It seems Iraq is in a melt down phase right now..again.

[Value Buy]

Jun 24, 2014 23:10:50 GMT -5 b2r said:

Jun 24, 2014 18:45:11 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Makes me laugh.

Just saw NBC Nightly News from Iraq. they show ISIS "troops" using the term lightly, manning American Humvees taken from deserting Iraqi military, driven by men, manned with kids, probably, 12 years of age with automatic weapons in hand.

I guess ISIS has no qualms about using kids as cannon fodder.

 www.arretsurimages.net/media/breve/s177/id17605/original.72292.demi.png

Now, everyone has to admit that was funny.

[djAdvocate]

Jun 24, 2014 23:14:10 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Jun 24, 2014 23:10:50 GMT -5 b2r said:

 www.arretsurimages.net/media/breve/s177/id17605/original.72292.demi.png

Now, everyone has to admit that was funny.

i don't get it.  but please don't explain it.  i have no time for Twitter Memes. 

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Jun 24, 2014 23:38:18 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Jun 24, 2014 23:14:10 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Now, everyone has to admit that was funny.

i don't get it.  but please don't explain it.  i have no time for Twitter Memes. 

[djAdvocate]

Jun 25, 2014 0:56:04 GMT -5 Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger said:

Jun 24, 2014 23:38:18 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

i don't get it.  but please don't explain it.  i have no time for Twitter Memes. 

why is it stupid, aham?

[Virgil Showlion]

He's shaking his head since the humour is obvious.

Michelle Obama was outspoken in her support for #BringBackOurGirls, a Twitter campaign relating to the Boko Haram schoolgirl kidnappings. Many Americans were less than enamoured of the campaign. The US is supposed to be a world power that sends in the Navy SEALs, crushes its enemies, and safely recovers any 200 kidnapped school girls it happens to take an interest in. But a Twitter campaign with a bunch of people "tweeting" bits of gibberish with the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag? Even staunch Obama supporters couldn't quite figure out what it was supposed to accomplish. Ordinarily that kind of campaign is used to raise public awareness to put pressure on the government to do something. But when it's the government itself who's running the campaign?

Suffice it to say that many Americans saw the campaign as a way for Pres. Obama to do nothing while still (barely) looking as though he cared, and they were embarrassed by US foreign policy being reduced to the status of twittering. They didn't particularly care that Mrs. Obama's heart was in the right place.

Flash forward to the current turmoil in Iraq, and the implications of the image are obvious. The US does nothing while militants overrun nations where the US has a foreign interest. #BringBackOurHumvee is a reference to the circulating video of the US humvee captured by ISIS militants. The image is an Obama critic (or supposedly the militants themselves) mocking Pres. Obama and Mrs. Obama, basically saying "What are you going to do? Wage a Twitter campaign against us?"

[billisonboard]

Jun 25, 2014 7:39:50 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

He's shaking his head since the humour is obvious.

Michelle Obama was outspoken in her support for #BringBackOurGirls, a Twitter campaign relating to the Boko Haram schoolgirl kidnappings. ...

Not being a follower of First Lady trivial actions, I missed it also. Thank you for explaining it.

[Virgil Showlion]

I'm going to be very curious to see whether a new border springs up along the Euphrates. A good friend of mine has a longstanding theory concerning that.

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Jun 25, 2014 8:16:35 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

I'm going to be very curious to see whether a new border springs up along the Euphrates. A good friend of mine has a longstanding theory concerning that.

Considering the advances in Jordan, Gaza, Lebanon, and the attacks on the Iranian boarder; the next couple of months are going to be interesting indeed.

[Spellbound454]

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nigerian-schoolgirl-kidnappings-us-task-force-on-the-ground-as-hunt-for-missing-girls-intensifies-9344066.html

Michelle Obama was outspoken in her support for #BringBackOurGirls, a Twitter campaign relating to the Boko Haram schoolgirl kidnappings. Many Americans were less than enamoured of the campaign. The US is supposed to be a world power that sends in the Navy SEALs, crushes its enemies, and safely recovers any 200 kidnapped school girls it happens to take an interest in. But a Twitter campaign with a bunch of people "tweeting" bits of gibberish with the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag? Even staunch Obama supporters couldn't quite figure out what it was supposed to accomplish. Ordinarily that kind of campaign is used to raise public awareness to put pressure on the government to do something. But when it's the government itself who's running the campaign?

Suffice it to say that many Americans saw the campaign as a way for Pres. Obama to do nothing while still (barely) looking as though he cared, and they were embarrassed by US foreign policy being reduced to the status of twittering. They didn't particularly care that Mrs. Obama's heart was in the right place.

The US sent a task force to Nigeria........and our Special forces were on stand-by (but I don't know if they have gone)

It seems pretty sensible......You can hardly send a battalion through the jungle... they'll just get in the way.........You just want the guys who know what they are doing.
They know where these girls are and the plan is to get them out alive.

The Twitter campaign was an enormous success.
Girls supporting other girls........ which reached out to areas of the world where girls aren't valued. 

[djAdvocate]

Virgil: please explain something to me....

how was someone who was BARELY aware of the original tweet (i couldn't remember any of the details) and totally unaware of the HumVee "issue" supposed to get that joke?  i am straining to imagine something less obvious.

[Virgil Showlion]

You definitely have to be aware of both issues to get the joke, DJ.

Having said that, it would be hard to miss either one if you're a consumer of US mainstream news. Michelle Obama's campaign featured prominently in the news cycle for weeks, and the video of the stolen Humvee seemed to be playing on an endless loop on CNN and NBC last weekend, along with videos of mass executions being perpetrated by ISIS.

They were "what's for dinner" in the MSM.

[djAdvocate]

what i stated in post 148 is 100% true.  i knew NOTHING about the HumVee "issue" before your post.

i have mentioned this at least a dozen times on the board, but i will do so again, now: i have not had cable since 1995.  and i generally ignore the MSM.  they don't actually report news, imo.  the ONLY time i see stuff on the MSM is when it makes it to a video service, and is of enough interest for me to click on it**.

regarding the dinner comment: no wonder so many North Americans are horribly overweight.   

so, again:

"nobody could miss it" = false.  i missed it.  can't say that it makes me sad that i did, for the record.

i find it amazing that you find it surprising.  the MSM is way more of a mess than i thought.

**edit: actually, that is not entirely true.  i sometimes watch TV when i am stuck in a hotel.  that has not happened to me since last November, tho.  when i traveled to Austin this year, i stayed at a house, and i never turned on the TV.

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Umm.... english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/06/22/NGO-Syria-jihadists-now-using-Humvees-seized-in-Iraq-.html

[Deleted]

Jun 25, 2014 16:12:02 GMT -5 Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger said:

Umm.... english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/06/22/NGO-Syria-jihadists-now-using-Humvees-seized-in-Iraq-.html

Which is why we shouldn't leave any of our assets "in country" when we depart a country. Any "toys" we can't take home (for WHATEVER reason) when done playing in a foreign sandbox... we should shoot with LAWS rockets or line up and strafe with an AC-130 Gunship... as we are departing.

[djAdvocate]

Jun 25, 2014 16:12:02 GMT -5 Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger said:

Umm.... english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/06/22/NGO-Syria-jihadists-now-using-Humvees-seized-in-Iraq-.html

alarabiya?  wtf is that?

[Deleted]

Jun 25, 2014 19:09:24 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Jun 25, 2014 16:12:02 GMT -5 Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger said:

Umm.... english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/06/22/NGO-Syria-jihadists-now-using-Humvees-seized-in-Iraq-.html

alarabiya?  wtf is that?

It's another Arabian news source... like Al-Jazeera.

[mmhmm]

Jun 25, 2014 14:58:13 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

what i stated in post 148 is 100% true.  i knew NOTHING about the HumVee "issue" before your post.

i have mentioned this at least a dozen times on the board, but i will do so again, now: i have not had cable since 1995.  and i generally ignore the MSM.  they don't actually report news, imo.  the ONLY time i see stuff on the MSM is when it makes it to a video service, and is of enough interest for me to click on it**.

regarding the dinner comment: no wonder so many North Americans are horribly overweight.   

so, again:

"nobody could miss it" = false.  i missed it.  can't say that it makes me sad that i did, for the record.

i find it amazing that you find it surprising.  the MSM is way more of a mess than i thought.

**edit: actually, that is not entirely true.  i sometimes watch TV when i am stuck in a hotel.  that has not happened to me since last November, tho.  when i traveled to Austin this year, i stayed at a house, and i never turned on the TV.

Don't feel like the Lone Stranger, dj.  I don't watch TV and generally avoid the big news purveyors and talking heads. I'll scan headlines and read what intrigues me. I didn't know about the Humvee, either.

[Virgil Showlion]

I'm not getting on your case about it. I'm just answering your questions.

[EVT1]

Jun 25, 2014 19:27:41 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

Jun 25, 2014 19:09:24 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

alarabiya?  wtf is that?

It's another Arabian news source... like Al-Jazeera.

And? Al-Jazeera is a more trustable source of news than a lot of bullshit operating in this country.  Just saying.

[Deleted]

Jun 25, 2014 21:36:09 GMT -5 EVT1 said:

Jun 25, 2014 19:27:41 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

It's another Arabian news source... like Al-Jazeera.

And? Al-Jazeera is a more trustable source of news than a lot of bullshit operating in this country.  Just saying.

And what?

I was answering a question. I didn't say anything about the veracity of their reporting, just describing what they are/were.

But, since you brought it up: Al-Jazeera is about as trustworthy as US News "sources". They ALL put their own spin on their reporting. It's all a question of who's spin does the purveyor of the news prefer.

[EVT1]

As I said- just saying.

But one real sick thing about this country- if you want the real news you have to shop elsewhere. The media here is a joke.

[Deleted]

Jun 25, 2014 22:43:26 GMT -5 EVT1 said:

As I said- just saying.

But one real sick thing about this country- if you want the real news you have to shop elsewhere. The media here is a joke.

Or you have to KNOW the media here is a joke, and balance it out by using multiple sources with opposing "spin", before you decide your own opinion.

[EVT1]

Jun 25, 2014 22:50:26 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

Jun 25, 2014 22:43:26 GMT -5 EVT1 said:

As I said- just saying.

But one real sick thing about this country- if you want the real news you have to shop elsewhere. The media here is a joke.

Or you have to KNOW the media here is a joke, and balance it out by using multiple sources with opposing "spin", before you decide your own opinion.

I'd love to know your sources in this country for the real news. Fair question- where do you get your information from?

I see a news story here- and I look at the left, the right, the middle, and then what other countries are saying. What do you do?

Are you like PBP-  going to just throw out baseless accusation and run away?

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Jun 25, 2014 19:07:34 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

Jun 25, 2014 16:12:02 GMT -5 Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger said:

Umm.... english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/06/22/NGO-Syria-jihadists-now-using-Humvees-seized-in-Iraq-.html

Which is why we shouldn't leave any of our assets "in country" when we depart a country. Any "toys" we can't take home (for WHATEVER reason) when done playing in a foreign sandbox... we should shoot with LAWS rockets or line up and strafe with an AC-130 Gunship... as we are departing.

That would be a great plan for sure!

What truly makes me sick about this situation is that Russia truly was an occupying force in Afghanistan. The west, in particular the US, helps the freedom fighters regain their country. Then because OBL gets pissed off at his old man for asking for the US's help in the 90's, he launches a war and draws the west into battle. We spend billions to help the common person and its all for not because theses "holy warriors" are against western values.(Especially the equality for women part).

The reason it's worked so well? No one is perfect and some bad decisions were made, so the propeganda has bite to it. This is why I say let them fight(they have been since before the US was even a country) this is China's problem now anyway.

[Virgil Showlion]

Jun 26, 2014 8:29:03 GMT -5 deminmaine said:

Jun 25, 2014 8:16:35 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

I'm going to be very curious to see whether a new border springs up along the Euphrates. A good friend of mine has a longstanding theory concerning that.

Really?  I'd be curious to see the scenario and the reasoning.  I don't see the Euphrates as a border at all.  Care to share?

It has to do with end-times Biblical prophecy.

A massive army from the east will come west, but is stopped at the Euphrates for a short time. The scriptures don't say why. My friend has theorized that it's because the Euphrates will mark a national border that will have major implications if crossed. He believes that when the Middle East reaches its end-time configuration, one of the national borders will lie at least partway along the Euphrates.

It's just speculation, and we obviously don't know the exact timing or how many reconfigurations might occur, but my friend is obviously keeping a close eye on Iraq. Prophetic milestones have been rearing their heads since the 1990's; the events in Europe and the Middle East bear watching.

[djAdvocate]

Jun 25, 2014 21:36:09 GMT -5 EVT1 said:

Jun 25, 2014 19:27:41 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

It's another Arabian news source... like Al-Jazeera.

And? Al-Jazeera is a more trustable source of news than a lot of bullshit operating in this country.  Just saying.

i had no idea what it was.  i like AJ.  they don't report on Obama tweets. 

[EVT1]

Jun 26, 2014 9:04:57 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Jun 26, 2014 8:29:03 GMT -5 deminmaine said:

Really?  I'd be curious to see the scenario and the reasoning.  I don't see the Euphrates as a border at all.  Care to share?

It has to do with end-times Biblical prophecy.

A massive army from the east will come west, but is stopped at the Euphrates for a short time. The scriptures don't say why. My friend has theorized that it's because the Euphrates will mark a national border that will have major implications if crossed. He believes that when the Middle East reaches its end-time configuration, one of the national borders will lie at least partway along the Euphrates.

It's just speculation, and we obviously don't know the exact timing or how many reconfigurations might occur, but my friend is obviously keeping a close eye on Iraq. Prophetic milestones have been rearing their heads since the 1990's; the events in Europe and the Middle East bear watching.

Does your friend carry a sign on a street corner?

[Spellbound454]

We have had end of world scenarios as long as we have had religion......Everything from Armaggedon to Ragnarok

Its something innate in the human psyche......not prophecy as there is no such thing.

Back on planet Earth. There are people in the Middle East who want an all powerful Caliphate to cover the whole area

Lead by a tyrant..... with the sheeple kept under control with threats of hell-fire and damnation. Totalitarian theocracy.

They are a thousand years too late......People just want a decent standard of living for themselves and their families

and theocracies tend to keep the population poor.

As for news sources. Most sensible people in the US already draw their information from a mixture of sources.

New York Times, BBC, AP, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Channel 4 , RT, Washington Post
The age of the internet means no-one needs to be left in the dark.

[Deleted]

Jun 26, 2014 8:26:47 GMT -5 deminmaine said:

Well, to be fair, we did not just "leave" Humvees or any other viable military asset in Iraq.  We gave them to the capable and trustworthy Iraqi defense forces that we spent billions of dollars to train and equip.  Oops.

Our "investment" in Iraq to date- 4,500 American dead.  100,000 American injured. 100,000 Iraqi dead.  One Trillion American Dollars.

Leave, gave... same difference to me. Our stuff was still there for the bad guys to get, because we didn't bring it home with us.

[Deleted]

Jun 25, 2014 23:04:01 GMT -5 EVT1 said:

Jun 25, 2014 22:50:26 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

Or you have to KNOW the media here is a joke, and balance it out by using multiple sources with opposing "spin", before you decide your own opinion.

I'd love to know your sources in this country for the real news. Fair question- where do you get your information from?

I see a news story here- and I look at the left, the right, the middle, and then what other countries are saying. What do you do?

Are you like PBP-  going to just throw out baseless accusation and run away?

My sources vary... depending on who has a story I see a headline about. I don't actually have a particular list of sources I check to see what they are reporting on FIRST.

I come across something (maybe on an on-line forum, like here) I want to see further, and then I start checking it out. For any particular "current events" story, I may go to Faux News (intentional misspelling), Huffington Post, Yahoo, CNN, BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, whatever "local affiliate" there may be... and yes, even Al Jazeera.

Once a story hunt even took me to the English language version of Pravda (Russian news source... for any that don't know).