Two men accused of plotting terror attacks at LGBTQ+ bars in the Detroit area

Source: Associated Press

Two men who had acquired high-powered weapons and practiced at gun ranges were scouting LGBTQ+ bars in suburban Detroit for a possible attack....
Momed Ali, Majed Mahmoud and co-conspirators were inspired by the Islamic State group’s extremism, according to a 72-page criminal complaint unsealed in federal court.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/michigan-arrests-terror-plot-f47736ddf21df6614f75fb932d6aeac4

a logical dispassionate analysis of the Hamas - Israeli war

Can Erika McEntarfer sue trump for libel?

He may have the legal right to fire her, but does he have a right to make untrue statements that damage her professional reputation?

the difference between genocide and collateral damage

Listen to an Arab Israeli

Reply to "The fall of Israel": Governments make war and innocent people suffer

The German government started a war and 600,000 German civilians, including children, were killed by allied air raids.

The Japanese government started a war and almost one million Japanese civilians, including children, were killed. (About 250,000 were killed by the atomic bombs, the rest were killed by air raids.)

Hamas is the government of Gaza. Hamas started a war with Israel. Civilians in Gaza are suffering.

After the second bomb fell on Nagasaki the Japanese Supreme Council was deadlocked on the issue of surrender. The emperor intervened, declaring that continuing the war would lead to the destruction of the nation. He therefore decided to accept the Allied terms for surrender. Hamas can likewise end the suffering in Gaza by surrendering and returning the hostages. But they will not because they see all Palestinians, including children, as soldiers in the war to eradicate Israel. This is why Hamas does not distinguish between military and civilian deaths. All Palestinians, according to Hamas, should be martyrs to the cause. Israel is not trying to kill all Palestinians (that would be actual genocide), they are trying to defeat Hamas. Unfortunately in this war Israel's enemy is hiding behind civilians in a high density urban area. The suffering will end when Hamas either surrenders or is defeated.

People who blame Israel for the suffering need to answer this question; what should Israel do about Hamas?
Should Israel simply stop the fighting and allow Hamas to continue their rule of Gaza and wait for the next October 7th?

Should Israel leave Gaza? Remember Israel withdrew completely from Gaza in 2005. Since then Gaza had been an autonomous self-governing region. After 2005 Gaza received billions in foreign aid. Instead of using the money to build a nation, Hamas used the money to build tunnels underneath schools and hospitals, and buy rockets to fire into Israel. They did this because they believe it is their holy mission to destroy Israel, even if they have to sacrifice their own children.

I am not saying Israel is blameless, they are not. Israel has made many mistakes, particularly on the West Bank. I also believe that Netanyahu is more interested in staying out of jail then ending the war. However all the problems come from one source; the refusal of Hamas, and others like them, to accept the existence of a Jewish nation in the middle of the Arab Muslim world. It is that one fundamental attitude that is the source of all problems. Imagine how different history would be if the Arab countries had accepted the 1948 partition.

Does the tariff on Saudi Arabia include oil?

Remember, oil is more then just gasoline, it's a main ingredient in plastic.

I just watched the entire 50 minute press conference. It was going alright until Vance opened his mouth.

Vance attacked Zelinsky in a way that was certain to ignite trump.

who is responsible for naming oceans and seas?

Is there some international body in charge of nomenclature for international waters, or is it just tradition? Asking for someone else.

This election is the successful fruition of a 40 year plan.

In the 1980’s it became clear that the country would have a non-white majority by the middle of the 21st century.
Democrats looked at this trend and thought “great, all we have to do is wait and our party will inevitably grow bigger. Demographics is fate and it favors us.”

Republicans, particularly the billionaire elite of the party, looked at the same trend and thought “We can no longer rely on race alone to maintain our power. We must find a way to maintain and increase our power while our numbers get smaller.” Thus the long term plan was hatched.

The plan, conceived to take decades to complete, entails the following:
• Step 1: Oligarchy cannot exist while there is a effective system of checks and balances. It was the courts that upheld worker’s rights, minority rights, individual rights, and which limited government powers. The courts, especially the Supreme Court, must be brought under control. This would be a long slow process but is absolutely necessary.
• Step 2: Use religion to gain support from people who have no economic reason to support republicans.
• Step 3: Institute policies, such as tax policy, to transfer wealth to the aforementioned billionaire elite.
• Step 4: Rely on classic scapegoating techniques in order to distract people from the real cause of their problems. Use racial, ethnic, and gender bias to divide people.
• Step 5: Use propaganda to convince people that traditional institutions are no longer valid.
Once these steps are successful people will be eager to accept the rule of one man who can fix all of the problems they think they have.

This is the plan that people like the Kochs’, DuPonts’, and Cargills’ have been funding and orchestrating since the 1980’s with the cooperation of GOP leaders. It is a plan that Hillary Clinton called “a vast right wing conspiracy”, and Bill Maher calls “a slow moving coup.” The plan is on the brink of complete success.