Tag: Middle East

Five Ways the Newest Story in Iraq and Syria is... That There Is No New Story

It isn’t just the heat. Warming could create new dustbowls in the Middle East, making raising enough food impossible.

“The lesson to be learned is that when you commit acts of violence against other nations and their people you may be able to get away with it for some time, but there will come a time when they will come after you with a vengeance, seeking revenge.”

Ben, we bloggers will all miss you, as will all the standup comedians.

And no kidding, that’s the literal truth when it comes to war, American-style.

“In her great piece, Sara Gray makes the connection between kids playing at 'first person shooter games' and being in live combat. She explains how these kinds of games desensitize heavy players to images of violence- thus, isn't it easy to imagine shooting someone in real life when you spend all day simulating shooting someone?”

“It is so sad to see Muslim extremists reverting to 12th-century brutality and American ‘patriots’ regressing to 19th-century behavior.”

And if anyone says the analogy between Vietnam and the current conflict is debatable, that’s just the point. Rather than a rush to yet more war, it’s time to have a real national debate on the subject.

“What we need is a Higher World Order where building nations is more profitable than destroying them; conducting fair trade with other nations is more mutually beneficial than occupying them and stealing their resources; and living in a multi-polar world is more peaceful and profitable than one nation hopelessly clinging on to a dangerous fantasy of a unipolar world.”

We can't defend everything, not without losing everything in the process. We should be ashamed to be such a fear-based society here in the home of the brave.