Well the wind finally stopped yesterday afternoon and the rain along with it . . . well at least for now. More rain is on the way and Friday promises to be wet. With colder temperatures and rain wherre I am, the mountains behind my house are guaranteed to be getting snow. Some of the local ski hills are scheduling to open this weekend, Some did not open at all or only for short periods last year because of the lack of snow. May this year be better for them. Today is a "lazy" day with 2 chores . . . the litterbox and some laundry, mostly linens. Of course, I have tomorrow's articles and cat snuggling too!
Puzzle — Today’s took me 2:48 (average 4:24). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes
Alternet — Twitter user @HistOpinion (Historical Opinion) tweeted out polls from 1939 and 1938 showing what Americans thought of political refugees, most of whom were Jewish, on the eve of World War II. On the question, "What’s your attitude towards allowing German, Austrian & other political refugees to come into the US?" the numbers are, in retrospect, devastating:
Indeed, a fear of "Jewish-Bolshevism" was very real as Juan Cole noted in Truth Dig:
Jews were also seen by some US Neanderthals as having socialist tendencies and so were kept out as radicals. There was talk of the Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy. (Hatred of Jews was irrational, so that they were blamed for being bankers [they were less than 1 percent of bankers] at the same time they were excoriated for being Marxists.) There was also the Society for the Defense of Christianity, so fundamentalists did their part.
An article in the Huffington Post takes a more personal look at the issue of admitting refugees, postulating that we should be proclaiming "never again" when it comes to ethnic refugees desperately fleeing their foe. Anti-refugee attitudes of the late 1930s have returned with a new Islamic target.
Déjà-vu? I am inclined to think that the hysteria exhibited by many politicians, particularly Republicans, is reminiscent of the 1930s. There are parallels that we should examine if the "never again" is to survive. It is true that there have been genocides in the world since WWII, but none on the magnitude of the Holocaust. We must ensure "never again" is very literally NEVER AGAIN and be compassionate.
Daily Kos — How ISIS is funded:
As ISIS fighters expand their control, it is in the border region, in villages like Besaslan, where the Islamic State group can make some of the money it needs to finance its wars. Oil-smuggling operations involving millions of barrels have recently been uncovered […]
Besides revenue from oil smuggling, the group receives money through donations from wealthy sympathizers in countries including Qatar and Kuwait.
There’s a reason the US is bombing ISIS/Daesh’s oil infrastructure.
"We know the oil funds more than 50 percent of ISIL's operations," Warren said, using an acronym for Islamic State. "This is something we want to take away from them."
Iraqi soldiers guarding Baiji oil refinery after taking back from Daesh
Click through for the rest of the article. In an article from the Wall Street Journal: U.S. Airstrikes Target Islamic State Oil Assets
The U.S. has stepped up its attacks on Islamic State’s industrial base, striking more than 100 tanker trucks used to transport oil that helps the militant group earn tens of millions of dollars each month, an American military spokesman said Monday.
I remember hearing a saying about defeating something: you must cut off the head of the snake so the body will die. This seems appropriate for Daesh. Remove the source of much of its funding and Daesh will be weakened, perhaps easier to defeat.
Think Progress — Responding to the Paris attacks in an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, presidential candidate and former governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) said that he could not think of any group targeting innocent civilians except for radical Muslims. Huckabee used this argument to justify the intensifying call for discriminatory policies toward Muslims seeking refugee status.
Click through for some statistics on terrorist attacks. To quote Assistant Attorney General John Carlin,
“[O]ver the past few years, more people have died in this country in attacks by domestic extremists than in attacks associated with international terrorist groups,” “[I]t doesn’t get discussed as much as it should.”
My Universe — One of these is different. Can you tell which one it is?
9 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 19/11/2015”
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4:11 Cats can certainly put you in your place, can't they?
AlterNet – Though I wasn't around, my reading throughout life has made this pretty clear to me, and yes, I see what goes around coming around again. I might note that Islam was founded by Arabs who, like Jews, considered Abraham their father (through Ishmael. That is why Islam is often referred to as the third Abrahamic religion.) "Semitic" refers to Shem, one of the sons of Noah, who considerably pre-dated Abraham. So Islamophobia is not separate from anti-Semitism, it IS anti-Semitism. Republicans, and, alas, some others, need to put that in their pipes and smoke it.
DKos – Yes, well, they are getting a lot of support from our "friend" Saudi Arabia as well. Evil always seems to be able to get money from somewhere. Look at the GOP.
Think Progress – Huckabee can't even tell that Josh Duggar is a child molester. What does he know? And why do so many people listen to him?
Universe – Those poor innocent puppies are sleeping with Mitch McConnell? Say it isn't so!
3:44
Thousands of Jews died because the US denied them entry.
I fully agree that we should interdict the daesh's oil sales.
Upchuckabee forgot other groups targeting innocent civilians: the Republican Party, and dozens of police departments.
Is that Bought Bitch Mitch with those dawgs?
I hope you're feeling better.
AlterNet/HuffPo: The charts/graphs speak for themselves, from 1938-1939 to the sentiment of taking in refugees today. Yes, now is the time to have compassion and help as many as we can.
DK: I saw the video of the tankers being zapped. Hit them where it hurts.
My Universe: How adorable. I love how he/she is napping with the furbabies.
Well, we're supposed to have some more rain, and cooler temps here. But, for this Jersey lady living in Texas, anything below 65 is cold to me. lol. Hope that you have a relaxing evening, Thanks, Lynn.
*oops, missed the likeness about McConnell looking like a turtle. My bad. LOL!
Alternet- It is amazing to me how this kind of thing happens: Just today I picked up a novel by Arthur Miller, called "Focus," which I inherited from my grandparents-along with numerous ohte books. I'v been bringing this along with the rest of my life for over 40 years.
Having had no idea of its theme, I was surprised to find that it is set in WW2 Queens, N.Y., and deals with Anti-Semitism, as it was insinuated in our culture at the time (not that it's all gone, yet), and here the issue of refugees on your thread refers to Jewish refugees, and the fear of "the other!"
As TC noted, "Thousands of Jews died because the US denied them entry." And, I expect, most Americans, at the time, gave not a damn.
RE: ISIS and its funding- So who is it that ISIS is selling its smuggled oil???? Are not those bastards accountable?
Or, do they not actually know the source of the stuff…really?
Just a small "housekeeping" note – there'll be no "Friday Fun" tomorrow because I'll be having surgery for my carpal tunnel syndrome early tomorrow morning.
(Thoughts, prayers, etc. are always welcome)
Alternet: Sadly, there is a great similarity to then and now. Fear mongoring is at an all time high when we have 24 hour tv telling people how dangerous the refugees are. Shame on anyone who would refuse to help these people who have been driven from their homes.
Daily Kos: If Isil were being funded by wind or solar power, the GOP would be all over itself trying to defund their energy sources. Big oil is a BIG contributor to our government reps, so they cannot afford to offend them.
Think Progress: I shared this on Facebook. I am so tired of hearing about the war on Christians and how all Syrians are terrorists.
My Universe: Cute!
Good luck with your chores and article research, Lynn, they'll make the reward of cat snuggling taste even sweeter. There's a dry spell in the rainy and stormy weather too, so I'll soon be on my way to do some shopping.
Alternet & Huffington Post: I fear I see even more things than just the scapegoating and consequent fear for a minority that remind me of the 1930s, Lynn. The steady move of politicians and their base to the right, a crisis which turns a large number of people into poor while the bankers continue to make ridiculous profits, politicians using the division between the rich and the poor to stir hatred against minorities and even more against those coming into the country, the zealotry of the religious right… all to reminiscent of the 1930s.
I knew my own country has some very dark pages in its history regarding the refusal to let Jewish refugees in, something we love to forget and instead claim how many Jews were given refuge by individual Dutch. America seems to have the same blame it tries to ignore. Worse, both countries are on the verge of repeating the mistake. But then the situation is getting to be very much like that in the 1930's, so it shouldn't be such a surprise.
Daily Kos: Big Oil has no qualms buying crude oil pumped up by Da'esh, it's a bargain they can't resist, can they. So the remaining 50% of the oil income will still be available to them as long as the Big Oil companies keep turning a blind eye and keep buying it. And of course Qatar and Saudi Arabia need to stop financially (and morally?) supporting Da'esh because it attacks their enemy, Iran, for them. Da'esh is little more than a bunch of mercenaries to them.
Think Progress: Huckabee's lying to rouse his rabid base to oppose the entry of Syrian refugees is hate speech in my book.
My Universe: Looks like McConnell is trying to get to the top and be king of the mountain again.
The seeds of the terrorist movement ISIS were planted at the beginning of "W"s Iraq war. The Suni ,s and the Suni army were disbanded by Paul Bremner(as ordered by Bush Cheney Rice etc,etc,) Saddam,of course was a Suni. They were however replaced by a Shiite government and chaos occured. . had this NOT heppened there would have been much less death and destruction as they were a very disciplined effective group.They were then pushed out by Malaki and his"government and we all know what a great bunch they were!!. This was the start of their growing anger. Mostly ISIS has many Suni,s. . Thanks again "W' and friends your death toll is increasing.(and all because of abunch of LIARS) who wanted OIL and profits. Now the Refugees are being rejected ,(especially in the USA> ) why don,t "our" representives,sp called ,tell the truth? Heaven forbid.