Opuscula How will politicians React to Iran’s Attack on Embassy?

HEADLINE:

Rockets hit US embassy
in Baghdad, 3 wounded¹

As of mid-morning US Eastern time 27 JAN 2020,apparently no organization has claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to National Public Radio (NPR)²,

The State Department did not directly blame Tehran for the rocket strikes in the Iraqi capital, but the spokesperson's statement made reference to Iranian threats in the region and past attacks by Iranian-backed militias on US interests. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

"The security situation remains tense and Iranian-backed armed groups remain a threat. So, we remain vigilant," the spokesperson said. Since September there have been more than 14 attacks by Iran and Iranian-supported militias on US personnel in Iraq, according to the State Department.

The spokesperson said the State Department would not comment further on the security situation in Baghdad.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas's 10th congressional district), the lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs committee, said in a tweet Sunday that he is "closely monitoring reports of a rocket attack targeting the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad."

Other committee members³ apparently had not reacted publicly to the attack.

The Washington Post ⁴ claimed

A suspected militia attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad wounded one person late Sunday, officials said, underscoring the growing risks to personnel there amid calls for an end to the American military presence.

Blame Trump According to Louisa Loveluck⁵, the Post’s Baghdad bureau chief,

Late-night rocket or mortar attacks on Baghdad’s Green Zone, home to government buildings and embassies, have become commonplace as the Trump administration increases financial and political pressure on Iran, which backs a number of militias in Iraq.

Ms. Loveluck provided some background on what led up to the attack.

Sunday’s attack came almost exactly a month after a similar attack killed an American contractor on a military base in northern Iraq, sparking an intense round of brinkmanship that pushed the United States and Iran to the edge of open conflict.

In late December, after the United States launched retaliatory airstrikes on an Iranian-backed militia, Kataib Hezbollah, its supporters responded with a brief siege of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

The Times of Israel⁶ reported that (so far), None of the attacks has been claimed, but Washington has repeatedly blamed Iran-backed military factions in Iraq.

The Times, quoting Agence France-Presse, notes that

Some 5,200 Americans are stationed in Iraq to lead the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group, but the US strike on Baghdad has rallied top Iraqi figures around a joint call to order them out.

Vehemently anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr organised a mass rally in Baghdad on Friday, where thousands of his supporters called for American troops to leave.

Sadr had previously backed separate anti-regime protests sweeping Iraq’s capital and south, even though he controls the largest bloc in parliament and top ministerial posts.

Bolstered by his own protest on Friday, Sadr announced he was dropping support for the youth-dominated reform campaign rocking the country since October.

Fox News⁷ reports that the rocket hit the compounds mess (dining) hall.

“The security situation remains tense and Iranian-backed armed groups remain a threat.  So, we remain vigilant,” a State Department spokesperson told Fox News.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Hoshyar Zebari blamed the rocket attack on an “unruly militia.”

“The Embassy restaurant or canteen was damaged and burned. This is a very dangerous game by #PMF uncontrolled factions to galvanize the tense situation. It must stop,” he tweeted, referring to the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq.

Sunday’s rocket attack came after Iran launched ballistic missiles on two military bases in Iraq where U.S. troops have been stationed, in retaliation for a drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top military general. Dozens of troops were said to have been diagnosed with brain injuries, but no one was killed in the attacks.

CNN⁸ reports that

There have been numerous rocket attacks on Baghdad's Green Zone, where the embassies of the US and several other western countries are located, and the area surrounding it in recent months. However, the whole of Iraq is on a heightened state of alert as tensions between the US and Iran have dramatically increased in recent weeks after the US killing of key Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iran's retaliatory missile attack on an Iraqi base housing US troops.

The State Department did not directly blame Tehran for the rocket strikes in the Iraqi capital, but the spokesperson's statement made reference to Iranian threats in the region and past attacks by Iranian-backed militias on US interests. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Earlier this month, the US embassy was the site of mass protests in response to US airstrikes on an Iranian-backed militia group at the end of December.

Those strikes were launched in retaliation to attacks by an Iranian-backed Shia militia group known as Kataib Hezbollah, which had injured numerous American military personnel, according to US officials.

In early January, Iran fired a number of missiles at two Iraqi bases housing US troops in retaliation for the American strike that killed Soleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad International airport.

On Friday the Pentagon revealed that 34 US service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries following the Iranian missile attack.

---

Sources

1. Rockets on embassy: https://tinyurl.com/s8vlgfn

2. NPR: https://tinyurl.com/twn87bx

3. Committee: https://tinyurl.com/ycabgu4s

4. WashPost: https://tinyurl.com/rmcejb5

5. Louisa Loveluck: https://tinyurl.com/rk4fduy

6. Times of Israel: https://tinyurl.com/vjkv84t

7. Fox News: https://tinyurl.com/vxzq5yt

8. CNN: https://tinyurl.com/sfncq42

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Rockets hit embassy

Opuscula Inter-racial terrorism: Whites join blacks To “celebrate” MLK

ON MONDAY, MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY Jan. 20, 2020, I complained about blacks and a a few whites and other “people of color” terrorizing anyone who dared to be on the highways and byways of Dade County (Miami) Florida on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

I also criticized Law Enforcement Officers, LEOs, as well as local and state politicians for failing to do their job of protecting the people.

In the past, it seems the LEOs ran and hid for the duration and the politicians hid their eyes.

This year, the LEOs did better, but the politicians — not so much.

WATCHING TV “NEWS” I noticed there were more than a few whites taking advantage of the day memorializing the civil rights leader.

Like the Muslims of Hamas and Hezbollah, they hid their faces from the cameras as they made excuses for endangering others and themselves.

Normally if a person wants to risk his, or her, life, my feeling is “let them.”

Unfortunately for the rest of the world, when these terrorists risk their lives they often put others in danger as well.

Dishonoring King

The man these terrorists and terrorist want-to-be’s pretend to honor preached peace. He preached brotherhood among people of all races.

In that end, it appears “brotherhood among people of all races” was achieved if the number of blacks, whites, and “people of color” rampaging on Miami’s streets is any indication.

Peace? Not so much.

According to Miami’s WSVN Channel 7,¹

According to Miami-Dade Police, officers have impounded 36 vehicles, issued 44 traffic citations and recovered (?) two firearms. As far as arrests, police said they have made 11 felony arrests, five misdemeanor arrests and 14 traffic arrests for a total of 30. The numbers include activity from Saturday through Monday.

North of the county line, Broward Sheriff’s Office officials have reported 14 arrests, 18 criminal citations, 16 vehicles towed and one gun recovered.

The station initially reported At least 100 all-terrain vehicle and dirt bike riders were spotted across parts of Miami-Dade County. Apparently no one “guesstimated” the number of riders in neighboring Broward County (Fort Lauderdale).

What is meant by “recovered” guns is something only the LEOs and the reporter know. Were the weapons lost? Stolen? Otherwise, why “recovered.”

Editors challenging reporters to provide complete information must be a thing of the past.

A total of 16 vehicles were towed — 16 out of “at least” 100 vehicles.

That may be a better performance by the LEOs than in previous years, but it is an “F” in any classroom.

Patch.com² provided some comparisons with previous years for Dade County. According to its figures,

Felony Arrests - 11 felony arrests, up to from 9 last year
Misdemeanor arrests - 5 up from 3
Traffic arrests - 14 up from 2
Firearms seized - 2 down from 4 last year
Vehicles impounded - 36 impounded vehicles compared to 34 in 2019
Traffic citations 44 up from 17

In 2018, Miami-Dade police impounded 72 vehicles, twice as many as this year, the site reported.

The Sun-Sentinel³ reports that

A dirt bike rider was killed in a crash in northwest Miami in a crash that happened about 7 p.m. Monday, police said. According to officer Christopher Bess, Javis Charles, 25, was near Northwest Sixth Avenue and 54th Street when a Toyota driver "attempted to make a left turn in front of the dirt bike." Charles was taken to the trauma center at Jackson Memorial Hospital where he died, Bess said Tuesday.

A day earlier, on Sunday, an ATV rider was killed in a crash on the Palmetto Expressway, according to WPLG-Ch. 10.

Additionally, a motorcyclist who was part of a larger group of ATV riders was critically hurt in a crash near Northwest 167th Street and 27th Avenue, according to the Miami Herald.

Many warnings, few consequences

The terrorists were warned again and again by local LEOs — city cops, county cops, highway patrol — that there would be consequences if the laws were violated.

If Patch.com statics, ibid. are to be believed, then the terrorists thumbed their noses at the LEOs and the laws. Assuming WSVN’s numbers were even close, then it is fairly obvious that being a scofflaw is a fairly safe pastime. The word will go out for 2021 that the chances of being arrested for anything is minimal.

It will be interesting to see if any media follow up on penalties by crime. A slap on the wrist and a picayunish fine for terrorism on streets and highways? That really will be a deterrent.

Given the number of south Florida drivers who legally carry firearms in their vehicles, it is amazing that more bikers are not shot by a driver they threaten by their actions and their sheer numbers.

Wheels (or Bikes) Up in south Florida is just another way of saying “Stupidity Up.”

Does anyone really think this is how Martin Luther King Jr. wants to be remembered?

---

Sources

1. WSVN: https://tinyurl.com/sowlu7x

2. Patch: https://tinyurl.com/tjjg2m3

3. Sun-Sentinel: https://tinyurl.com/sn97hdd

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Inter-racial terrorism

Opuscula Blacks disrespect MLK Jr.’s memory; Foment race hatred

THE POSTERS STATE “BIKES UP, GUNS DOWN,” but only the first part is true.

Blacks, at least in Dade County (Miami) Florida take over the streets on Martin Luther King Jr. day with licensed and unlicensed motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs).

Despite their bluster of controlling events, the local Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) — from city and county cops to the state’s Highway Patrol, close their eyes to threats to people just trying to get from Point A to Point B.

TO BE FAIR, The ML King Jr. celebrations bring terrorists from around the U.S. and, according to tv talking heads, the world; terrorists and terrorist want-to-be’s of all races head for the (relative) warmth of south Florida to “behave badly.”

Dream becomes nightmare

King preached peaceful coexistence. I had a dream¹ was King’s dream. The behavior of the Bikes up, Guns down blacks, along with a few whites and other “people of color,” is anathema to that dream.

King knew about terrorism.

As a black he knew about white supremacists, not all of whom wore robes and hid their faces.

As of noon Monday, 20 JAN, Dade County LEOS managed to arrest two Hispanics.

Would King applaud the black terrorists on the streets.

Would he support blacks risking their lives by stunt riding on public roads?

Would King come down on the side of law and order or on the side of the terrorists?

King DID believe in civil disobedience — marches, sit-ins, and disregard of segregationists signs, e.g., Whites Only water coolers, Whites Only beaches.

But did he support black terrorists? In a word, NO, according to the King Institute at Stanford University.²

Call out the guard

The governor and local politicians are sworn to protect the citizens in their jurisdictions.

If the local LEOs are unable to do their jobs, then it is the governor’s obligation to call out the state’s Guard to do the job the cops can’t or won’t.

Calling out the Guard, however is a two-edged sword.

The Guard is trained to fight a war or to rescue people who refused to get out of danger when Nature went on a rampage, bringing floods, storm surges, strong winds, etc.

(It is this scrivener’s experience that most people needing to be rescued refused to leave when ordered to do so. Most flood and hurricane threats are predictable far enough in advance so people who are willing can take shelter in a safer area. Failing to evacuate when ordered puts responders’ lives in danger.)

The Guard is, generally, not trained to replace trained LEOs.

Remember the Ohio National Guard and Kent State University? That incident started off as a demonstration against the U.S. incursion into Cambodia and ended with four fatalities.³

Still, flaunting and taunting the law with “reckless endangerment” to innocents needs to be squashed. If that means calling out the Guard and issuing rubber bullets or bird shot, then so be it.

Since a number of blacks inappropriately celebrating MLK Jr. Day are armed, the Guards having rubber bullets or bird shot must be backed up by Guards with combat (real) ammunition.

This scrivener is NOT in favor of killing, or even seriously wounding, anyone, but if that is what it takes to protect the majority of people — of all races — then that must be an option.

Anarchy, and anarchy is exactly when the “Up with bikes, Down with guns” riders are committing on Dade County streets and highways, must NOT be allowed.

Parades, speeches

Parades and speeches are better — and safer — to honor MLK Jr.’s legacy.

Non-violent protests, protests protected by local LEOs so that protesters are well separated from anti-demonstrators (to avoid what occurred at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville VA).⁴

As long as the speeches don’t instigate violence by anyone against anyone, speeches should be encouraged.

Many cities with large black populations have marches honoring King. Almost all such communities have streets, parks, libraries, and other tax-supported facilities named in honor of King.

There are many ways to honor King and other famous blacks —Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman, Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali, Sojourner Truth, and Tuskegee airmen among others⁴ — and these people should be recognized, alongside other illustrious people: Billy Bowlegs, Samuel Langhorne Clemens to name but two.

Perhaps members of the Seminole⁵ and Miccosukee⁶ tribes should give up their peaceful (and profitable) ways and take over the south Florida streets with their vehicles. Historically, they have as much — or greater — right to endanger the “immigrants” (of all races) to their territory.

Bottom line

Taking over the streets and terrorizing the general population — everyone — is not the legacy I suspect Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to leave behind. Certainly it does not help integration or build good will between races and, without a doubt, between generations.

What “Bikes up, Guns down” does, it creates resentment and, to some degree, anti-black sentiment which is unfair to the majority of people who are law abiding citizens and are likely as unhappy with the bikers’ shenanigans as are all others who respect the law.

What “Bikes up, Guns down “ does NOT do is to remove any weapons from the street.

---

Sources

1. Dream speech: https://tinyurl.com/j7zqcot (text and audio)

2. Black terrorists: https://tinyurl.com/j7zqcot

3. Kent State: https://tinyurl.com/yb6c6wjl

4. A few famous blacks: https://tinyurl.com/han52q4

5. Seminole tribe: https://www.semtribe.com/stof

6. Miccosukee tribe: https://tribe.miccosukee.com/

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on King’s dream shattered

Opuscula Trump fails basic Journalism rule: Cite your sources

PRESIDENT TRUMP PUT HIS foot in his moth — once again — when he told Americans no U.S. personnel were injured by Iranian missiles falling on Iraq.

In truth, (at least) 12 Americans were injured.

Trump lied.

I SUSPECT that the president was parroting what his military advisors told him.

Problem is, Trump failed to cite his source.

That’s bad management.

Ever cub reporter knows — or at last in my time knew — that sources must be cited. “Anonymous sources” were discouraged and always suspect (except at the New York Times).

Shoe comic by Brookins & MacNelly for 18 JAN 2020

What Trump should have said was “my military commanders tell me no American was injured.”

They probably DID claim zero injuries and the injuries — allegedly non-fatal and caused by nearby explosions — initially went unreported.

That happens.

I did not, however, hear the president back track on the “no injuries” claim, nor did I hear him say where he got his (mis)information.

The president has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth or letting his Twitter finger twitch in a foolish fashion. He embarrasses the nation with his loose tongue and fast fingers.

For all that, at least he is DOING something that needs to be done and trying, despite Democrat opposition, to do almost everything he promised Americans he would do.

I had hoped VP Mike Pence would rein in Trump’s propensity to go off half-cocked, making himself look foolish even to loyal followers. Apparently that role is not in the VP’s job description. Pity.

Trump doesn’t need the Democrat-controlled House to make him look bad; his knee jerk reactions do enough damage.

Fortunately, his credibility as a president IS, if not “making America great again,” at least gaining back some of the respect lost by the last two pantywaist administrations (Bush and Obama).

Meanwhile the Democrats are in Chicken Little mode, crying “the sky is falling.”

One of Sen. Bernie Sander’s staffers, Kyle Jurek, is predicting “cities burning,” Soviet gulags, and the execution of “reactionaries” (see https://tinyurl.com/rzke65k). It’s hard to tell WHO will be burning cities, setting up Soviet gulags and executing “reactionaries” whoever they are — disgruntled Democrats perhaps, accustomed to rioting in the streets?

If Trump IS re-elected, will the Hollywood elite who promised to leave the country if he won in 2016 finally keep their word and leave? Not likely, more is the pity.

The bottom line for Trump and his advisors is to learn to CITE YOUR SOURCES. It is better then making a meal of show leather.

(Image of Charlie Chaplin from https://tinyurl.com/rs4fux6)

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Journalism 101

No Liberty for Taurus Home, home On the range

THE FINE FOLKS AT NEXUS SHOOTING in Davie FL “gifted” me with an hour’s shooting range time in honor of my celebrating yet another natal anniversary.

The range is one of several in the area and one of the best. This morning there were two Range Safety Officers (RSOs) for four shooters. (It was early in the day.)

Not only do the RSOs make certain safety rules are followed, they also make suggestions on how to improve marksmanship.

Taurus 692 with two cylinders and stellar clips for 9mm

I TOOK MY WHEEL GUN and 9mm and .357 ammunition and checked in.

Wait. 9mm AND .357?

My current revolver (a/k/a wheel gun) is a Taurus Model 692, hereafter just “692.”

The revolver is sold with two easily interchangeable cylinders. One seven-chamber cylinder accommodates both .38 Special and .357 Magnum cartridges. The second seven-chamber cylinder accommodates 9mm ammunition normally used in semi-automatics.

In order to accommodate the 9mm ammunition, each round must sit in what Taurus calls a “stellar” clip, a/k/a “moon” or “star” clip.

Planning ahead

Range time is sold by the hour or portion thereof.

Since my 9mm ammunition requires a seven-cartridge moon clip, I loaded 49 cartridges (7*7) at the house. A number of companies make loaders, most of which sell for $30 and up; way up. I loaded my 49 rounds by hand. Not a problem, at least for me.

One advantage of the moon clips is that they act almost like a “speed loader.” The cartridges can be quickly loaded into the revolver and equally quickly ejected from the revolver.

Removing the spent cases from the moon clips, which I was warned could be difficult, was a snap with a pair of needle nose pliers from my toolbox; again, no need for an expensive cartridge removing tool. (However, if someone wants to send me such a tool I will be happy to “test” it.)

Taurus Guns ≠ Liberty Ammunition

Liberty ammunition is made in Florida. It uses light weight, 50 grain bullets designed to create a large wound trail.

I bought a box to fire in my Taurus Model 605 .38/.357 revolver.

Absolutely minimum recoil (kick).

The only problem was, the cartridges apparently expanded and I could not eject them from the chambers.

I thought the problem might be limited to the 605.

I loaded and fired seven rounds of Liberty .357 cartridges. They ejected normally from a previously unused cylinder.

I changed cylinders and fired 49 rounds of 9mm.

Then I reinstalled the .38/.357 cylinder and fired 17 rounds of American Eagle 158 gain Jacketed Soft Point.

Finally, when I only had four American Eagle rounds I added three Liberty rounds to fill the seven-round cylinder.

Is it Taurus, Liberty, or all revolvers?

When I fired this mix, the American Eagle cases ejected cleanly but the three Liberty cases were stuck solidly in their chambers.

They remained stuck until I got to the house and the tool box. With hammer and Phillips head screwdriver, I managed to force the Liberty cases out. The gun’s ejector rod would not budge them.

I complained to Taurus and to Liberty about this issue with my old 605. Neither company bothered to reply. I no longer will recommend or buy Liberty ammunition.

My Second Born son used Libertys in his semi-automatic and claimed the bullets went wild. He also has “sworn off” Liberty ammunition.

Recoil and Rubber Grip

I was surprised at the kick from Remington’s 115 grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) training ammunition.

According to my first born, a police detective, his accuracy greatly improved when his department switched from .40 semi-automatics to 9 mm semi-automatics.

The 692 has a 3” ported barrel (below) that is supposed to reduce recoil. Since I never have fired 9mm before, I can’t say yea or nay to that claim. I have fired my son’s personal Springfield Armory .40 and .45 semi-automatics and they had less recoil. I also have fired .38 Specials from the 605 and an over/under Derringer. Recoil never was a problem.

Taurus 692 with 3” ported barrel and rubber grip

While the 9mm did have more recoil than expected, the 692’s rubber grip saved my hands.

Even with the American Eagle .357 Magnums the kick was both as expected and comparatively easy on the hands.

The 692’s soft rubber grip allowed me to fire many more .357 rounds than I managed with the 2” barrel 605 with a harder grip. I KNEW I had been shooting .357s when I fired the 605.

Size Does Make a Difference

My accuracy with the heavy, 3” barrel 692 was markedly improved over the lighter, 2” barrel 605.

I am not ready for “prime time” competitive shooting, but my paper target showed lots of holes. Given this was my first time out with the 692 and that I don’t spend a lot of time at a range, I’m satisfied that spending more time at home on the range, my accuracy at 17 feet will greatly improve. As it is, it’s “good enough” for self-defense but I would NEVER trust myself to fire into a crowd.

A Clean Gun is ...

Once I managed to hammer the three Libertys out of their chambers, I set about the task of cleaning the 692.

Revolvers are much easier and faster to clean than semi-automatics.

A good brush to loosen any powder residue followed by a Ballistol-soaked swab to clean the barrel and chambers followed by a dry swab to remove any excess gun oil and DONE! No disassembly. No springs to loose.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Taurus 692

Opuscula Straight out of Dilbert’s world

WITH APOLOGIES TO SCOTT ADAMS, Dilbert’s Pointy Headed Boss (PHB) has been surpassed for idiocy.

QUICK QUIZ

Who said: "Sanctions are economic warfare"?

Who supports BDS sanctions against Israel?

What is the purpose of BDS?

The answer to the first two questions is the person dishonored with the title ‘Anti-Semite of the Year,” none other than Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN).

The answer to the third question is

The purpose of BDS is not to pressure Israel's government to change its policies. As the founders of the movement and its leading advocates in the United States have repeatedly made clear, its goal is to eliminate Israel.

One woman’s opinion

Brit Melanie Phillips, in an opinion piece (https://tinyurl.com/wzo7k27) writes:

Cue liberal horror and outrage. Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani was described in The New York Times after being annihilated by an American drone as “universally admired.”

(Could anything else be expected from the NYT? All the news the NYT determines fit to print.)

The actress Rose McGowan, native of Italy, tweeted imbecilically: “Dear #Iran, The USA has disrespected your country, your flag, your people. 52% of us humbly apologize. We want peace with your nation. We are being held hostage by a terrorist regime. We do not know how to escape. Please do not kill us.”

Democrats who had hailed the extra-judicial killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011 as a personal triumph for President Barack Obama now claimed absurdly that killing Soleimani was unconstitutional.

Joe Biden fully endorsed a president’s unilateral authority to conduct strikes on terrorists without any public notification in a 2007 interview, a position he has disavowed in the wake of President Donald Trump’s killing of Iranian terror leader Qassem Soleimani. (https://tinyurl.com/qk75dk)

Biden told Charlie Rose on Aug. 9, 2007, that the United States would be justified in conducting a raid on Pakistani soil to kill 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, adding that Pakistan would “forfeit their sovereignty” by harboring the terrorist. He said the president should act immediately if the military is able to strike.

Ms. McGowan must be addled if, as she claims ”We do not know how to escape”, presumably from the United States.

Certainly as a “successful” actress (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000535/) Ms. McGowan should have sufficient funds to (a) acquire a U.S. passport (assuming she is a naturalized citizen) and (b) a ticket to any country that will have her — Iran might welcome her. If she lacks the funds, surely some misguided Conservative who “disrespected your country, your flag, your people” could pony up the money. How about a Go Fund Me page for those ersatz “stars” so they can go elsewhere — ANY “elsewhere.”

I am a “Born in the U.S.A.” American and I have a passport.

My Spouse is a naturalized U.S. citizen and she, too, has a U.S. passport.

I suppose — and this is just “supposition” — that all the Hollywood elite who promised to leave the U.S. if Donald Trump was elected president lack U.S. or other country’s passports thus explaining why they still are in the U.S.

Blame it on Trump (whom else?)


An interesting aside.

Barbara Streisand (right) complained that “Donald Trump is making me gain weight.

I start the day with liquids, but after the morning news, I eat pancakes smothered in maple syrup!

— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) March 5, 2017”

I’ll wager that Elliott Gould is glad she no longer is jumping on his back as she did in “I Can Get It For You Wholesale” on Broadway c1962.


Let them eat cake! Lena Dunham on her throne (right) (Publicity still)

Meanwhile, Lena Dunham (who?), selected her “go to” place as Vancouver, said Trump has caused her to lose her appetite, and weight.

“Everyone’s been asking like, ‘What have you been doing?’ And I’m like, ‘Try soul-crushing pain and devastation and hopelessness and you, too, will lose weight.’”

Perhaps Streisand and Dunham can cry over their weighty problems at a Hollywood spa — or better yet, on a chartered plane or yacht headed away from the U.S. Reverse immigration TO Mexico?

Streisand And Dunham quotes from https://tinyurl.com/uapxfhd

The Hollywood Reporter (https://tinyurl.com/ut9lfzk) tried to follow up on 20 “stars” who promised to leave the country if Trump won. One who is a Canadian citizen still has a U.S. address. Canada’s PM is a liberal; why does the woman insist on staying in the U.S.?

The UK’s Guardian (https://tinyurl.com/ycxtd755), under a headline reading ”'I really will': the stars who didn't move to Canada when Trump won”, lists most self-important pseudo “stars” — an exception being Streisand and maybe one other — who promised, then reneged on relocation.

Was anyone preventing them for leaving for “parts unknown?”

Is California REALLY America

Perhaps the reason the Hollywood hypocrites are still in California is because of all the Several States, parts of California are totally “out of sync” with the rest of the country. (Having lived in true “Northern California,” that is north of Sacramento, I know there are parts of the state where people work hard, primarily ranching and farming.)

The question should not be “Is California part of America” but “Is (southern) California representative of America.”

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Dilbert’s World

Opuscula World has To wonder About UI jet

UPDATE: Iran admits shooting down the Ukrainian plane; claims to have arrested shooters.

THE WORLD HAS TO WONDER: Did an Iranian missile down the Ukrainian jet murdering 178 people on board?

Boeing 737-800 in Ukraine International livery

THE QUESTION IS RAISED BECAUSE, as numerous internet sources claim

1: Iran won’t release the aircraft’s black boxes to internationally respected experts, 2: Iran won’t allow, as this is keyed, Ukrainians to get close to the plane, and 3: There allegedly are missile fragments from one of the Russian Tor-M1s¹ delivered to Iran in 2007.

The Iranians deny the Ukrainian plane was downed by a missile. (That is true. The plane was downed by TWO Iranian missiles.)

So far, no one has blamed either the U.S. or Israel of causing the plane crash.

The downed aircraft was a relatively new Boeing 737-800. Given decent routine maintenance, the Boeing 737-800 has a generally good safety record. Most of the accidents involving the 737-800 were due to “pilot error.”²

The 737-800 is not a 737 MAX and has different avionics, according to Boeing.

The Question

According to the Iranians, The crew of a Ukrainian jetliner that crashed in Iran never made a radio call for help and were trying to turn back for the airport when the plane went down.³

I’m not an experienced pilot, but it is hard to comprehend IF the aircraft crew was “trying to turn back to the airport” there was no Mayday call; no request to clear a runway or have a crash crew standing by. Standard procedure when an aircraft deviates from a flight plan is to alert the nearest airport.

According to Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), there were three people on the flight deck: pilot, co-pilot/first officer, and a pilot/instructor.⁴ The least experienced pilot was the first officer who had “only” 7,600 hours on Boeing 737 type aircraft.

Why three pilots? The airline contends that “Tehran airport is anything but a simple one. Therefore, for several years UIA has been using this airport to conduct training on Boeing 737 aircraft aimed at evaluating pilots’ proficiency and ability to act in emergency cases.”

Given that, so far, the Iranians are not blaming the U.S. or Israel, and that they, so far, are denying the plane was brought down by a missile — ANYONE’S missile — what reason would anyone have for bringing down the airplane?

Accident?

The crash came immediately after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops.

The passenger list included 82 Iranians, at least 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians, according to officials. No U.S. citizens.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said 138 of the passengers were bound for Canada. The flight also included a family of four and newlyweds, too. The manifest listed several teenagers and children, some as young as 1 or 2.³

Trudeau blames Iran's shooting down of Ukrainian passenger plane. (https://tinyurl.com/tu3s3kt) The U.S. should have informed him before taking action (so he could warn the general of impending doom which, according to Trudeau escalated tensions that led to Iran's murder of 176 people?)

People NOT “in the know”

Meanwhile, the internet is alive with “authorities” who claim that the Ukrainian flight was downed by an Iranian missile.

As this is keyed, there is no evidence pointing to any specific cause for the crash. Iran’s bellicose leadership and its apparent reluctance to allow foreign investigators, including from the Ukraine, to approach the crash site DOES raise suspicion about a missile — fired at the plane or strayed off a U.S. target — does raise suspicions.

Was the deaths of 176 passengers and crew an accident? Did a missile go astray? Did the Iranians shoot down the plane for reasons known only to the ayatollahs?

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Sources

1. Tor M1: https://tinyurl.com/tg6p32t

2. Pilot error: https://tinyurl.com/t636knn

3. Turning back: https://tinyurl.com/v9rsyvf

4. Three pilots: https://tinyurl.com/rpg9hd3

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on UI jet crash

Opuscula HOA ignores past Shenanigans Of old management

THE SUBDIVISION IN WHICH I RESIDE has a “Home Owner’s Association,” an HOA. Sometimes these groups are called Property Owner’s Associations or Condo Owners Associations.

It all comes down to the same thing: the associations

a. Hire a management company to manage what they were elected to manage and
b. Give too much power to people who often abuse it.

My community has a new board, tossing out some board members who sat on the HOA board for a decade, there being no term limits.

One of the primary reasons the residents of the community revolted was the misfeasance or malfeasance of the management company and promises from the new board members that the company would be replaced.

Promises, promises

The new board claims it put out RFQs to several management companies and apparently the old management company came in with the lowest bid.

Normally, unless you are the U.S. government, all things being equal, the low bid wins — unless there are “extenuating circumstances.”

I am not on the board and I did not see the proposals/quotes, nor was I privy to the number of RFQs were solicited.

I DO know the new board engaged the old management group — the one believed to have managed the old board. According to the new board, the old company came in with the lowest bid.

To my mind, the old management group should have been prohibited from quoting and certainly not awarded a contract regardless of cost to the HOA.

That’s like New York City where a person commits a crime, is briefly jailed before being released sans bail, AND GIVEN A SWAG BAG, apparently to compensate the criminal for his or her inconvenience. (Does a recidivist get a new swag bag on each “catch and release?” Many such individuals could make a living selling their swag bag contents to the taxpayers who already were nicked for the goodies’ original costs.)

IN ANY EVENT, it seems irresponsible for the new HOA board to hire the old management company to continue doing what it did in the past.

12-hour work week

In order to keep the monthly tariff at the 2019 rate, the new board has allowed the management group to have an on-site manager on site only three days a week for a total of 12 hours-a-week.

The on-site person demands that residents make an appointment with her to discuss any issues. Somehow I thought this person worked for the home owners; after all, the homeowners pay her wages by the monthly Association membership fees. (Like a union, there is no option: all homeowners must pay the piper, regardless of performance.)

Since a girl has to make a living, this scrivener suspects she spends the balance of her work week at other communities managed by the same management company.

Don’t contact volunteer board

The new board members posted their names and positions on the community web site, but they carefully did NOT include any contact information.

I foolishly suggested that including contact information is appropriate but was informed, by the site manager during one of her 10-to-2 visits that “because they are all volunteers” they don’t share contact information.

Frankly, Scarlet . . .

If someone volunteers to represent others, that someone needs to be available to those “others.” Perhaps I was misinformed regarding volunteerism. Perhaps the new board members have plans to “volunteer” higher office where they can hide from even more constituents.

(Yes, I know our local, state , and federal pols have email addresses, offices, and published telephone numbers, but they also have staff that can, and do, redirect selected incoming contacts to physical or digital “circular files.”)

The “bottom line” for this community: If you don’t know them by now, you will never, never, never know them until they come begging again for a resident’s vote.^{1, 2}

There always is next year

Fortunately, elections are held annually and if need be, the current board can be replaced, perhaps with members who WILL provide their contact information on the community web site.

---

Sources

1. Performance: https://youtu.be/zTcu7MCtuTs

2. Lyrics: https://tinyurl.com/ydvb9tgx

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

HOA shenanigans

Opuscula In or Out? Does Trump Have a plan?

U.S. PRESIDENT TRUMP is

* Sending troops into Iraq
* Threatening to bomb Iran

Since Iraq is, effectively, an Iranian state, is the president sending U.S. troops into a danger zone when it is not necessary?

IN MODERN WARFARE, boots on the ground are needed only to secure territory.

Wars will — as long promised — be fought “long distance.”

People — military and civilian, but not politicians — still will die, but until land is captured, rifles can gather dust.

Today, war will be fought with armed drones and missiles fired from distant sites or from under water.

So far it seems targets have been carefully selected to reduce “collateral damage,” e.g., innocent — or not so innocent — civilians and nearby structures.

The main questions for the U.S. and its allies — if any can be trusted to help the America’s cause — are:

1: Is there an end game plan? How will the U.S. end the war?
2: In what TYPE war will the U.S. be engaged? Iran and its Muslim allies — and they number in the millions and are found around the globe — prefer ambushes, sneak attacks on civilian and well as military targets (viz. 9-11 and Fort Hood), and suicide murders where the killer joyfully goes to meet his 70 virgins.

The U.S. can, sans any doubt, send Iran back to a post Achaemenid Dynasty (434-530 CE) period.¹

Never mind that thousands of Persians, Iraqis, and Syrians — including some Kurds and Christians — will die, even with so-called targeted missile and drone attacks. If Gaza is any example, the ayatollahs will hide behind children and cry to the useless UN that America is targeting children.

At the end of World War 2 the U.S. came up with the Marshall Plan², named for the U.S. general who conceived it (proving there is more to the military than killing).

The plan put forth by Gen. Geo. C. Marshall was to rebuild Europe’s industry and economy. The plan worked so well that not only did the U.S. fund most of the reconstruction, but it saw the demise of it own steel industry (that could not compete with the up-to-date processes the U.S. provided the Germans).

Japan also recovered largely through the efforts of another U.S. general, Douglas MacArthur.³

America’s largess was mocked in the movie The Mouse That Roared”.⁴

The difference between the axis and the roaring rodent and the ayatollahs is that WW 2 was a “conventional” war, and while there was some gorilla warfare (depending on your side, either terrorism or patriotism) suicide murders were rare.

True, Japan had its kamikazes ready to die for the emperor, but on the whole, suicide murders were the exception, rather than the rule as they seem to be with the Muslims.

Before America goes to war with Iran and its proxies, it needs a way to restore what is left of these countries to assume their role in a civilized world, and in a way that will convince Islam that world domination is not in its best interest. (I am not certain this can be accomplished.)

Japan owed its allegiance to the emperor, a human considered a god. Islam owes its allegiance to Mohamed, a human considered as almost a god, with the imams as his emissaries.

The U.S. can take out the enemy’s leadership as it has proven. The LA Times offers a list of “removed” terrorists under a headline reading “The kill list: Islamic State leaders taken off the battlefield.”⁵ Unfortunately, new leaders keep filling the gap. Unlike leaders of countries, these people are mobile and their followers are almost ubiquitous; no place is free from suicide murders.

There is no doubt the U.S. could turn Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and other places around the globe into ashes, but the cost to unwilling populations, populations forced to house these Islamic terrorists, would be a hundred Hiroshimas and Nagasakis.

Bottom Line: Were I president — fortunately for the world I am not — I would withdraw U.S. troops from the region. If the locals prefer the Islamist terrorists — they seem to be willing hosts — let them have them. No American life is worth sacrificing for people who refuse to make an effort to free themselves of their own doing.

We don’t need to have troops in Iraq. We don’t need to have troops in Syria. We don’t even need troops in Israel except for R&R or training in a desert environment.

But if U.S. troops MUST be anywhere overseas, the government must have an exit plan in place.

So far, it appears such a plan does not exist.

Think of the taxpayer dollars that could be saved by bringing ALL U.S. troops back home.

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Sources

1. Persia: https://tinyurl.com/y6y2k96p

2. Marshall Plan: https://tinyurl.com/y7rzmj4w

3. MacArthur: https://tinyurl.com/q7v8mx8

4. Movie: https://tinyurl.com/u4bkx67

5. Leaders removed: https://tinyurl.com/su6zz55

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Exit Plan