Big Guy

Black Lives Matter had a little sympathy from me when they first organized and tried to bring attention to their initial cause - inequality of income of blacks. I support any group the right to protest - to a point. Stand between me and where I am legally allowed to go and want to go then be prepared for a confrontation. The BLM movement reminds me of the Black Panthers who were organized in 1966 in the USA with the intention of monitoring police brutality and assisting the black community through Free Breakfast for Children Programs and community health clinics and other community social services. Eventually the radicals took control of the movement and black militancy, drug dealing and extortion became common because "the end justified the means". Eventually, the moderate black organization disowned it as a criminal organization. Watching the parade, the BLM sit down and the rhetoric of the spokespersons has turned me off whatever their cause could be.. The final nail in the coffin for me was the raised fist (The old Black Panthers salute) by some of the members of the sit-in. By acceding to their demands, the parade organizers have taught these folks that their tactics work. I believe that we are in for some very hot and confrontational summers.

Looks like the civil war between Sunni and Shia forces is staying hot: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/iraq-baghdad-bombings-kill-23-160703045945293.html The sooner we allow them to settle their differences between themselves the sooner we will see peace.

The Israeli government continues to to squeeze the Palestinians of their land: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/israel-destroys-palestinian-village-100th-time-160703091747401.html Palestinians keep building homes on their land and demolition teams have returned to the village once or twice a month on average to destroy the shacks that the residents built. Meanwhile, the villagers have also been sued for the costs of the first eight demolitions of the village. In an ongoing lawsuit, the state is seeking 1.8 million shekels ($467,000.) It appears that these Palestinians just do not understand that when The Israelis take their land, it is theirs for good. Even rebuilding their village and having it destroyed is not getting the message across. I wish the Canadian government had the fortitude to send the Israeli Government a very strong message.

Ok! You were warned. You are now suspended for 7 days for late congratulations!

Thanks for the read. Nice to see what people can do without a bureaucracy. What this place really needs is a Walmart, hockey team, shopping malls ...

While I assume that you speak for yourself of why you joined and stayed in the forces there are others who joined for very different and more financial and rational reasons. Many treat it as a job and very few members of our military actually see conflict. The way that our military is run and the consequences of joining our military is obvious to any recruits. After 3 years if you do not like what is going on them you leave - and get a job using your military experience as a bonus on your resume. Nobody forces you to stay in for any longer. As for injuries, can military members take out additional health and life insurance? While I respect those who join our military I also respect those who choose to join other law enforcement, firefighters and those in the health community. I do not see military people as heroes. No doubt there are a few in the military who have done heroic things but so have others in our society. I do not consider dropping bombs on basically a defenseless population with no one shooting back at you as heroic - I consider it hunting, not unlike what those of us do when in season we decide to shoot some deer. Personally, I feel investing in our military is not a prudent or effective use of our money. Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia and now Iraq were a waste of $billions of our taxes but yet we continue to pour money into this arm of the government. My suggestion to those in the military who are unhappy with the way they are being treated is that they leave and seek employment elsewhere - that is what the rest of us do.

Vous voulez un emploi , alors vous apprendre le français.

Israelis continue to commit war crimes against the Palestinians: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/israel-continues-siege-palestinians-hebron-160702150953392.html More than 530,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements - considered illegal under international law - across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem. Shame on Canada for allowing this carnage to continue.

Does that mean you disagree?

I think he is going to be the McDavid protector.

I think the next small step should be a computerized monitoring system - call it BSD (Back Seat Driver) which monitors all systems and driver reactions. It would allow single folks the ability to experience the same assistance that married folks get. It would be a vocalized system which would tell you (Hey, keep your eyes on the road!) and (Slow down, you are driving too fast!) and (You are driving too close to the shoulder!) and (Pass that jerk, we are running late!) and (we are out of gas, I told you to fill up before we left!) ... It could be programmed to simulate, male, female, mother-in-law, parental etc. voices. An added bonus is that it would probably decrease the number of times your kids want to borrow the car.

The rationale that the USA, through president Bush, gave for the unilateral invasion of Iraq was not to take sides in a civil war or to end the oppression of the civilians nor to topple the dictator Saddam - it was to preempt the use by Iraq of Weapons of Mass Destruction. By the way, Iraq did not have any WMD's so it was a mistake?

“Important decisions that will affect a nation’s fate or humanity’s fate cannot be left to the referendums! Because such decisions require good knowledge of history; they require a sound reason and a powerful logic and masses often do not have such characteristics!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan Hear that JT?

I translate that into "might is right" and "the end justifies the means". Interesting point of view from someone versed in the history of the Jews.

That is an interesting and expected opinion of someone who has had a career in the military. I am a proud Canadian who is also proud of how our governments have prioritized spending on civilian Canadians rather than more killing machines and career soldiers. I hope the trend continues and we allow the USA to fund those wars which they begin. They start it, they pay to fix it. I can suggest thousands of better uses for the $millions that go into our military every year. As to our veterans, especially those injured on the job, I agree that their compensation is lacking. I see our government attempting to treat then just like the rest of civil servants as to injury and disability but the public wants them treated better than the regular policeman, firefighter or .... who works in a dangerous job while employed by our government. As to NATO, I think we are doing our share considering that Canada has not instigated any action in which NATO has had to intervene. I would like to see Canada's role as peacekeepers and one of the worlds impartial negotiators who can help solve world conflicts rather than add to them. Army Guy paints a bleak (and accurate) picture of the current state of our military. It has always been that way and that is why I had never seriously considered a career in the military and would generally advise against it - except for the few who have the personality to thrive under that system. Oh Canada, What a wonderful place to live!

I can only speak for myself and I have no questions for you. I have seen your attitude and I really do not care what you think so why should I question you?

No, it is about my views on the importance of Iran in the Middle East. That is why I started it. Thank you for caring.

Yes - "You are not a bad child but you did a bad thing". It sure works with children!

You may be the only one laughing.

The ball boy should not talk to the players and coaches unless he is asked. I'll tell you when I need something fetched.

You may have noticed that the question was posed not to you but to someone whom I respect on this board and someone who has intelligent things to say. But I guess that if you responded only to those who wanted and asked your opinion then you would have no posts here. But that's just my guess.

Great idea!! But can I cash in my warning points for anything?

Why do I keep imagining Holmes and Moriarity in a deathly embrace plummeting into the Reichenbach Falls?

Perhaps warning points and suspensions should be dealt with similar to bit coins. Posters could trade so many warnings for a suspension and vice versa. Brave New World!

An interesting perspective. In Syria, the rebels are the good guys and the legitimate government the bad guys and we support the rebels. In Iraq, the rebels (ISIS) are the bad guys and the American installed government in Iraq are the good guys so we support the good guys. ISIS is seen by the Sunnis as their legitimate government. I mentioned here a couple of years ago to take a map of Iraq and Syria and overlay a transparency of the areas that are Sunni - Areas in both Iraq and Syria. If you bothered to do that then you would see the areas currently controlled by ISIS. Why is that surprising? As to what is recognized by the UN or the West - what has that got to do with the folks on the ground? If the Sunnis want to form their own country they will do so. What are they supposed to do, process a referendum and present it to the American puppets in Iraq and Assad? As to a danger to the rest of the world, I will believe that when they try to extend their influence beyond Sunni borders. Even then they would have to create and build an air force and rent a few warships to cross the oceans. As to how this army was created - When the USA invaded and defeated the Iraqi forces the USA basically fired ALL of the members of their military. Of course they told them to go home and find a job. There is no Unemployment Insurance in Iraq so how were these guys (and families) supposed to survive? They had one skill - soldiering! As to blaming the USA - I blame Bin Laden for starting this fiasco. But he was a fanatic anti-American and apparently a lot smarter than the Americans President and their government. Looking for revenge, Bush sent American troops into the Middle East and created that ever destructive imbalance in their societies. America destroys governments leaving voids. All kinds of chaos breaks out. All kinds of wars break out. All kinds of refugees are created and spill into Europe - causing major problems in Europe - including this latest Brexit. As to how the "world" reacts to horrific actions in other nations - I suggest that it depends on the nation and what resources is has that are needed for the "world". What about Rwanda , Tiananmen square, Chechnya and the prosecution of Palestinians in Israel? As to the make-up, of ISIS: "In pre-war Iraq, the regular army was thought to have between 300,000 and 350,000 men organized into five corps and 16 divisions." "The Republican Guard was believed to have between 60,000 and 70,000 men, organized into six divisions." and "The elite Special Republican Guard was thought to number some 15,000 men drawn from the most loyal of the regime's supporters." When the USA took over ALL these military men were booted out - where would they go and what would they do? Yes, understand your enemy or you will never defeat it. I think I understand it.