “moderate” (I’ll get to that later) rebels that have been making progress against Assad in Idlib and increasingly Latakia!
Spare us the criticism of “foreign intervention”! That’s a default pro-Assad position! There’s no other way to challenge Assad at this point than to try and rally outside support! Anybody who thinks otherwise is cynically engaging in, pardon the crudeness, “mental masturbation”!
Back to those “moderate” rebels, and to start to answer AP’s questions, these guys are definitely not ISIS. But your opinion on this whole thing (the “Rorschach test”, if you will) hinges on whether you think they are truly “moderate” or not! Granted, most people have ignorantly exploited this question politically at this point, and few people are truly informed about it!
I’m hardly the expert (I know who the experts are, but I won’t name them here, because that’s a whole other controversy I don’t want to get into right now), but from my understanding, it hinges on how ideologically similar groups like Jabhat Nusra and Ahrar Al Sham are to known terrorist entities like Al Qaeda and ISIS! Other factors like battlefield atrocities, treatment of women and minorities, come into play too!
I am actually fine with this intense criticism of these groups! What bothers me is that it basically results in handicapping the anti-Assad position to the benefit of unscrupulous Assad and his allies, and prolonging the conflict in Syria to the mind-boggling misery and detriment of its people!
There is also this self-serving trope going around asking that if there were truly “moderate” rebels in Syria, how come the US had such a hard time recruiting for its T&E program? Well, part of the problem there was that the US insisted that its recruits not fight Assad and only fight ISIS! In retrospect, especially in light of Russia’s aerial attacks on non-ISIS forces, being reluctant to commit to this American proposition was EXACTLY the right thing for these Syrian rebels to do at the time!
To conclude, I think these Russian air strikes would actually be a good thing if they helped America get its head out of its ass and stop talking and behaving nonsensically! But alas, I fear that I might be too idealistic here, because watching the news last night, all I could sense was that the American political establishment was basically still bullsh*tting and playing politics with this entire issue, with AP’s beloved Republicans being especially idiotic as usual, specifically Donald Trump (yuck!) and Rand Paul (ew!) …
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 1, 2015, 11:26 amWhat the freaking hell do you think that the Jewish dominated and Israel leaning media is going to report? Whatever sounds good for them!
Samer,
Just my 2 cents, but like you, I don’t think Danny is an anti-semite. You may have the usual, small prejudices and biases, but nothing you guys have posted puts any of you in the “anti-semite” category. But there are those here that may fit that bill much more than you guys do!
With all due respect, you make Vulcan and AP look like a bunch of geniuses, even though they are mediocre know-nothings who can’t even recognize or reconcile their own prejudices!
That being said, you sure have a nasty habit of putting people down who are honestly expressing their opinions and/or requesting answers. I think this is something that reflects your personality more than anything else.
I’m hardly the expert…
No one here is an “expert”, so you may want practice what you preach and be respectful.
Back to those “moderate” rebels, and to start to answer AP’s questions, these guys are definitely not ISIS.
Well, gee, thanks Samer!
Vulcan, et al,
Obviously there is a discrepancy as to how many “rebels” are working to oust Assad in Syria (who aren’t part of a “jihadi/muslim” organization. That is why I participate on this forum, because I assume you guys have a better understanding of what is going on on the ground. Perhaps you have friends/family/acquaintances, etc who have first to second hand knowledge.
This article is quite eye-opening. Is it true?
http://www.allenbwest.com/2015/06/unreal-guess-how-many-syrian-rebels-weve-trained-to-fight-isis-with-your-500-million/
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 1, 2015, 12:14 pmSamer,
There’s nothing anti Semitic with what I said. The western media is dominated by Jews and it is pro Israel. At least the mainstream media. Stop freaking out and being self righteous. As far as the thousands of “CIA trained” fighting in
Idlib; kindly offer some factual evidence or reliable links. The only grouping to my knowledge that is connected to the CIA/Jordanian “CIA” is The Southern Front; that was cut off by their masters a month back!
As for Russian involvement IMHO US knew about it long in advance and now they are playing the “awe shucks” what’s going on game.
It all adds up. Obama will do what’s right for Israel and the Russian involvement props up Assad and extends the conflict; which is absolutely a dream scenario for Cuz Bibi.
Posted by Danny | October 1, 2015, 12:16 pmI must agree with the above analysis by concurring that Vulcan is a mediocre know nothing. But he’s no king, not even a one-eyed one.
A know nothing mediocre cannot share a title with the Wise One even if it’s qualified with a derogation.
Posted by Mustap | October 1, 2015, 12:16 pmThe western media is dominated by Jews and it is pro Israel.
Danny,
Yes, compared to Europe and arab sources you’re right. OTOH, the MSM (not Fox) is frequently hounding Israel more than any other nation. It’s been going on for a long time now. Sooo, let’s just put everything into perspective.
“Jews are news”
http://www.camera.org/
Good comic-book type article showing the latest Russian involvement…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3255876/Russia-pouring-gasoline-fire-Syria-s-civil-war-says-America-Putin-defies-West-drops-bombs-non-ISIS-forces-fighting-Assad.html
I call this: “Lurch & Lavrov”
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 1, 2015, 12:33 pmAll hail the know it all engineer Samer Nasser,
can you explain to us mediocre know nothing prejudiced people what do you mean by your post? Should we consider Al Nusra and Ahrar al Sham to be the so called moderate rebel force? Or are you saying the FSA is still active on the ground in Syria? The CIA failed miserably to train and empower any moderate force from day one, because they subcontracted this job to Saudi Qatari and Turkish intelligence and these went with their favorite folks, what we see on the ground, a bouquet of hardcore Muslim fundamentalists who are enforcing their sick ideology in the areas they control, and they are definitely not considered moderate or a viable option for Syria after Assad.
You are truly a naive idiot who’s reporting from the confort of his living room. Stick to software and spare us your meaningless so called analysis.
Posted by Vulcan | October 1, 2015, 12:34 pmMustap, no matter how much you grovel, you won’t get the Saudi citizenship, you’ll always be a “zalama” from Beirut to them, but I have to say, you are a good devout servant, I hope they throw you some bones here and there.
Posted by Vulcan | October 1, 2015, 12:40 pmIt all adds up. Obama will do what’s right for Israel and the Russian involvement props up Assad and extends the conflict; which is absolutely a dream scenario for Cuz Bibi.
Danny,
That’s your opinion, but I disagree with it, and I am willing to bet most jews disagree with it.
Firstly, most jews, and certainly most Israeli jews do NOT believe “Obama will do what’s right for Israel” as shown by the Iran nuclear agreement. In addition, jews and Israelis do not feel comfortable AT ALL about Iran, Hezbollah, Assad, and Russia sitting pretty on Israel’s border with just an impotent USA watching from afar.
Sorry, you a’int sbeaking for us.
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 1, 2015, 12:44 pmGo Vulcan Go!
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 1, 2015, 12:45 pmAP, We are surrounded by idiotic morons, a devout Wahabi and a naive Christian fool who wouldn’t last a day living in areas controlled by the so called Muslim “Moderate Rebels”
Don’t worry about the Russians, now that the King has called on all Muslims to fight. I bet the Moderate recruits are already lining up.
Posted by Vulcan | October 1, 2015, 12:59 pmAP,
Some quick notes:
1) Relax! This is more cyber-persona and cyber-shtick on my part than real-life personality! I am not like this in real life, partly because I operate under a different set of social rules in person, and have reached a point of utter exasperation where I never discuss politics, religion or the Middle East with non-family members!
2) Consider that I am affording you a lot of goodwill by commenting under my real name! I actually don’t believe in being especially sociable with anonymous avatars, as it feels completely inauthentic! I will behave differently when I know who you are, however this is not a solicitation for you to start using your real name, as I happen to think that is unsafe (and no, I don’t worry about the authorities, I worry about the freaks and the identity criminals) …
3) I’m actually glad I annoy you somewhat with my brashness, however contrived it may be! Now you know how I feel when you start railing off on Obama and Democrats, or Arabs, or whatever (ie. you aren’t exactly very anodyne yourself!) … 🙂
3) I use the word “expert” quite literally, to describe someone whose academic background and current occupation aligns with the area in which they’re commenting! But according to that description, why would an actual expert comment here when there are far more serious venues in which to do so? Are we worth it as blog groupies? I don’t think so! I wouldn’t comment here if I worked at a university, or a think-tank, or a publication, or a government agency, or whatever … Think about that for a sec! So yes, I agree with you that none of us here are experts, but far from being redundant, my disclaimer is meant to gently and yes provocatively hint that even among us non-experts, there appears to be a wide range of aptitude among commenters that however painfully should probably be rectified!
Danny,
Last note is for you:
I never accused you of being an anti-Semite! But I honestly think the trope that Jews dominate the Western media is anti-Semitic! To the extent that the Western media is pro-Israel, I don’t think that’s solely attributable to Jewish power and influence! There is more at play here than that, especially culturally, contextually and historically! And not all of it is necessarily good for the Jews (ie. think of how creepy the “philo-semites” can be) …
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 1, 2015, 1:07 pmRight now, the only moderate arabs I know are living in the Promised Land;)
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 1, 2015, 1:09 pmYou guys should have heard Donald Trump on CNN last night:
He started by saying that he could work with Putin!
Then he moved on to say that the US should butt out and leave Assad to duke it out with ISIS!
Then he said that he doesn’t think the US should take Syrian refugees and wondered aloud, “Why aren’t they fighting for their country?”
He was so shrill and so all over the place that I found myself wondering, “Could it be that Donald Trump is …. Vulcan [over at QN] ?”
But keeping in mind that Donald Trump is peddling “meaningless so-called analysis from the comfort of his living room”, he does raise some interesting questions:
1) Whose f*ckin’ country is it anyway?
2) Why aren’t the refugees, who presumably are not all JN/ISIS and therefore could surely be described as “moderate” in the aggregate, fighting for it?
P.S.: I have never been to Syria and have no desire to ever go, so whether or not I can survive for a day in a rebel-held area does not factor into my opinion-forming or decision-making! My empathic duty is to imagine myself in the shoes of the people [in the aggregate, which is where so many pundits stumble] already living there, not to imagine myself physically living among them!
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 1, 2015, 1:51 pmBut I already have the citizenship of the Wise Kingdom, Vulcan. I’m Wisely naturalized.
I’m also paid lavishly by the Wise Royals. No complaints on my part. They don’t think l’m mediocre even though they think anyone with ties to the Cesspool is.
And there’s nothing mediocre about what you said regarding Muslims lining up to fight the northern invaders per Wise’s directive.
Posted by Mustap | October 1, 2015, 1:58 pmThe FSA are not Islamists, neither are the dozens that fall under the umbrella of the southern Front, the alliance in Aleppo, and other places (ayn Arab, Hasakeh, etc).
To call them all Islamists is using quite a broad brush stroke, Something the Russians and Iranians are apt at doing to make their intervention easier to operate and justify with their local constituents.
I’ve always believed had the West from the get go openly supported the revolution, there would have been way more defections from the SAA and a much more secular mix in the opposition. Too bad for the Syrians that POTUS and the coalition of the unwilling were tied down by the regressive Left.
What’s done is done, but at least there’s a shred of possibility still with the opposition both on the ground and in diplomatic circles that can turn the tables around if given a clear and direct green light! Not pussy footing around. The time is now!
Posted by Maverick | October 1, 2015, 2:16 pmMaverick,
The “regressive Left” might have worked against the POTUS overseas, but here at home, the Republicans have been harassing him ever since he took office! I marvel at how much abuse this president has taken domestically over two terms, and sometimes wonder how it might have played out differently if American politics were not so dysfunctional! But the Republicans themselves are a very diverse and cacophonous lot! You can’t blame them in the aggregate, you have to know enough about the situation to be able to distinguish the disruptors and trouble-makers in their midst! If this trend continues in American politics, I’ll tell you from now, America is FINISHED! There is no way the country can maintain its ascendancy and tackle the problems of the future while maintaining political business as usual without taking a sizeable hit in international performance, status and prestige at some point! I worry that a sizeable portion of the American polity is smart enough to realize this but really just doesn’t care enough to change!
Vulcan and Danny,
If you’re trying to suggest that the CIA had no role to play in the fall of Idlib, Jisr Shughour, and the rebel advancement onto the Ghab plains threatening Latakia, I can show you YouTube videos of FSA members using TOW missiles very effectively against retreating Assad forces (but I won’t)! It wasn’t all JN, and it certainly wasn’t ISIS! The question now becomes, where did those TOW missiles come from? Already there are Americans suggesting that rebels be supplied with MANPADS so that they can target Russian jets flying overhead (which I doubt will ever happen for a variety of reasons)!
Everyone,
The whole Islamist/secular/moderate distinction at this point is about as compromised and exploited as the terrorist/civilian distinction! The politics are too polarized, the antagonists too hypocritical, the partisans too uncaring and uninformed! I honestly don’t think you’re going to get anywhere screaming at each other about these things! Unfortunately the status quo benefits Assad, so his people will have the advantage here until things change …
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 1, 2015, 2:53 pmI always believed had the West from the get go openly supported the revolution, there would have been way more defections from the SAA and a much more secular mix in the opposition. Too bad for the Syrians that POTUS and the coalition of the unwilling were tied down by the regressive Left.
Maverick has stolen my thunder. Ok Samer, add Maverick to ur list of “idiots”;)
I always thought a couple of missiles at that Baathist love – fest at the opera house could have brought the regime down in one fell swoop. Just think, a simple act like this, and the wesistance pros would have no empty suit to prop up.
Obama and Co f’d up big time.
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 1, 2015, 3:51 pmSamer must be related to the Iceman. 😀
Ice; congrats on your officially joining the wiser circle!
Posted by Danny | October 1, 2015, 4:01 pmDanny,
Never mind that you’re oblivious to the distinctions between me and Mustap, but please do consider the basic difference between him and me as far as this blog is concerned. He posts anonymously. I don’t.
So please, refrain from frivolous, spurious and malicious taunts regarding this mystical ‘Iceman’ character of yours! Otherwise, I am going to drag QN into this whether he likes it or not! His ‘hands-off’ attitude here does not absolve him of responsibility for what goes on here, and contrary to all of you weirdos I am putting some real skin in the game by divulging my identity!
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 1, 2015, 4:19 pmCorrection: Obviously I meant ‘mythical’ character, not ‘mystical’ … 🙂
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 1, 2015, 4:30 pmSamer
Keep up your childish behavior and don’t go to daddy about frivolous matters. As for your decision to put up your real name; good for you.
Going back to your assertion of the CIA backed militias; please point us to factual and reliable sources. If not; then your opinion is as good as any other.
Posted by Danny | October 1, 2015, 5:26 pmStop this silly assertion you keep repeating here that because you are using your real name makes you more legitimate or your blabber anything special. As if you are doing us a favor, No one cares who you are.
What do you expect when you resort to calling others stupid and mediocre? Oh the outrage, Samer Nasser is using his real name and he deserves a cookie, let’s get QN over here.
Who said anything about the refugees? we are talking about those carrying arms in opposition now in Syria, none can be described as moderate, they are all either outlaws, bandits or Islamic type, facing the regime and its own militias. The FSA does not exist anymore.
The TOW missiles came from Qatari warehouses in Al Udeid and Sayliyah to be specific, it was given out against clear American instruction to withhold.
Posted by Vulcan | October 1, 2015, 5:48 pmActually Samer deserves a credit for posting under his real name. But, he’s wrong comparing himself to me assuming I’m posting anonymously.
In fact, Vulcan knows who I’m because he’s obviously been in correspondence with the resident Zio who seems to have no qualms diverging any personal info that is NOT his own.
In any case, I prefer speaking to a real person instead to some entity I can only associate with vulcanized rubber, which is still very mediocre.
Posted by Mustap | October 1, 2015, 6:05 pmA major strategic advance was accomplished today when the strategic Mandib strait in Yemen was liberated as a result of a lightening operation conducted by the Yemeni army. This puts the entrance to the Red Sea completely under Yemeni control. The strait along with the remainder of the governate was secured today and no Trojan horses were seen within miles and miles of liberated expanse. Trojan horses spokes-horse also confirmed the loss.
Iran is now about to announce a new round of lattmiyya parades to commemorate the occasion.
Posted by Mustap | October 1, 2015, 6:47 pmVulcan,
On the subject of stopping repetitive behaviors, this “shrieking banshee” thing you do gets really tiresome really fast! The most frustrating thing about it for me is that most of the time you haven’t even properly understood what I was trying to say!
Let me explain why I did what I did there:
From experience, I’ve learned that labelling someone as “Iceman” around here is an opportunity for certain people on this forum to engage in an exercise called “dogpiling”! That’s when one person starts it and everybody else “piles it on” to the victim’s torment.
I did what I did first and foremost to pre-empt the dogpile that I felt was coming. But I knew I needed a legitimate complaint, because I agree that insults don’t cut it! I don’t mind the insults, bring them on, I can handle them! Just keep identity issues out of it!
There is a whole category of identity concerns called “doxxing” (which comes from ‘document’) which can be extremely disturbing. I’m actually very interested in this stuff because I believe the Internet is the future and yet can be a dangerous, worrying and tormenting place! So basically, I settled on ‘fraudulently portraying me as someone other than I am’ as the identity complaint!
Again, my goal was not to engage in ridiculous dispute! My goal was to pre-empt a prospective dogpile and prevent a borderline identity concern from escalating into something more serious!
P.S.: I will note that a serious blog would have a comments policy that expressly forbids both doxxing and dogpiling…
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 1, 2015, 7:46 pmWhat? Please don’t explain anything, I’m not interested. I never addressed you, you started with the ad hominem and I replied. So spare me your IT meaningless blabber. Again I don’t care who you are and what you do.
In other words fuck off
Posted by Vulcan | October 1, 2015, 8:50 pmIs that you?? What a twit
https://twitter.com/samermnasser
Posted by Vulcan | October 1, 2015, 8:54 pmAny ways I quit, talking here. Fuck you all 😀
Posted by Vulcan | October 1, 2015, 9:38 pmC’mon Vulcan…
You’re comments are fine. Ur one of the few here with a sense of humor…
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 2, 2015, 12:18 amAlright gentlemen cut the nonsense and the ad hominem attacks.
Read this for some insight on the FSA;
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/10/syria-fsa-isis-media-coverage-palmyra-101-divison.html
Posted by Maverick | October 2, 2015, 5:13 amVulcan is the hapless victim of media manipulation. He can be considered as an innocent bystander who lacks the ability to make independent rational opinions divorced from the brainwashing influences of media pros. Poor guy.
Anyway, I find Maverick’s linked article about the FSA, which we don’t hear much about any more, intriguing.
Sweden, OTOH, has FINALLY determined that Assad has killed 7 times more than the elusive entity they call ISIS has killed so far. So, why did Sweden all of a sudden noticed these Assad killings that have been going on for 4 years? Is this because of the influx of so-called refugees to Europe? Is Europe now suddenly aware of who the real criminal is in Syria and making its discovery known simply because the problem is knocking on its doors?
I still think Syrians should not become refugees. Instead, they should stay and fight. I know GOP charlatan idiots don’t want Syrian refugees in America just like the Euros don’t want them in Europe and they’re calling for the same thing I just called for. But the GOPs have a racist agenda in mind while I don’t.
Posted by Mustap | October 2, 2015, 11:06 amSo seeing as the Russians are all over the news these days, here’s a fun story for you guys on this mellow Friday afternoon:
Many years ago, I found myself at dinner in a Thai restaurant here in the US with two Lithuanian girls, one half-Russian/half-Uzbek girl and two Kazakh guys. The girls were friends of mine, who had met through Russian-speaking contacts these Kazakh guys who worked for the Kazakh government and were visiting the US to learn about, of all things, soy beans! The guys invited the girls for dinner, and the girls figured they could do with a male chaperone of sorts, so they asked me to go and I said, “Why not?” [I’ll concede that this might sound a bit dodgy but I assure you it wasn’t]
So I’m sitting there and the Russian is literally flying over my head. I couldn’t object of course, so I kind of just dozed off (the only Russian word I know is the “Arabish” that my dry cleaner sometimes uses to describe me). One of the Kazakh guys was your typical alpha-male sort who was flirting with these girls big-time (both men were married with families back home). Occasionally, he’d see me oblivious and disinterested in the corner and he’d make an English joke at my expense. If I reacted to it, he’d reassure me by repeatedly saying, “normal”, which I interpreted to be the Russian way of saying, “It’s all cool, bro” …
Anyway, things got interesting when one of the Lithuanian girls, who had an amber pendant hanging from her necklace, started telling the Kazakhs that Lithuania is famous for its amber! She shared the Lithuanian word for amber, and in return one of the Kazakh guys said that the Kazakh word for amber is ‘kahraman’!
And that’s when I finally had a moment to speak. “Kahraman is an Arabic word,” I said. “It’s related to the Arabic word for electricity, which is Kahraba2!”
And indeed, it is! ‘Kahraba2’ comes from ‘Kahraman’ which means amber! And actually ‘electricity’ comes from ‘elektros’ which from what I understand is the Greek word for amber!
Why amber, you might wonder? Because that’s how static electricity was first discovered. If you rub amber with something like animal fur, charge accumulates on its surface and if you proceed to touch the amber, you’ll get zapped by the electric current that travels through your body to ground!
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 2, 2015, 3:23 pmI haven’t yet assessed how much we added to or subtracted from our knowledge by the last post.
But, I can assure everyone kahraman is NOT an Arabic word. It’s Persian. I can also assure everyone that amber in Arabic is pronounced ‘anber (or عنبر).
So, what do we understand from this? The English word amber derives from the Arabic ‘anber and NOT from kahraman. There’s no way one can etymologically relate kahraman to ‘anber. They look like two different animals, behave like two different animals and get pronounced and spelled like two different animals.
Instead of consfusing oneself with the vulgars of Russia or Khazak, one may benefit more by taking Francis Bacon’s advice which he made to his countrymen in the 16th century: if you want to advance in science go and learn Arabic.
Posted by Mustap | October 2, 2015, 4:56 pmMustap,
A quick Wikipedia look-up has convinced me that you are actually right on the English word ‘amber’ being derived from the Arabic word ‘3anbar’ (I’m sorry but I don’t like embedding Arabic script in English text). I didn’t know that. Thanks for the information.
But if Arabic is truly the “language of scientific advancement”, as you seemed to suggest, then can you answer these perfectly good-faith questions for me?
1) How come the Arabic word for electricity is ‘kahraba2’? Do you dispute that this is the Arabic word for electricity? How did that word come about?
2) How come in English the distinction between bulk-scale and small-scale is preserved in the naming convention with ‘electric/electronic’, but in Arabic the naming convention breaks into ‘kahraba2i/electroni’ ?
3) How would you translate this scientific sentence into Arabic? “Analyze that glioblastoma biopsy using a nanopore DNA sequencer and then perform a proteomic scan using a surface plasmonics device to design a chiral antigen receptor-based immunotherapy using a deep learning algorithm implemented on a heterogenous server cluster.” 🙂
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 2, 2015, 5:20 pmSamer,
You seem to have forgotten that Francis Bacon lived in the 16th century and at that time Arabic was the undisputed language of science. Thus, his advice to his countrymen stood valid.
As another challenge for you, I would like you to investigate the effects of Al-Beyrouni’s scientific theories and discoveries on the thinkings of such figures like Galileo, Copernicus and Newton and how he very subtly made a profoundly significant correction to Aristotle’s physical notions, without which modern physics may have not flourished particularly with regards to Newtonian physics.
Al-Beyrouni is considered as the origin of Newton’s celebrated inspirational journey. If you discover how that is so, then come back and tell us about your discovery and convince us in the process that you are an authentic science man and NOT a masquerade.
Posted by Mustap | October 2, 2015, 5:37 pmAhh, the good ‘ol days…
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 2, 2015, 6:06 pmMustap,
There is a very easy and completely legitimate ‘out’ for me regarding your entire line of questioning. I don’t do ‘History of Science’. I don’t do ‘Philosophy of Science’. I don’t even do ‘Science’. I do ‘Engineering’ (which yes, required an education in science but no published, research-based, scientific accomplishments per se)!
Which actually reminds me, back in college some friends of mine dragged me to a Muslim Student Association event, and the main speaker there, some type of religious man, told a room full of hundreds of people that the name for the Hawaiian city of ‘Honolulu’ is derived from the Arabic ‘huna al lo2lo2’, meaning “here are the pearls”. He used this factoid to try and establish the fact that Arabs discovered Hawaii before Europeans did. I actually believed that nonsense for years before looking it up and learning that it is complete BOLLOCKS! “Honolulu” is definitely not derived from Arabic… 🙂
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 2, 2015, 6:21 pmThen, you should know what that makes you Samer: a novice who is not fit to do any meaningful commentary on electrons, amber, electricity or even kahraba.
So, in other words you’re more like a technician. And that’s how we should look at your pseudo-scientific pretenses. I don’t believe one can become a real Engineer if he cannot explain Newton at the least. Thus you will remain at the level of a techie, no more no less.
I don’t know if you can find pearls in Honoloulou and if that gives credence to the Arabic alteration of the word. I have to investigate that.
Posted by Mustap | October 2, 2015, 6:49 pmMustap,
Fine! I’ll try to be polite and play along with you while chalking the whole thing up as charity work!
A technician is by definition a person who doesn’t have an engineering degree from an accredited institution. An engineer does. According to that criteria, I am an engineer. It’s a simple, black-and-white matter, and in the US at least, you don’t get a say in the matter. I’ll concede that the engineer/technician distinction is not necessarily one of merit or aptitude, which actually is quite difficult to assess on a chronic basis. I’ve worked with experienced technicians in the field who are far more skilled than inexperienced engineers who are unenthusiastic and just looking to cross over into something like the MBA space.
There are various engineering specialities. Newton dealt with force and so would concern, say, the mechanical engineers more. I am not a mechanical engineer. I actually have multiple engineering degrees, one of which is a masters in electrical engineering. So yeah, I can dabble with you there. Coulomb, Ampere, Faraday, Maxwell, Hertz, Marconi? You wanna play here, let’s play. But I’ll tell you from now, this stuff is mostly 19th Century onwards. There are no Arabs of worthy mention in this space!
Moving on, a scientist technically has to have a PhD at least to earn that designation. I don’t have a PhD, which is why I have gone to great lengths on multiple occasions on this blog to firmly establish that I am not a scientist.
But enough about me! Let’s talk about you. I don’t want to hog the conversation. The floor is all yours, dude. Do with it whatever you may… 🙂
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 2, 2015, 7:16 pmSo let me get you straight Samer. You say you have several engineering degrees and that is sufficient to make you an engineer?
As a matter of fact, contrary to what you claim, I do have a lot to say whether you are or are not an engineer because the borders don’t have a bearing on this question. Engineering is NOT a national profession. The more I interact with you and the more you reveal yourself, the more I discover the hollowness and in fact the shallowness of your presumed credentials. Did I not brand you as gullible in earlier comment? Looks like I wasn’t too off the mark.
First of all, getting the degree(s) doesn’t make you an engineer. It makes you an engineer in training provided you are actually working under a professional engineer who is guiding you to become one. It takes you several years as a trainee to eventually qualify to be called an engineer. In other words you should be engaged in actual work that qualifies as engineering work. If you’re not working or haven’t worked in the field, then no matter how many degrees you have, you may not be called an engineer. In this case you’re more aptly called an engineer-in-waiting (a wannabe engineer in other words), and after a while your degree(s) become irrelevant if you’re not doing enginnering work. I have several EITs working under my supervision and actually I’m member of several Engineering associations including several in the US. In other words, I can guide American graduates and certify their competencies in the field even in the US if need be. Also, my signature and seal would be recognized and acted upon right in the middle of the so-called US of A in matters related to engineering.
Judging from your claims, you seem to be working in some MS office applications. I think, I did explain to you earlier that in our world we relegate this kind of work to novices and beginners. This is NOT engineering work. This is what technicians are meant to be engaged in. So, what did you do with your masters degree? And which college awarded you such degree or even admitted you to a post grad program in the first place with hardly any knowledge on your part of the history of science or even its philosophy? It looks like some backyard community college to me!
And just as you dissmiss Newton as a mere pre 19th century figure, you may need to be reminded that you don’t get to Maxwell, Coloumb and Faraday before going through him, unless your one-of-a-kind college decided to give you credit for the whole of the first two years of your engineering program – perhaps because you may have impressed them with your ingenious kahraman-amber-electron theories. He is as relevant today as he was before the 19th century. And so he’ll be in future centuries. So cut the crap and make your comments short, because you’re only exposing your empty pretenses.
Posted by Mustap | October 2, 2015, 8:05 pmMustap,
You’re a lot more interesting when you’re not bloviating about your wise king and it’s nice to see you grounded and starting to bare some teeth! Come at me, bro! Get angry and come at me! But make it count, damn it!
Your problem is that worse case, you’re pulling things right out of your ass and best case, you’re extremely sloppy! I’m talking dismally sloppy, where you destroy your own credibility by the time you’re done weaving your fabric of compromised half-truths!
On the subject of professional exams, not all engineers have to sit for these things! The only engineers I know who have ever done so have been civil engineers, which is understandable! But other engineers are not under the same burden! So don’t extrapolate your own experience to the entire gamut of engineering!
And stop taunting me about MS Office applications! You’re basing all that on your misunderstanding based on a time I mentioned that I [partly] work with Office 365! Don’t confuse client-side Office applications with server-side Office applications, and don’t confuse a sh*tkicker small office installation with a geographically dispersed, multi-campus, several-thousand license deployment!
I have over a decade of work experience in everything from the analog phase locked loops in the digital integrated circuits all the way up to the deep learning algorithms in the cloud and the Internet in between! And I haven’t even described the domain in which I work in yet! Remember this is only part of my background and what I do!
But I won’t divulge more information to you until you divulge more information to me! Tell me more about yourself and your work! I am not impressed with you at all so far! Not in the slightest! Come on, dude! Dance! Impress me!
P.S.: I still assert that one doesn’t need to understand the history of Newton’s allegedly Arab scientific and philosophical inspirations to be qualified to do what I do! Newton is not part of university-level [electromagnetic] physics, he’s not part of circuits, fields, matter or waves, not part of signals and systems, or electronics (integrated or otherwise)! Practical Maxwell is based on a philosophical understanding of Newton? Give me a break! Newton is mechanics, not electromagnetics or even optics, let alone photonics or anything contemporary like that!
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 2, 2015, 9:21 pmAnd Mustap,
Even in the case of needing to sit for a professional exam post-graduation, passing that exam is not contingent on you arbitrarily having a say in the matter! You think you can go around the word stripping people’s hard-won credentials based on nothing but your personal whims? Dude, you’re utterly absurd!
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 2, 2015, 9:31 pmSamer,
And you think I’m trying to impress you? You give youreself too much credit. I’d rather sing the praises of the wise king than doing that.
In any case, this is the first time I hear an electrical engineer doesn’t need to take professional exams. That goes to show what sort of electrical engineer you seem to claim to be. At least, all the Electrical EITs under me need to spend 3 to 4 years of training then taking the professional exam before they can be properly called engineers. You’re definitely a wannabe engineer who probably spends most of his time idling in skimming through technical stuff either on the net or in prints dreaming of being an engineer while reading out loud.
C’mon dude there’s nothing engineering about what you say. And you expect me to guide you through the process on these pages? How idiotic?
When you keep dissmissing Newton the way you do, then you immediately prove yourself a hoax. No engineering student can go through an engineering program, regardless of the discipline, before studying Newton. I know in your case you cheated your way through by presenting to a one-of-a-kind backyard college your theory of amber-kahraman-electron theory. But not every engineering student is so ingenious as you seem to be.
But, hey… you’re one-of-a-kind engineer who doesn’t need to take a professional exam and is well on his way to building his one-of-kind 500kV sub-station. Watch out for flying sparks.
Posted by Mustap | October 2, 2015, 10:00 pmWelcome to the education channel.
Pass the popcorn…
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 2, 2015, 10:36 pmMustap,
I’ve already conceded that civil engineers need to take professional exams, and electrical engineering as it pertains to bulk electrical infrastructures is a specialty of the overall field of electrical engineering! The closest I get to this stuff is knowing a thing or two about power electronics!
And okay, fine! If you think Newton is so important, I’ll concede that to you as well! Without Newton and the Arabs who inspired him, the lights won’t even turn on in the bathroom when you toggle the switch! Yes, this makes perfect sense!
You got me on this whole Newton philosophical thing! Yes, I’m a know-nothing fraud, and my credentials are worthless!
I’m outta here, guys! I’d rather poke my eyes out with a fork than comment here ever again!
Long live the Wise King, everyone! May he grace you all with everything that’s lovely and wonderful in this world, and spare you from cesspools, Trojan horses and fifth columns near and far!
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 2, 2015, 10:44 pmHey Samer, before you bolt from here I have a parting gift for you. It’s not about pearls or anything as precious as Honoloulou. It’s not even about amber or kahraba. You need to read about the progress of Physics from Aristotle, through al-Biruni’s insights and on to the progress of Galileo, Kepler, Newton all the way to Quantum physics.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_gravitational_theory
Can you make out the errors of Aristotle in the above?
That’s in case you have the ability to comprehend histories and philosophical arguments, until very recently called natural philosophy.
And just so you may know, al-Biruni was one of the few hundred scientists whose names were included on NASA’s Horizon spacecraft on its journey beyond the solar system.
Bye bye from Pluto.
Posted by Mustap | October 2, 2015, 11:19 pmMustap,
You’re a bundle of contradictions and this more than anything destroys your credibility!
So fine, you’ve established the need for field experience and professional exams while citing admittedly critical civil engineering applications, but then you simultaneously and bizarrely assert the need to understand histories and philosophies from centuries ago!
This really begs the questions: Is philosophy what you test your [civil] engineers on? Are they discussing Aristotle and this Al-Biruni fella, whoever he is, on their lunch break? You’ve very firmly argued that only this can make them worthy engineers! So is this what they are doing? Is this what the professional exams test them on? Can you name the accredited authority that issues these exams you’re talking about so I can look them up for myself?
And keep in mind that I am distinguishing between professional engineering exams and technical certifications (certs)! I am not talking about Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, A+ or whatever certs! I know there are their equivalents in the civil and industrial engineering space! But the irony is that technicians are actually more likely to sit for these certification exams than engineers, let alone PhDs! Having technical certification does not make one an engineer, let alone a scientist!
Also, what the f*ck does any of this have to do with gravitational theory or NASA missions? Is this also what you test your engineers on? Do they have to know the distance from Earth to Pluto before you allow them to dig a trench to install a cable underground? Are the tests you administer on them more rigorous than the half-assed Wikipedia references [always a cop-out!] that you seem to allow yourself?
Finally, if this Al-Biruni fella was so instrumental, so great and so critical, how come it’s NASA sending spacecraft to the outer edges of the solar system and not your beloved wise kingdom? Is this work beneath the wise king and his acolytes? Is Al-Biruni on a subcontract to the Americans? When does this contract end so he can come home?
Hypocrite! If I had my way on this blog, I would have banned you long ago! You’ve been chipping away at this blog’s morale for ages and now everyone is so exasperated even the owner no longer contributes or updates… Ya khsara!
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 3, 2015, 11:36 amI thought you got upset, Samer, and left the blog. But welcome back to more drilling and more embarassments.
First of all, I didn’t cite ANY civil engineering applications whatsover in any of my comments. So, there goes your pretenses to understanding the nuances of interdisciplinary distinctions. By the way, since you’re on this blog (QN), you would have gained a lot of insight on this subject by looking into how Engineering is taught at Brown University. Brown’s program is recognized as number one in all of the US. And FYI, they don’t teach disciplines as separate islands. On the contrary, they impose interdisciplinary exposure to all engineering students. Secondly, Newton is NOT only relevant to civil applications as you wrongly assume (which further proves to me you haven’t the foggiest idea on what engineering is). And in any case, as I mentioned earlier, every engineering student must study Newton in the first two years. Thirdly, I never mentioned anywhere that I’m a civil engineer. So there goes your most fatal error exposed. You assume and assert what your opponent never admitted as facts. Fourthly, I’m an electrical engineer by discipline but an engineer above all.
Fifthly, if you, as you admit, have some technical certification, be it microsoft or cisco or whatever it may be, then why do you encroach on an area that is totally outside your area of expertise? I have already granted you the techie label. Because, I determined from your endless babble that that’s what you are. I said above you’re a techie no more and no less. You do not qualify as an engineer to me from what I learnt about you.
Your frustration with the subject, as exemplified by your swearing statement: Also what the f*ck does any of this etc…, proves to me without a shred of doubt that you don’t even understand the most basic principles underlying all of engineering, not to mention its philosophy. I must say that would be a long long shot for someone of your calibre.
In our world, we ORDER the techies to execute what they’ve been instructed to execute without any comments or questions because we know they’re incapable of comprehending what they’ve NOT been trained to comprehend, which you just proved clearly by your frustration. Making a long story short, I wouldn’t trust you with building my next 500kv substation and would notify autorities of your inadequacy if you attempt to do so, as an ethical professional duty that I’m sworn to fulfill. Heck, if you don’t ubderstand Newton then how in the hell are you going to assess the effects of earthquakes on the bloody station, the various busses and the myriads of conductors?
Posted by Mustap | October 3, 2015, 1:17 pmGround control to Maj. Tom….
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 3, 2015, 3:13 pmOh Lord, I want to stop but I can’t!
Mustap,
Some quick notes:
1) If you worry about earthquakes, then I would assert that you actually are not far from a civil engineer. If it’s not you, then it’s someone in your group.
2) If you’re an electrical engineer working at 500kV, then you’re working at a specialty, one that actually is quite mature technologically and not very well funded in terms of research dollars!
3) You cannot under any circumstances assert that “techies” are not engineers! Look around you, homeslice! The best Electrical Engineering (EE)/ Computer Science (CS) and Computer Engineering (CE) programs in the country have to do with tech: semiconductors, computers, networks, databases, machine learning, data mining, photonics, spintronics, wireless/RF, etc. These are not only the best funded programs but also the most “interdisciplinary”! Nobody cares about centuries-old philosophy!
4) I’m sorry to break it to you but Brown is an excellent school but mostly for the sciences and liberal arts, and is not particularly strong in Engineering! I can easily name 10 schools in the US that are better for engineering (although yes each has its particular strengths), two of which I actually graduated from!
And finally…
5) I know enough about electrical grids to know that 500kV is actually a very high voltage! I think these voltages are reserved for very long-distance lines, right? Why aren’t you, for example, at something like 200kV?
6) I’ve pleaded with you repeatedly to divulge more information about yourself and your work so that I don’t have to resort to guessing all the time, but you won’t afford me this basic courtesy! You wait until I speculate and then you scold me for being wrong!
7) You will never be put in a situation where you will have to trust me on anything work-wise, so don’t worry about it! I wouldn’t want to work with you any more than you want to work with me!
To everyone else,
I’m sorry! But surely you all realize that we have a real psycho on the loose here. If QN chooses to intervene he cannot assign any blame at all to me! Just read the damn thread from yesterday to today to figure out who’s fully responsible for us ending up at this dismal juncture…
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 3, 2015, 3:47 pmWell Samer, obviously you lost when you started pleading with the readers to come to your rescue, not to mention asking ng QN to ban me. C’mon who do you think you are? Well, we all know who you are. You’re a simple Arab who fooled himself into thinking he had outgrown his backwardness by halucinating that he’s been firmly assimilated into the culture of what he believes is his superior the so-called yankee. But your Arab traits never fail to trickle through your endless babbles. The well known typical Stokholm syndrome.
Listen buddy, you’re a techie. I’m not disputing that. But pleeeze understand what a techie is. The example of a 500kv substation is not meant to highlight a mature technology, which by no means is mature yet as you wrongly claim and in fact is continuously evolving, which goes to show your pretenses to knowing it all, while in fact you know very little or no more than a techie may know, neither does it mean that this is what I’m engaged in. This is your imagination at work, trying to deduce from what I say as the things that I do. No, the 500kv substation is meant to be the example which shows that you’re NOT as you claim an electrical engineer since you haven’t taken the pretquisites exams, an electric cal engineer must take, not to mention having matured enough in Engineering by dissmissing its most basic requirements
As a techie, you will be entrusted to execute that which falls under your area of training within the instructions we, Engineers, provide for you to follow faithfully. You cannot design, you cannot create you cannot provide specifications, you cannot analyze.
What further proves that you in no way can fulfill the role of an engineer is your clear misunderstanding of the example of the earthquake and how it influences the substation’s design from a purely electrical perspective. To you, you assume that electrical applications exist in an island by themselves. You clearly do not understand the forces generated in busses or in conductors if for example a short circuit occurs anywhere in the station as a result of an earthquake. This is clearly a strictly electrical application and yet you miserably failed to recognize it. Having claimed to be an electrical engineer, and with a so-called masters degree, I wonder what you’ve been taught during those long years at this backyard master degree awarding college of yours. Do you know how to calculate those forces acting on the busses or the conductors in this situation? I know you wouldn’t because for you Newton is strictly a civil engineer. You as an electrical savvy masters degreed have obviously determined a short cut to make these calculations by using your ingenious amber-kahraman-kahraba theory. Good luck.
With this idiot so desperately trying to prove himself, I miss the great Wisdom of the Wise King.
Posted by Mustap | October 3, 2015, 4:54 pmOK, dude! Fine! Whatever! You win! Now chill out, for crying out loud!
For everyone else, here’s a funny story that’s pertinent to this ridiculous controversy:
When I enrolled as a graduate student in electrical engineering, my professional background was in circuit design for biomedical applications! Coming from industry and without a specific research focus, the university arbitrarily assigned me a random faculty advisor, a brand-name engineering professor whose academic pedigree was impeccable and who ran a lab building state-of-the-art lasers using MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems). This guy was hard-core, so hard-core in fact that the National Science Foundation (NSF) sent him to Antarctica for several months to measure ice sheet thicknesses with his lasers! Needless to say, not only was he hard-core but also no-nonsense! You couldn’t even talk to him about the weather! And the fact that I hadn’t yet chosen a research area meant he was never truly comfortable with me at all!
So I decided I didn’t want to do circuits anymore, or lasers for that matter, and I wanted to gravitate towards the IT space. I took one course in databases and one in software engineering, and in our next meeting, the faculty advisor freaked out and exclaimed, “You have too many CS courses in your transcript! I don’t know anything about CS! I think you need to find a new advisor!” And he dropped me, just like that! It was no big deal of course, because I eventually found another advisor, graduated, found my professional interest, and everything worked out for the best!
But I am having a great laugh right now imagining Mustap having this deranged conversation about earthquakes and 500kV substations and Newton and that Arab fella who inspired Newton and Aristotle with my old faculty advisor! I swear, that conversation wouldn’t have lasted all of 5 minutes before my old faculty advisor would have lost his mind and had a complete meltdown!
Anyway, I’m out for real this time! Have a great weekend guys!
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 3, 2015, 5:30 pmTouché.
Thanks for telling us your life story. We’re glad you had an advisor who could always come to your rescue.
Do you always put him as your reference to prove your credentials?
With this latest revelation, we now know that you were NEVER an electrical engineer, NOT even an engineer.
Thank me and NOT your advisor for making you face your own self deceptions.
Telling the truth always works. You definitely don’t want an ethical professional investigation into your work practices.
Posted by Mustap | October 3, 2015, 5:56 pmMustap my dear,
I win no matter how this thing plays out! I’m entitled to face my accuser so there’s no way you can prompt an investigation against me without revealing who you are! In the meantime, the researchers who read this blog gain an insight into the fragile and pitiful mental state of your average Middle Eastern whackjob (ie. you!), and QN gets embarrassed by the transcripts this blog is generating into maybe doing something about this Internet property!
I account for all this as doing community service on my end without even leaving my computer! It’s horrible work, I’ll tell you that, which brings me no satisfaction or pleasure at all… Why do I bother? Because I need to continually reassure myself that my decision to emigrate from the Middle East was the correct one! Plus, I need to be informed of Middle Eastern developments since they continually pop up in American politics…
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 3, 2015, 6:34 pmYou’re wrong again Samer. But we know that already. Don’t we?
An anonymous tip will do it and I don’t have to face you. I just need to provide information anonymously you’re encroaching into an area that’s outside your specialty if and when you do that. Because, in your mind you’re an electrical engineer while in reality you’re NOT, who knows? you may think virtually that you’re building a 500 kv substation and actually attemp to do it.
How many times you need to be told that no one really cares about your true identity? And that no one asked you to volunteer it.
Besides, presumed researchers who read this blog will conclude you’re a real psycho living behind a computer screen deluding himself into believing he’s solving real life problems as he deluded himself into thinking he’s an electrical engineer. Biggest joke I ever read on this blog or anywhere else for that matter.
You can’t even begin to imagine how much you owe me for injecting you with so much needed doses of reality into the pathetic cocoon you sequestered yourself in.
We’re always around to provide you with dises of reality and directions into the world of REALITY and Engineering Excellence regardless of the applied Voltage. We have lasers and masers too. We can even make virtual worlds look real. We told you that in a previous exchange. Didn’t we?
Posted by Mustap | October 3, 2015, 7:00 pmMustap,
Keep this up! You’re flirting with cyber-harassment, but you’re not quite there yet… I won’t tell you when you’ve arrived, but I will take action…
In the meantime, QN I will officially stop commenting here effective immediately… This blog is a hazardous disaster, and if it was mine I would either scrap it or assess its liability!
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 3, 2015, 7:27 pmSamer,
I’m an engineer too! Cool!
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 3, 2015, 9:09 pmCyber-harassement?
Wow.
So now we have more engineers, here on QN. Let’s build your dream substation Samer before you bolt. This is your best shot at it. You may never get a better opportunity than this.
Posted by Mustap | October 3, 2015, 9:30 pmWhat are we to make of this latest horrible massacre committed by the US in the Qunduz hospital run by doctors WB? Scores of doctors and patients burnt alive in bed over several hours of indicriminate bombing from the air despite repeated calls that there are no fighters within the compound. What gives the US the right to go and bomb indiscriminately thousands of miles from its borders?
First, we need not forget to give credit to President Obama, for his foresight and diligence in his efforts to extricate the US of A from more than a decade of futile and failed wars initiated by an incomptent ex-president and a team of incompetent neo-cons, clean-breakers abd Yankee centurians. However, president Obama, soon to become without office, and soon to be dubbed the last great president of the US, has not done enough to erase the effects of this disastrous period of American misadventures accompanied by great misfortunes. Had president Obama move out of Afghanistan without reservations the latest tragedy would not have occured.
So, what is in store for this doomed US of A post Obama care?
On the one hand, you have the outright liar and dishonest who yet feels entitled because of the simple fact that her husband had oral sex with an intern in the ovarian office. And yet, the American public is more than ready, willing and capable to reward this bizzare felling of entitlement. After all, being bred and raised on hollywood soap operas and reality shows, it would take very little effort to gain the trust of the gullible herd.
On the other hand, you have the circus of the charlatan demagogues who will buy the moon with IOUs disregarding the simple truth that the American debt hole looks more and more like a black hole. What will become of this doomed yank-land once Obama becomes without office?
When will this Yank realize he’s nothing but a pathetic creature and stop his madness of believing himself to be God’s gift to mankind?
Posted by Mustap | October 4, 2015, 1:08 pmAnother winter is arriving and more poor refugees will suffer and die in Syria and Lebanon and other surrounding countries, the lucky ones who made it to Europe will at least have a decent shelter, thanks to the Europeans. How can we help those in Lebanon? would the Lebanese parties accept building housing camps for the Syrian refugees? No one should impede this. We need USAID to step in firmly with a full program to secure refugee housing, schools and clinics. We can hire Lebanese subcontractors managed by US prime contractors. Create jobs and house the refugees. USAID should also slip in a program for waste management a gift from the American people to Lebanon.
Posted by Vulcan | October 4, 2015, 3:48 pmUSAID should also slip in a program for waste management a gift from the American people to Lebanon.
Vulcan,
I’m all for this proposed gift. I hope the US will provide this assistance. Is there any other nation (s) you can think of that have the resources to help in this way?
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 4, 2015, 9:34 pmWe don’t think the US can provide any so-called aid because of the evil nature of the US of A. Anything the US touches turns into a disaster. The US is definitely evil. Furthermore, the Cespooleans can only subcontract by siphoning every penny into their own pockets. A cesspoolean WILL NOT help any refugee. So, in effect the proposal is nothing but a grand scheme at embezzlment designed to steal some PR stunt claiming to help hapless refugees while in reality embezzling the money from the pockets of simple minded & good hearted to the pockets of the wickeds.
We recently raised over 15 million dollars and sent them directly to the poor refugees. On the other hand the Wise King has been selflessly providing hundreds of millions of dollars without asking for any limelights of media coverage.
Anything the US touches becomes evil. The US needs the AID more than the refugees do.
Posted by Mustap | October 4, 2015, 10:40 pmAP,
“The United States is the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance to the Syrian crisis, providing more than $4 billion to help millions of people inside Syria and beyond its borders receive food, urgent medical care, and much-needed relief supplies.”
https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/jul-31-2015-usaid-provides-additional-65-million-critical-food-assistance-syrians
I think the Europeans will now increase their assistance, they should take the lead because this crisis has a direct impact on them.
Mustap,
why is the Kingdom still reliant on US assistance in the defense sector? Why does the Wise King allow the US in the Kingdom to build infrastructure for the Aircrafts he buys??
Posted by Vulcan | October 5, 2015, 9:01 am“The United States is the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance to the Syrian crisis, providing more than $4 billion to help millions of people inside Syria and beyond its borders receive food, urgent medical care, and much-needed relief supplies.”
Vulcan,
As usual, not good deed goes unpunished in the ME.
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 5, 2015, 9:04 amOf course, AP, we are Satan.
Here’s the latest from Egypt, to the same tune parroted by both Mustap and Khamenii
EGYPTIAN TV: AMERICA CONTROLS THE WEATHER—AND IS USING IT TO DESTABILIZE THE MIDDLE EAST
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/05/egyptian-tv-america-controls-the-weather-and-is-using-it-to-destabilize-the-middle-east.html
Posted by Vulcan | October 5, 2015, 9:19 amThe Wise King does not rely on the US of A for his defense sector. The Wise King has many multiple sources for this sector including a robust home grown industry which produces everything from armoured vehicles to aircrafts and advanced missile defense systems.
You guys need to outgrow your self delusions propagated by your upbringing which breeds on Hollywood soap operas, stereotyping and so forth. America will not recover from its deep pit of irrelevance and being possessed by evil until it conquers the idols it worships in the temples of Hollywood.
self delusion is the name of the game for the Hollywood generations of America. You whither and the world moves on.
Posted by Mustap | October 5, 2015, 9:37 amSaudi Arabia produces its own Aircraft and advanced missile defense systems??!!
Posted by Vulcan | October 5, 2015, 10:04 amOf course, AP, we are Satan.
Vulcan,
I wouldn’t go that far. I mean you guys did invent algebra.
Glad the US is being blamed now for controlling the weather, and not the jews. We’re still leading the world in mind-control, and have several patents in this exciting field.
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 5, 2015, 10:11 am” We’re still leading the world in mind-control, and have several patents in this exciting field.”
As demonstrated LIVE! by the bibster at the UNGS:
Posted by lally | October 5, 2015, 12:06 pmYes, Lally,
Don’t get sucked in with the Bibster and his mind-control techniques. If you let that happen, you may soon believe that the ME is a dangerous place and Iran and Hezbollah may have bad intentions, which we all know is a crock of hooey.
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 5, 2015, 12:23 pmHas President Obama succeeded in avoiding another humiliating Vietnam?
And has Putin just sunk Russia into another Afghan quagmire?
Can Putin afford the costs of his new quick sands? How many diapers can he afford to provide to the tamed lion puppy? He’s already squeezed at this level of oil pricing. What will he do if the price sinks to $15 a barrel for the next 5 years? Can he then finance Ukraine, Crimea in addition to Alawistan?
Throw in few billion dollars to the rebels and let him squirm then buy Russia at an auction.
Posted by Mustap | October 5, 2015, 9:55 pmKrauthammer puts it all into perspective:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-world-falls-apart/2015/10/01/50c2a7d6-686f-11e5-8325-a42b5a459b1e_story.html
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 6, 2015, 7:20 amThe sorry state of America is best demonstrated by the anti-Obamite gang of clean breakers, neo-conners and so-called Yank centurions whose project has proven to be an utter failure right from the start, and yet when challenged they resort to the one and only and same old same old worn out fallacy of the so-called surge in Iraq was working.
Sorry guys. The surge was a fiasco, it never worked and had no chance of ever working. The irreparable damage done by an incompetent president (GWB) and his team of morons by removing Saddam is what led to America’s current state of bankruptcy and the current chaos in Iraq.
Saddam was the glue which held Iraq together and the impregnable mountain that kept the Iranians at bay.
So, Krauthammer get lost.
Obama is the last great president this US of A will ever get.
Posted by mustap | October 6, 2015, 3:36 pmFirst Ruski lieutenant is down in Hama. Three Ruski lower ranks also down in the same area. Eighteen tanks and armoured vehicles for the tamed lion were destroyed also in Hama.
Tamed lion diapers are soaking damp. Putin is sinking down in the pit and pleading with rebels to join him in his idiotic baby sitting adventure. Soleimani’s men were overhead on the radio fighting among themselves.
Assad’s final dance of death has just begun.
Posted by Mustap | October 7, 2015, 10:10 pmWhere’s BDS?
http://news.yahoo.com/india-protests-saudi-maids-hand-chopped-off-074136675.html
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 9, 2015, 9:14 amIranians who have been massacred en-masse during their 2009 uprising at the hands of the notorious so-called Republican Guard highest commander thug par excellence Hussein Hamdani may express their thanks and gratitude for their Syrian comrades who succeeded in eliminating him today in Aleppo.
Hamdani was busy in Syria trying to replicate his crimes he committed in Iran in 2009. The end he encountered is the most appropriate for thugs of his ilk. He is the highest ranking in the echelon of thuggery in the so-called vilayet of Iran run by supreme thugs.
Posted by Mustap | October 9, 2015, 11:17 amNow, it seems that Mr. Obama is shifting gear in Syria and will supply weaponry without reservations to the Syrian rebels. So, was this Mr. Obama’s plan all along? Was he planning to draw Putin into the quagmire and deal him the final coup de grace which will ensure the demise of the brash, conceited and ego-inflated former KGB operative?
If so, then Mr. Obama was a brilliant strategist who may go down in history as the single greatest American President who would revive America from the ashes that it was burnt into by a most incompetent ex-president (GWB) and his team of incompetent neo-conners, clean back breakers and Yank centurions without firing a single shot, while at the same time laying the foundations for economic recovery from the pit of bankruptcy that the former naive president sunk the US into. He will even surpass what many perceive wrongly as Reagan being the one responsible for eliminating the evil empire of the east. I, for one, believe that Reagan was more gung ho talk than actual doer since the evil empire did not perish during his tenure but simply transformed into another evil form currently manifsted in Putin. The problem is that the Americans, in general, are brainwashed by the Hollywwod syndrome and are easily manipulated into the herd-like behaviour when gung ho orators perform in the circus as we see happening now.
So, it is now a foregone conclusion that Mr. Obama will turn out to be the last great President that this Yank land will ever have.
Posted by Mustap | October 10, 2015, 2:15 amHa ha!
Guys, never mind that he’s a complete dolt, but there were some delicious malapropisms uttered by Ben Carson on a recent TV appearance on Fox News:
He said, “I’m not going to be a vanilla envelope” when he probably should have either said “manila envelope” or used a different “vanilla” metaphor (to evoke being anodyne, agreeable and boring of course)!
He also said, “Political correctness muffles people” and then later corrected himself to “muzzles people”!
This guy is Herman Cain version 2.0! Unfortunately still beta, not quite ready for RTM (Release to Manufacturing)! 🙂
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 10, 2015, 1:50 pmBen Carson reminds me of Edward Snowden, who reminds me of an archetypal American citizen I’ve encountered over the years who I abstractly generalize as “the highly skilled, well educated worker with dissident, libertarian, borderline fundamentalist politics who apparently has no time for style or fashion whatsoever!”
You know this guy. You see him all over the place. He’s either wearing khaki pants and a blue top, with generically conservative side-parted hair plus goatee and rimless glasses. Or he’s sporting a ‘Seinfeld’ look from yesteryear, with sneakers, jeans, and a collared, buttoned-down, long-sleeve shirt! Maybe plaid. Probably plaid!
He lives in a wooden, light-frame constructed house. He has Comcast Xfinity television! He has medical/dental/401(k). He probably does a lot of his shopping in a suburban discount store housed in a gigantic warehouse!
And he wants to talk to you about LIBERTIES! It’s all about liberties with this guy! And apparently he has all the time in the world to bore you with this subject, since he seems to have no greater aspirations than merely being “free”!
But all you want to say to him is, “Dude, your style sucks! Your fashion sucks! Take the time to round out your aesthetic edges and then come back and let’s talk, hopefully about something other than [insert expletive here] liberties!” 🙂
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 10, 2015, 3:21 pmSamer,
Thanks for your POV. Fortunately in the US, you are allowed to voice them. Not so in other countries.
I like Ben Carson. I wish him well.
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 10, 2015, 5:55 pmPutin seems to have realized, albeit a little bit too late, that his ego has been played upon by the thug supremes of the vilayet of Iranistan and the thugs of Alawistan who drew him into the quagmire of Syria. Putin now realizes the deep pit he sunk Russia into with no end game in sight threatening to bring Russia to the brink of extinction on a scale that will even surpass that which brought the Soviet Union’s demise in Afghanistan when Putin was a mere KGB operative.
Putin is now in deep psychological trauma after realizing that there’s no easy cure for his oversized inflated ego by his latest Syrian misadventures. Those who drew him into the debacle will not avail him of the impending humiliation and the complete unravelling of Russia as a result of this grave miscalculation on his part. Supreme thug will simply retreat to Qomistan and hide his head under the taco wrap while Putin’s men and airforce continue to bleed in the Syrian wilderness.
Putin is seeking a way out of this dilemma. He called the Wise King of the Wise Kingdom today seeking directions forward and asking for a way out of his emabarassing ass-exposed situation. The Wise King Wisely deffered him to the council of the Wise 2nd Crown Prince who was given Wise instructions to instruct Putin of what he has to do in order to save himself. Briefly, the Wise 2nd Crown Prince referred Putin to the last conversation he had with the Wise King and that he needs to abide by the advice given therein. He was further reminded that the Wise King gives only ONE time audience to those in a similar situation to Putin, then they’re on their own if they do not abide by the Wise Council.
At the same time, Putin is sending his so-called foreign minister on diplomatic drives to find a way out. The Putin foreign minister met with the Wise Foreign Minister of the Wise Kingdom who reiterated the instructions of the Wise King and the Wise 2nd Crown Prince.
In the meantime, additional losses were inflicted upon the tamed lion and his co-thugs seeking to replicate in Syria the crimes of 2009 they committed in Iran, while the Wise King’s Arab coalition continues to cleanse the Yemen land of the remnants of the Trojan Horses.
Posted by Mustap | October 11, 2015, 1:53 pmAP,
For the record, I wasn’t referring to freedom of speech, which is moot in the US and is not a political issue that any candidate is running on in this election, least of all Ben Carson! Sure, some Republicans are railing against “political correctness”, in a ridiculous adult version of that “Gamergate” controversy that hit a while back, but this is more a matter of basic class, diversity sensitivity and good taste than a genuine libertarian concern!
I thought it was obvious from singling Ben Carson out among all the candidates that I was referring to GUNS, his comments on which are attracting a lot of negative ire right now! I actually gave this guy every benefit of the doubt! I was willing to overlook his comments on Muslims being US president once I realized that he was actually describing Salafis (fundamentalists) but didn’t know to name them accordingly! But he’s dreadfully wrong on guns! Woefully wrong!
But alas, seeing as you seem to limit yourself to “concise” sentence or two comments and reserve the right to interpret other people’s remarks any which way that is convenient for you, I’m not going to elaborate further to try to ensure that you’re fully understanding what I’m trying to say…
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 11, 2015, 5:31 pmMustapha said
Putin now realizes the deep pit he sunk Russia into with no end game in sight threatening to bring Russia to the brink of extinction on a scale that will even surpass that which brought the Soviet Union’s demise in Afghanistan when Putin was a mere KGB operative.
Moustapha says again
Putin is now in deep psychological trauma after realizing that there’s no easy cure for his oversized inflated ego by his latest Syrian misadventures. Those who drew him into the debacle will not avail him of the impending humiliation and the complete unravelling of Russia as a result of this grave miscalculation on his part.
Moustapha again
Putin is seeking a way out of this dilemma.
Moustapha jewel
The Wise King Wisely deferred him to the council of the Wise 2nd Crown Prince who was given Wise instructions to instruct Putin of what he has to do in order to save himself.
———-
unreal…all this after 1 week of putin’s boots crushing them all..and that was the “warming”
man..moustapha dear….are you THAT much running on low neurons?? do you believe yourself or are you paid to hang out on social media and spit those “unbelievable” deduction.
The saudis and the emiraties and before that israeli RAN to Putin…because he WON. He is wayyyyy ahead…but dont know how bad is your brain damage for this nonsense.
ALL and I mean ALL are lining up to see the man who’s strategy is way ahead of everyone.
Posted by George Haddad | October 11, 2015, 6:46 pmI’m glad there’s somebody who’s promoting my comments verbatim with no meaningful input of his own.
Go ahead Geirge continue replicating my comments.
If you haven’t heard yet, the little town which the tamed lion and his Iranian babby sitters spent so much blood and equipment to attempt to capture last week is now back in the hands of the rebels. Also, in Lattakia where the tamed lion’s den is there has been tremendous advances for these same rebels. And, did you hear of the killing of the highest hezzy yet? His name is Hassan el-hajj Hussein from Lawzy. He’s over all hezzy thug supreme in Syria. Well, I don’t see what difference your uncle Putin made by providing diapers to this tamed bloodied lion. He simply keeps losing and losing and in the end Putin would lose with him. This is how Putin exposed his ass for everyone to shove rods into.
So, yes I know what I’m talking about. But do you? And do you really believe in your wildest dreams that your latter day ceasar will rescue your crumbling so-called Christians of the east. Dream on buddy. You obviously want to hang on to any straws that you think may seem to offer your crumbling farmboy view rescue or so told you the senile general. Good luck.
Wake up. Putin is screwed and so is your senile general: One screwed KGB operative to one screwed senile general. That makes two screwed up idiots.
Posted by Mustap | October 11, 2015, 7:46 pmMustash, your hatred for Assad, very understandably right, is making you delusional about what is happening on the ground. Assad is wining, even if Putin lost.. and General shithead yesteshead ..whatever. More dead Syrians is the only loss and your crooked masters the royal Wahabishit are to blame first, or at the very least second to Assad for being utterly miserably fucked up on any strategy they proceeded with.
Fuck yah. Puta
Posted by Vulcan | October 11, 2015, 8:24 pmYour criminal Islamists Erdoganists killed 93 people in Ankara Peace rally and your talking about how Wise you are ?
Shut the fuck up you fucking facist Saudi Cock Sucker
Posted by Vulcan | October 11, 2015, 8:50 pmلك بعد ناقصنا واحد متلك يا منفي يا جنوبي من تبعول المقبور من كم يوم اللي اسمو لحد
وينو هدا اللي عامل شريف الموقع ينفيك من هون من غير رجعة
Posted by Mustap | October 11, 2015, 9:38 pmكول خرا واحد متخلف حقير
Posted by Vulcan | October 11, 2015, 9:51 pmHehehehe…….
Look how Assad is ‘winning’ as he’s been ‘winning’ all along during the last 5 years.
http://www.aljazeera.net/news/arabic/2015/10/11/المعارضة-السورية-تقاوم-الاجتياح-وتدعو-لهجوم-مضاد
The tamed and bloodied Assad always ‘wins’ by default in the media of his fans, among them the exiled Vulcan.
Putin will pack his injured ego along with his injured men and join you in exile soon. His will be in Siberia among the bears. Yours is among alligators in the everglades.
Posted by Mustap | October 11, 2015, 10:07 pmYou and Bashar Al Assad can go to hell, are you that dumb and stupid? Fuck you and All Al Assads and Sauds and Khomeinists and anyone you pull for in the Middle East, you are all a bunch of sick motherfuckers
Posted by Vulcan | October 11, 2015, 10:18 pmJust letting you know Vulcan. In case you’re wondering, that the feeling is mutual.
It’s unbelievably a mirror image feeling.
If that doesn’t make you feel good, it’ll at least make you feel less self-righteous.
Well, I have to make this comment since you haven’t been banned yet. It seems the sherriff is on holiday. It’s the least I can do in a lawless town.
Posted by Mustap | October 12, 2015, 12:51 amI thought it was obvious from singling Ben Carson out among all the candidates that I was referring to GUNS…
Samer,
No problem. It wasn’t “obvious” to me; I just like the man. Nevertheless, I found a summary of his comments (see link below):
I have no problem with his comments or the purpose of the 2nd Amendment; and that is, the government cannot disarm the public and the right of individuals to protect their homes and belongings.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ben-carson-guns-holocaust_561ab17ce4b0e66ad4c84fc5
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 12, 2015, 8:17 amDelivery of advanced anti aircraft missiles have just begun to arrive in the hands of rebels in order to drive Russian jets out from Syrian skies. Military brass from various quarters are eager to see those Russian jets being knocked out by western anti aircraft weapons as a means to test the effectiveness of those weapons and put a damper on what Russia claims are impregnable new advanced aircraft operating in theatre. It’s been determined that the Russians are attempting to showcase their gear among other things.
As usual, the Wise Kingdom has dispensed great wisdom to achieve this milestone and has done its part in arms twisting and in facilitating the delivery of the new weapons.
Let’s see how long abu ali Putin will last in this Syrian wilderness.
Anti tank weapons are already available in abundance in the hands of rebels and have already proven effective.
Posted by Mustap | October 12, 2015, 9:49 amAP,
I don’t really wanna get into this on a Monday morning, but whatever…
I’m hardly the constitutional expert, but I’m reasonably sure the second amendment is yes about “keeping and bearing arms” but also about joining a “well regulated militia”. It says nothing about ‘conceal and carry’, ‘stand your ground’ or blowing someone’s head off in a cinema or a school over either a petty dispute or a mental illness!
If the purpose of proliferating guns among the US public is really to protect against government tyranny, then we should be seeing a lot more “well regulated militias” strutting around! Is that the case? How are these things “well regulated” anyway? What happens when they start to squabble with each other, or worse, to practice some tyranny of their own? You might want to ask the Iraqis how well they are doing governing or restraining their “popular militias”, or how scrupulous those militias are!
Which brings me to Ben Carson practicing the time-honored American political and media art of pondering the ridiculous counter-factual! Again, I’m hardly the WWII expert, but didn’t the Holocaust start several years into the war? The war started in 1939! The Holocaust didn’t even get going until 1942 at the earliest, right, after practically all of continental Europe had fallen to the Nazis?
And I’ve already established that merely arming the Jews with guns wouldn’t have been enough to go against Hitler’s armed forces! The Jews would have also had to join militias! Would the German government going into 1939 or worse 1942 have allowed this? How would the Jewish militias have fared in anti-Semitic Germany against presumably overwhelming non-Jewish ones which presumably would have rushed to the aid of the German government in the event of government hostility against the Jews [again, refer to the Middle East for the disturbing preponderance of “pro-government” militias]?
And what Jews are we even talking about here? Surely it can only be German Jews, because any French or Polish Jewish militias would have fallen along with their national militaries against the Nazis, and surely any Italian Jewish militias wouldn’t have fared very well against Mussolini and his brown shirts! And let’s not even discuss the Soviet Jews under Stalin!
All in all, and in summary, Ben Carson is weak sauce! Big time! I’m not impressed with him! Not impressed at all! 🙂
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 12, 2015, 12:33 pmWeak Sauce Alert!
Samer,
I like a good argument and appreciate your time, even on this Monday afternoon.
You bring up good points. If every Jew were armed with a handgun, it probably would not have made a dent.
I found some interesting links mentioning the “counter-factual” arguments. However, apparently there were some gun laws prohibiting Jews from owning, manufacturing, and selling weapons and ammunition. Again, I agree, so what?
In any case, Israel is really the best solution to being disenfranchised and stripped of our citizenship, which happened in Germany and many other countries.
That being said, Ben Carson, IMHO, is a gentle and trustworthy soul, both practical and intelligent. RIght now, I like Marco Rubio the most. Ben is in my top 4 or 5.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_legislation_in_Germany
Posted by Akbar Palace | October 12, 2015, 1:37 pmAP,
Again, I’m hardly the expert, but based on what I know about historical European anti-Semitism, being barred from “owning, manufacturing and selling weapons and ammunition” was the least of the Jews’ problems on that continent over the centuries! That’s yet another reason why this whole “arming Jews would have impeded the Holocaust” argument is an ignorant anachronism!
It’s also quite hypocritical, because while some Republicans like Ben Carson rhetorically prosecute this moot argument to brandish their own flawed 2nd amendment credentials, other Republicans, when faced with the proposition of arming rebellions, simultaneously shy away from the prospect by prosecuting ‘realist’ arguments like, “these weapons will fall into terrorist hands”, “this is interfering in the sovereignty of a foreign government”, “this is destabilizing a region”, “this will only prolong the conflict and exacerbate the bloodshed”, and finally “this is another military adventure we cannot afford” (which acknowledges the crucial fact that all this gun-related nonsense comes at a prohibitive cost)!
Ben Carson’s rhetorical argument is also ignorant and anachronistic in that it doesn’t even understand its own American history! Forget about arming the Jews, WASP-y Americana at the time of the Holocaust was even reluctant to take in Jewish refugees! Remember this was the early 40’s. The Civil Rights era was still more than two decades in the future!
Posted by Samer Nasser | October 12, 2015, 1:56 pm