Happy MLK Day!

Happy MLK day! I like MLK day. No, really. We get reconditioned holidays all the time. You know, move it to Monday, rename it, but it’s the same old holiday, but MLK day? Brand NEW! And, they did move it to a Monday, so in Texas that’s spelled B R I S K E T. Hey, we Texans would smoke a brisket to celebrate the re-election of Kim Jong Un, ok? For all the Yankee propaganda our necks are just not that red! Shucks, we’ve even got a Texas holiday down here called “June Teenth.” The yankees landed on Galveston Island on June 19th, 1865 and enforced Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation, and every year the state breaks out in Bar B Q to commemorate the event. We don’t freak it up by putting it on a Monday, either. Oh, it started out as a black holiday, but slowly buy surely somebody noticed, “Hey! They’re cooking Bar B Q over there, and EVERYBODY jumped in! For all the clamor about the border we even have a big time on Cinco de Mayo! That’s the Mexican fourth of July for all you Northern boys out there. We don’t like the border situation, but that’s no reason to stop a beer party. 

How many times have you seen a holiday get named after somebody? I’m serious. I mean you have to have a WAR or something to inflict a holiday! And I mean a big one. Curious note: we don’t take off on March 6th, the day the Alamo fell. You gotta start some CRAP to get a holiday! Jesus had to get Himself killed and come back from the DEAD to get a holiday. And Dr. Martin Luther King GOT one! I say! 

But it’s a good holiday. Dr. King’s life, and death, marked a change in America. He took very real issues, wrestled with them and began to turn things around, not only for black folk, but for everybody. When you have a situation such as existed in the deep south in the 50’s it didn’t just hurt minorities, it hurt everybody. The “Back of the bus” mentality filtered down. Anybody out there remember “vagrancy” laws? Yeah, if you didn’t have a job you could go to JAIL! Good thing we did away with those because under Obama we wouldn’t have jails enough! Sitting on your butt, doing nothing was a misdemeanor.   If sitting on your butt were still a crime we’d have to arrest the entire congress!

Of all the protestors, Black Panthers, weird groups with weirder flags, only Dr. King is remembered with a national holiday. Wanna know why? Because he really DID change things! He didn’t just make a few speeches, write a few books, get on the “View,” he went to Washington DC and got laws passed to enforce the constitution! Oh, and he was a Republican, too. Always liked that. And he wasn’t like Al (pass the plate) Sharpton, either. While he had to concentrate on the segregation laws he did not ignore everyone else. The underlying theme to all he said and did was that he worked for a better America! Poor Dr. King. I’m glad he can't see what America has become now. Ask yourself, what would Dr. King have to say about Gay Marriage, Fast and Furious, OBAMA? You KNOW what he’d have to say. He would rip out that King James, run his fingers down the pages, and find  passages the POPE didn’t know were there! 

So, today we honor someone who came along and really DID something. For all the people screaming about  Michael Brown, for all the rhetoric spewed out by the likes of Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson, for all the Whoopie nonsense on the View (Did you hear they’re getting cancelled?) this one man made a difference, for ALL of us. I miss Dr. King!

 

The Book of Life

Life is like a baseball game with a crazy pitcher who never pays attention to the signals the catcher is giving. You can plan, scheme, have it all down, and the very next pitch is a strike, and you’re one step closer to “out!” Nothing is guaranteed in life, nothing! You can get your test results from a doctor, be assured you have thirty more years, and die in the parking lot on the way to your car. That’s why each day is important. A high school cheer leader swerves in front of a semi truck, while texting, yet the homeless man goes on, and on. The pitcher never pays attention to the catcher’s signals.

As you get older you become very aware that this cannot go on forever. Those little aches and pains that used to arise on occasion seem to be a daily occurrence, and you know in your heart that this is not going to change. Oh, you alter your habits, maybe, but that’s only a temporary fix. What works today will not work tomorrow. As you round the corner after sixty or so, if you’re smart, you accept that the end really is near. You will have good days, but then, there will be those days that aren’t so good. You’re not sick, you’re just getting on, and that’s the way it is. 

The fact is age has noting to do with it. When a baby draws its first breath the clock of life begins to tick. Notwithstanding some tragic accident, your biological program is in place, and what you eventually succumb  from is already there. You have your grandmother’s heart, and your father’s blood sugar. It doesn’t matter if you die from a diabetic coma at eight or eighty, the program will play out. Like the song says, “God only knows, God makes His plans, the information’s unavailable to the mortal man.” 

When an old person dies we grieve, but we accept. If the person has been sick for a very long time we are actually relieved, and glad they are no longer suffering, but if the person is young we find ourselves raising our tear fill eyes to the night sky wondering how any of this makes any sense. If you are religious you can find at least some answers in that. If you are not, you must look within yourself. Without the help of faith it is a long and lonely journey. 

When you lose someone they leave a mark on you. The loss will always change your life. If your mind is healthy you will grieve, and you will “get over it,” but you will never forget. Years after you will find yourself on the porch alone at night, and some sound, some smell, some thought, will still bring a tear to your eye, and you suddenly realize, “She’s still HERE!” Somewhere in your memory, and in the memory of all the people you know, your loved ones leave little bits and pieces of themselves, that seem to grow with time. You will tell children stories of your loved one. In time the pain will subside, indeed, you will find the funny stories seem to dominate, and the sad ones, while not going completely away, seem to take a back seat.You count the triumphs, and not the defeats that invariably come to all of us. 

And one day someone will be telling those children stories about you. Write your story well. Live each day as if it were the final chapter in your book of life. Fill your book of life,with wonder because that’s what you really leave in the end. That book can comfort, or hurt. It can range from “We don’t talk about that,” to “Oh, and there was this other time he. . . “ 

We lose so many during our lifetime. But, contrary to what you may think, those losses build us, they do not tear us down. As each book of life goes through final edit toward publication, those chapters fill,  and life  becomes better for those people you leave behind. And it’s good to cry. When you cry over the loss of a loved one it is natural and healthy, but when you cry over the loss of someone else’s loved one it is beautiful. It means that you have connected with someone. It means that their loved one has even touched you, though you may never have met, and in some unexplained way, two souls have touched, and that person left you, too, a page, or a chapter in their book of life. And that’s the book of LIFE, not death! Death is only the publication of the book. At some point we all go to press. 

Life is fleeting. Life is a gift. In a moment of time the sun can burp and blast all the air from this rock we fret over all the time. Live each day, indeed each hour, as if it were your last. The great editor in the sky stands at the door, waiting for copy. We all have a dead line. Set the coffee pot at night, but there is no guarantee you’ll be there to drink it in the morning. And cherish the memories. Just imagine how lonely life would be without them. We are only here for a short while, so write your book of life well. Make it a best seller! 

Laid Back

   In case you didn’t notice I’m fairly laid back. Let me begin by saying I love all  people. No, I really do. I am fascinated by the differences in people. If anything is done in joy, and good fun I’m there! I like Pat Boone, but, also, I like LMFAO, too. California did rub off on me a bit, I’ll admit. I drank the water out there.  I was going through some changes when I got there, and was glad to get back to Texas, but at some point in time I realized you just can’t stay mad ALL the time!  When I hear what the opposition says I listen closely for any grain of truth, not adversity. I home in on that, because that is a point of agreement. If the other side holds to hate, and nonsense I tell them, “The next time you have a thought, just let it go!”

   Now all this having been said I have definite ideas. I just keep a lot of them to myself. I don’t like to alienate friends for holding to beliefs they love and think to be sound. Remember, you have to keep at least two friends because that’s how many handles there are on a garbage can! When I’m nailed down I will stand my ground as diplomatically as possible. For instance, while not being rude I will always maintain that Mohammed was a retired caravan master who dictated the Qu’ran from his many trips across the desert. No angel appeared to him and the Virgin Mary did not dictate my book, “Sharon” to me! If that hurts Muslim feelings there is a Quickie Mart right down the street and they sell Tums! I do believe Jesus rose from the dead simply because nay-sayers have been trying to prove for over 2,000 years that He did NOT. Mohammed uttered his Suras with minions lurking about scribbling ever word down on palm leaves. Jesus never wrote a grocery list! Did the Sermon on the Mount with NO sound equipment nor engineers and we STILL have it. Now Jesus had a method here, but it’s too complicated to get into now, suffice to know I know how He did it and it was a simple fix. 

   The origins of the Qu’ran, and the origins of the Gospels are vastly different. Muslims maintain that the Qu’ran is original, never been changed, and supplants the “errors” of the Bible. Gosh, I wish life were that simple. I hate to be the first one to tell you, but it’s not. You cannot possibly write a book, add 1,600 years, and tell ME it’s original. If you believe that have I got a bridge for YOU, and it’s on SALE! I have a Qu’ran, several actually. I have one from Afghanistan, all in Arabic, or actually some other language they maintain is more “holy” and it’s fairly thin. I didn’t think it was complete until I was told the language therein summed up thoughts with designer symbolism. I also have an “Ali” green Qu’ran, in English, and Arabic, and it is about three inches thick? Why? Well, twenty five percent is Qu’ran, and 75% is OPINIONS and FOOTNOTES explaining the Qu’ran! You think the King James Bible has footnotes, just try an Ali Green Qu’ran! 

   Still, Muslims say that what they have, THEY, not US, is the original, straight from the camel’s back! Verily, Verily, I say unto Thee. . . NOBODY ever sat down and just WROTE a holy book! Mohammed didn’t do it, and Joseph Smith didn’t do it! When you see that just remove the word, “Holy” and you’ve got it just about right! The Gospels were either witnesses accounts, or the stories relayed to people who later wrote them down. That’s why we have the “Gospel According to St. Mark,” and not “The Gospel BY St. Mark.” Oh, but they’re all different. Well, yeah. Shall we look at the grassy knoll? I recently spent a week watching videos and reading papers on the Kennedy assassination and I haven’t found an agreement YET! And, ask yourself. If the Qu’ran is so perfect, so original, please explain Shites and Sunnis to me. I thought they were supposed t be all on one sheet of music. 

   But, returning to my original premise, I’m laid back. When I hear someone sputtering something utterly stupid, so long as they’re not throwing a bomb at me I just let them talk. I really am a Simple Ol’ Boy From Austin. By being that I don’t take seriously any fancy, complicated theory about things. When you start telling me about some “New World Order” I listen, am polite, and move on. I KNOW the world will NEVER cooperate in ANYTHING. Now, a lot of my friends disagree with me, and I respect their opinions. I do see schemes here and there by organizations to direct power and mainly, make more money. Years ago I worked for a gangster. Yes, it’s true. Spelled with an “R,” not an “A.” A real one, not one of these black kids with his hat on backwards and his pants down to his knees, but a real, throw you in the lake with cement shoes GANGSTER! He had three rules: People are stupid, money buys everything, and if you nail two things together that have been nailed together, you’ll get rich! Now, I don’t believe people are stupid, but the other two things I kinda hold to. Money won’t buy everything, but it can RENT a lot! With things like Islam, follow the money. Bin Laden did NOT die in a trailer park! 

   Am I against radical Islam. Why heck yeah! Hang ‘em right in the street for all the people to see! Do I hate all Muslims. Absolutely NOT! You can’t hate an entire people.That’s crazy. Do you subscribe to their ideas. Nope! Do you back up from your personal beliefs. No, again. Once the bombs stop going off Islam will go the way of the Gnostics. They had some pretty goofy ideas too. Boy, this is a deep discussion for a Saturday. I need to go to Spec’s!

Dog's Right To Bite!

We are on the brink of a war. Saw it coming, right off. With the entire civilized world upset about Paris Europe has exploded in a terrorist search, identifying people with connections to ISIS and al Qaeda, and they’re not concerned with civil rights, or privacy! This little cat and mouse game the Muslims have played for years is about to play out! Obama even began to jump into the fray when conferring with British Prime Minister, David Cameron during a joint press conference following a meeting in the Oval Office. Now he “jellyfished” a bit, claiming, “Our Muslim populations (In US) . . . feel themselves to be Americans.” They’d better, because times they are a changing! Twelve suspects were detained for questioning in connection to last week’s attacks in Paris. Germany and Belgium rushed to head off attacks by people with links to Islami terror groups in the Mideast. Later, thirteen more were detained. 

These attacks are everywhere! How quickly we forgot Australia when Paris was attacked. Our entire existence has been altered as various governments scramble to protect citizens from unwarranted attacks. My friend’s letter to me addressed this as she tried to explain the methods behind the attacks, and if you will note, she did NOT ascribe them to any justification streaming from Islam, rather broke down the mechanics to the people behind the terrorism. Follow the money! The world has began to turn in its approach to this warped sense of “religion” that is destabilizing the entire world.    

Now we must finish the job! Arresting just the terrorists you find in place is not enough. If you only kill the roaches you see you STILL have roaches! The Mideast IS the problem! Yeah, yeah, yeah, the average Arab is not involved, but if they see that these shenanigans will not be tolerated at ALL, then perhaps we will see the decline of Islam. Good people are going to get hurt. Smart bombs are not that smart! There ARE good people in the Middle East. Always remember ONE good man fingered Osama and he paid dearly for it.  The time is right to let these rouge nations know there is a price for actions. The world is tired of Islam! The world it fed up with crazy ideologies that put everything at risk. I think yesterday I told you that it would be sad if innocent people got hurt, but people, that’s the way it REALLY works! The time for any “good” Muslims to stand up is NOW. The time to be vocal is now.  I thought this would launch in Texas, but it seems that mopping up all that blood brought the French to their senses. 

No matter what I say here, there is no stopping this. And this isn’t just the actions of governments, imagine what the people will begin to do when they are not beneath Mohammed’s sandal any longer. You will see riots in the streets. You will see Qu’ran burnings. You will see mob violence. This is coming, and it’s darn well TIME! You will see women dressed in Islamic garb being thrown out of grocery stores. I know, I know, you’ll say, “Oh, Wilbur, that’s awful!” Twelve dead Frenchmen! Have you ever seen twelve dead people? I have. I saw more than that at Luby’s. The Muslims got upset over a cartoon of Mohammed? Save your fork, folks. The best is yet to come. Still, I find it hard to hate on, or condemn an entire people. I look for good in everyone. Perhaps I’m wrong. Religion is man’s feeble attempt to explain the unexplainable. 

In fifty years historians will  write about how unjust these events were. They will analyze and reason, but know what? They won’t have to duck a bomb as they write. There is a great pendulum in the sky. It swings to and fro. Fro’s here bros, and no one can stop itß. The Islamists want to kill the “Infidel.” Ok, I’ll go with that, but like I said, I believe is playing by the rules THEY set. The tail has wagged the dog long enough,  and even a nice dog has the right to bite. 

Number Five Texas Butt Whipping

As hard as it is to believe, even I can make a mistake! Sometimes I get beside myself and little "Yankee" comes out and I go all PC. That's what being a "Simple Ol' Boy" is all about. I step back, take a look, and address the situation in it's basic components. Alas, yesterday was one of those times. While I do not retract anything I wrote, except that note I sent to my wife's kid sister back in '91 (I'm sorry I did that Lord, I promise I won't do that again) I will say trying to write about Islam in a fair and balanced way is a little like picking up an ugly girl, a twelve pack, and hoping everything will go right because you turned off the lights!

Pardon me while I climb out here on this limb, and start sawing between me and the trunk. I am a product of my region and my times, and as much as I try to be cosmopolitan the “Texas” in me comes out invariably. I’m the guy who doesn’t care which fork to use because I’m eating with my fingers anyway. I’m the idiot who’s trying to hold a conversation with a beautiful girl and can’t stop looking at her legs. I’m the bozo who tries to show a black person that I’m not a racist by talking about how much I love watermelon. 

If you write nice things about the Jews you make the Muslims mad. You say anything civil about Muslims, and here come the Jews! And ALL the Christians jump on you. Why can’t everybody just be a Southern Baptist? Ok, let’s get something straight.  I don’t give a FLIP about the Middle East. I would rather ride a MoPed for the rest of my life than burn one DROP of Mid-eastern oil! From Tel Aviv to Cairo all them boys look alike to me. I believe the Bible, and all that, but after all this human misery, if I had MY way, I’d scrape off the Temple Mound, and put a Walmart right THERE with a McDonald’s on one end and ample parking. Even JESUS isn’t coming back there. He said He was going to land on the Mount of Olives. Go figure! 

We have bigger problems in Texas than worrying about which camel driver is on top of the heap. I don’t CARE about the brown people over THERE, we have enough brown people INVADING us right HERE! I can SEE our border from here.  They don’t even HAVE borders over there. Now, I don’t care what God they pray to, I don’t CARE if they make their women wear burlap sacks. . . I don’t CARE if they fire off bottle rockets until the Earth melts into the sun, it doesn’t have a thing to do with TEXAS! I did not come home to Texas from California to talk about people from some place I will NEVER go, and brothers and sisters, if you go to the Middle East you are two bubbles short of plumb! 

Last Tuesday when I went to Austin, I found myself standing on the south steps. There was a media set up, cameras, microphones, you know, the whole thing, and right on top of the steps was this guy! He had the white garb on, and that funny little wool cap they all wear, you know the deal. Well, he’s all studying his notes, and looking at the crowd.  Now, I was looking for Doc, and there was some other guy in some Congressman’s office trying to overthrow the government at the time, so I had other things to do, but I had an epiphany! If this were 1969, some cowboy would have already been up them steps to deliver “his holiness” a number five, Texas butt whipping for even dressing like that in front of the ladies.  You see, that’s where the Muslims go wrong.  They think we Texans are all like those laid back kids over at UT. They don’t KNOW about the guys we keep chained up out at the ranch who beat up COWS! And they’re still THERE. We just don’t talk about it. Gosh. . . I’m glad they’re there!  

Radical Islam

It is impossible to agree all the time. Different opinions spice up the conversation. When I put up today’s article I knew it would invite controversy. You see, that’s what makes me a writer.  I make people think, and talk, and I really don’t care if they always agree with me so long as they do talk. I invite all thoughts.  I did an article not long ago addressing the real threat to world peace, which is radical Islam, and I stand by that. My friend, who composed the article I put up today touches on that, and tried to analyze what makes this faction tick. Naturally, she was sympathetic toward the Palestinian cause, but she did recognize that the people in the Gaza Strip and Israel have been there so long, with new generations being born, that to ask any of them to leave is not a reasonable request. 

I am a little shy about attacking anyone’s religion. Now people, I have no problem with that. When some Muslim cleric goes after Angela Box I will get on him quick, and personally. I won’t let him fall back on the Qu’ran, or Sharia Law, or any of that nonsense. It’s just me, and him. I used to argue religion, and there is never a win there. “My invisible guy can beat up your invisible guy.” Christians argue with Christians, Muslims with Muslims, Open Carry with Open Carry. We have a little organization going on right now down at RER, and before long you will hear someone accusing someone else about not being “Doc” enough. 

Radical Islam knows no bounds. It knows no master, no borders, heck, it barely knows it’s own Qu’ran. All it knows is it is easier to blow something up than hold a job. It searches out the disenchanted and capitalizes on their misery. And the Israelis have a knee jerk reaction to the Palestinians. The Gaza shoots a bottle rocket over and the Israelis fire off a missile. I’m not concerned about all that. Frankly, that’s THEIR problem! What concerns me is Texas. 

Texas is a funny place. When some terrorist attacks a mall in Europe, the Europeans wring their hands and cry in their wine and pass another gun law.  If that happens in Texas we say, “Now THAT’S what I’m talking about. . . Billy Joe Jim Bob, get a rope!”  Texans tend to take a little more direct approach. We have radical Islam right here in Texas. There are Jihadist camps, training right here. That’s crazy! There’s even going to be a rally, with both sides in attendance, and the calls for calm, and civilized behavior are rising up, but that’s not going to help. If the Texans there suddenly go off and start popping rounds at the “Peaceful Muslims” all I can say is, what did they expect? Did they think this was New York or someplace? Did they honestly believe that we would sit by and just watch them conduct bomb classes? 

The Jihadists count on complacency. They count on people not getting involved. Well, we’re involved! We’ve been involved since Travis tried to blow Santa Anna out of his saddle with a cannon blast. We’ve been involved since David Koresh asked the ATF, “What part of don’t step on my land do you NOT understand?” When I say I don’t like to get involved with anyone’s religion I mean their worship, not bomb classes. Not getting a school teacher fired for exercising her first amendment rights. Not trying to enforce a legal code alien to our constitution.  I mean if they want to squat and pray five times a day that’s cool with me. If they want to squat and fire off a RPG, then, Billy Joe Jim Bob. . . get a rope! 

These people are asking for this.  We didn’t go in a Mosque and drag them off their prayer rugs. We don’t even say anything when their women show up at H. E. B. in a burlap sack. But, when some cleric jumps up in public and declares the constitution is beneath some code a guy dreamed up in the desert, then we have to talk. Islam, itself is a spiritual, military, and civil SYSTEM. It seeks to control the actions of its followers in every aspect of their lives. And it doesn’t gently push, it has sever consequences for the noncompliant. 

If Islam gives you a warm fuzzy that’s fine, but we have our warm fuzzies too! And Muslims saying Texans don’t like Muslims, DUDE, we don’t like Americans either, where have you been? What part of secede do you NOT understand? We’re not a bunch of sheet clad KKK members burning crosses. We are lawyers, businessmen, and working class people who have watched the good ship Obama hit that iceberg again, and again, and again! But, our attitude is different. In the Republic of Texas there will BE no radical Islam.  There will BE no safety in hiding behind Mosque walls. There will BE no complacency when the first bomb goes off. When you see what we do to terrorists there won’t BE a second bomb! Probably won’t be any Mosques either, and that’ll be sad. Good people will suffer. 

Texas welcomes all people, all races, religions and sects. We do not welcome fools. The ideology of Christianity and Islam will never reconcile, but they can coexist. Muslims in Texas need to get their act together. When some radical cleric says something stupid, something you KNOW goes against the very foundations of Western civilization speak UP. Let it be known you don’t agree with that. You LIKE owning a Quickie Mart and going to the park with your kids on weekends. 

If you will note I did not “down” Mohammed in this article, but I am going to let you in on some facts. I am an author. I work with words. I write books. The Bible was arrived at over many centuries. Without hurting too many feelings, and losing friends, I’m here to tell you the Qu’ran is a written work. The Book of Mormon is a written work. I know how these things happen. When books like that come about there are always people who claim the author was not skilled enough to construct it, so it simply has to be of divine origin. Joseph Smith was a simple country boy with little or no formal education. Well, so was Mark Twain! For that matter look at ME. I graduated from Killeen High School in 1969, and brothers and sisters that’s as close to illiterate as you can get and still get a driver’s license. I wasn’t near the top of my class either, in fact, my English teacher in my senior year told me I would NEVER be able to communicate in functional language! 

That having been said, when one of these books comes about people will read it and live by it. There are some people who want to be told everything. They want the dots to already be connected. It makes them feel good to believe that all is right in their little world and so long as they don’t eat pork, or drink coffee, all is gonna work out just fine! So long as they don’t make bombs that’s ok by me. Texas stands at a crossroads. America stands at a crossroads, heck the WORLD stands at a crossroads. Radical Islam must be eradicated. These malcontents must be routed and put to rest. That won’t solve all the world’s problems, but it’s a darn good start! Even the Muslims will be happy when they DON’T have to explain a bombing, or downed plane, or beheading. When they can just go and worship and work and enjoy life. I can assure you if the Jihadists hit Texas them boys just peed on that electric fence! 

From an American Muslim

     First thank you for reaching out to me during these sad and tragic times, it is nice to know you have trust in me as a friend. These recent events are upsetting everyone in the world and the question of will we ever have peace has come up multiple times. You are asking many good questions, each of which has a long discussion to be had, but I will try my best to answer each to the best of my abilities. My husband gave me his input too. 

     I don't judge Christians based on the actions of a group of people such as the Crusaders, the Spanish Inquisition, or the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK are by the way living in the U.S. with every right to live their lives according to their beliefs as long as they aren't proven to hurt anyone. I know its not the same but it does bear keeping in mind. So, if a group is misguided and extremist in their beliefs and  carry the banner of Islam does that mean we also act in the extremes and reply with military force on a country of people that had little if anything to do the people involved in the horrendous act?

     Two extreme wrongs don't make a just right. No, you judge based on the people you know and see on the street. The reason we are even having this discussion is because the image you have of me and the one being portrayed are contradictory. Also, I would like to thank you for not accepting the notion that I am a terrorist in disguise hiding behind kind and gentle demeanor and a nice smile. I very much dislike that propaganda made against all Muslims.

I also want to say that I am not overjoyed as well at the example most Muslims are making for the religion but still I think we can safely assume they are not driving around with their windows down screaming "die infidels, die!" 

Now we come to Muslims and the world. Again I think this can be broken down to terrorist acts and the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. If you will allow me I would like to leave the latter for last. For now let's discuss terrorism and why it's happening.  

     I think it's very important to make the clarification that terrorism is done by organizations not by individuals. A counterpoint can be made that about the bombing in Boston but I can't imagine anyone just waking up in the morning and saying I want to kill Americans let me just look up how to build a deadly destructive device on the Internet. In my opinion, he was being taught wither directly or by propaganda videos that an organization put up online. This brings me to my main point, organizations are run by certain individuals.  Individuals with a purpose and a goal. These people find ways to recruit people to their cause and finance their organization to achieve its goal

They can't do it alone or they would have. So they search for people around the world who are willing to join them or send them money. And they do whatever they deem necessary to achieve that goal. Here we arrive at the psychology of recruitment. Step 1 make your opponent out be the villain. Isn't it weird that every terrorist cell blames the "west" for everything evil in the world? the west. Them. Not us. The ones that are well to do while we are here in misery. Because of them. A non descript term that generalize any who oppose the organization.

     It can be the U.S. today and Europe tomorrow. The point is they have to direct the anger and frustration of a people and they know just where to point it for their own benefit. We as a human race love to blame others for our own setbacks. It's natural we all do it and the leaders of the organization know it so they provide the villain for these people to be angry at. Making out the opponent to be the most vile scum of earth also makes it easier to carry out atrocities on them. It's ok to murder them they are not even human, don't let your natural humanity get in the way. This tactic is used by everyone. My husband remembers as a child he was in Macy's and ran to those 50 cent sticker vendors. But when he looked up he saw a huge sticker that was in the image of Sadam Hussain only he was all red with horns, a tail, and of course a trident. Sadam was Satan too. As a child the devil was the ultimate boogeyman man, the worst creation ever, and for someone to be equated to the devil was a shock to me. He didn't understand the war at the time because he was so young but that he  understood perfectly.

     He must be a horrible human being. This is what is being taught to the kids of America, what do you think is being taught over there? So the tactics aren't new we just are now on the receiving end of it. We always have to ask why. Why are they doing such and such? What's the point? Did you know that the reason why ISIS broke off from alquaeda is because Zarkawi wanted to fan the flames of fire between Shiaas and Sunnis to further his goals and Alquaeda said that isn't going to work with our strategy so the two separated and became separate organizations? It's all about main objectives and strategies. This is also the answer to why a state will harbor these people and organizations. Because it fits in with their objectives and strategies. If Pakistan really believed in what Osama was preaching they should have just made it into the government policy

      They are a country with nuclear power nobody is going to start military action against them. North Korea is a great case in point, we haven't attacked them because of the serious ramifications it has on the rest of the world. So if they don't believe in his cause why were they keeping him literally down the block from the military capital? Because he was bringing in money and resources to their country. The money that is being funneled in to him is partly going to the country as well. So they formed mutual arrangements and therefore would not give him up but also never really bought into his ideas either.

     I know you are an author yourself, my husband is trying to write his own story actually. In doing so, he's trying to write up an antagonist for the story.  In his research for what makes a great antagonist a lot of the same points being made kept coming up. Purpose was one of them. Nobody likes to read about a villain who is evil just for the sake of it. It's not realistic. The reader doesn't believe it makes sense. It's true. So why are we ok in believing it in real life? Is it because it's easier ? Or is it because we are worried about what we might find out. That we may be wrong or even worse, at fault?

Finally the Israeli Palestinian conflict. In my younger years I would have said this is a political issue between two states that just so happen to be of different religions. I am not so naive anymore. The parties that had a political conflict originally are no longer here. People have been born and raised in Israel that you can't tell them to leave anymore and the children of the former Palestinians are without country or nation. There is no political resolution where both sides are even remotely happy that I can forsee working out but thankfully I am neither a person who can aid in that specific endeavor or a political science person who can come up with a resolution that befits the current situation. What I can tell you though is that what is happening in the middle east is a humanitarian horror unlike any I have known during my lifetime.

     I truly think that all of humanity will be gathered in front of God and asked what have you done for the people of Palestine. Is it the only region where these kind of things are happening? Absolutely not. Is it the most well known and documented ? Without a doubt. Although I don't pretend to be an activist who searches out for people I can go out and help, I would find it hard for someone not to know about the constant fighting and killing going on in Palestine and Israel. 

It may seem like I'm only viewing from the point of view of an American Muslim, but I can not justify in any way shape or form the actions of Israel. It's not to say the loss of any life is ok. It's not, any innocent life lost is a tragedy. But the sheer scale of "retaliation" is monstrously unequivocal.

     Every 3-5 years it feels like Israel finds a reason to lay siege on a people fenced in with no where to run. Even the most recent of events was spurred on because three Israeli young men were found dead. Later on we find out that a gag order was placed on the investigation and they knew it wasn't a Palestinian all along. This is conspiracy theories of a flaming lunatic, this is all documented and available to you online with an easy search if you would like to double check my information. I was in utter shock that a country can so easily decide when to unleash the latest military technologies on humans fighting back with sticks and stones. What of the Rockets you ask that are continously being fired at Israel? If you can do me a favor and look up the casualties that Israel had suffered from these terror acts you will find that of the thousands of rockets launched, none landed on Israeli soil. No civilian casualties whatsoever.

     The thousands of Palestinian lives lost are for what reason? What horrible act did they do to deserve this? And if your asking why do these "terrorists" still waste their ammunition it's because they say it's their last form of rebellion. They shoot a rocket knowing that it won't do anything except raise a few alarms and the officials stir the people of Israel into a panic so the fear and angst against the Palestinian people can continue. Have you seen the videos of Israelis on lawn chairs looking onto Palestine at night that cheer everytime a missile is launched into the occupied lands? Have you seen the editorial written in an Israeli paper asking about the justification of genocide in a war against the Palestinians? Have you seen the video of the little girl pleading to the world to have the attacks stopped only to be cut short by a missile slamming into the building behind her and sending her and the person filming her into a terrified escape for their lives?

     Then the final trump card that people love to wave around when all else fails, how do I explain the barbaric suicide bombings that murders so many and the belief that the murderer himself is going to heaven of all places and to his 72 virgins (why do people get angry at the virgins part? Are they going to be asking for street corner hookers in heaven? And I don't see anybody imagining life a celibacy to equate to heaven). First off, I am 100% unequivocally against suicide bombings. I don't believe in it. I don't believe it is justified. I have asked around for the reasoning and found extrapolation where people claim proof. It does not belong in Islam. Dying for your religion and martyrdom is celebrated by all religions and nations. When a soldier dies for America he is celebrated for his cause. But in my mind suicide bombings is not martyrdom, it's an escape.

     That is for God to judge and not myself. But I pose to you this question, a man living in a nation with no name, caged and imprisoned, the American dream now a long forgotten fantasy, have just lost a son/daughter/sibling/wife to a bombing, lost your house to a bulldozer that decided your land now belongs to the ever expanding nation that is oppressing you, and harrassed by soldiers at every checkpoint on your way to your holy mosque which ypu are only allowed to go to when they decide, a man who by no stretch of the imagination is of sound body or mind is asked to strap on this device and to take revenge on the people who did this to you, to leave this decrepit miserable life that you are living in and to join your family in happiness and bliss of heaven, whatever family members left behind to be completely financial taken care of sound there is no fear of any loose ends left behind. What would you choose? Will you take the high road at this point or will you be "barbaric" and let the pain go away?

      In my eyes the only barbarians now are the people outside this conflict. People watching from the outside in of sound body and mind who see what is happening and stay quiet. The neighboring Muslim countries only wave a finger and make empty statements of disapproval. The international community can just tsk tsk tsk their way to a clear conscious. And the U.N. can only do so little when they know the U.S. will veto even the notion that Israel can have any blame at all. America has forfeited any right to the claim of being the international moral standard, policing the world from its high horse. There is no more facade of diplomacy towards the Palestinians coming from America anymore. It's ally is above reproach of any kind, it can kill and murder with no fear explanation. As an excersice send a letter to your local government official. Don't ask for Palestine to have its own state, no just ask what do they think of the thousands of Palestinian children that have died in this conflict. You will get the same response I got I guarantee it. Because it's the same response everyone I know got. "It is sad what is happening in the middle east but I fully back an Israeli government that is defending itself." Fully back a country that is defending itself. Digest that statement if you were a Palestinian reading that response. An American Palestinian reading that response. How much value do think your life is worth to this government now? An American Palestinian boy was kidnapped days after the killings of the Jewish boys. He was beaten up and burned tossed back. I'm sure you didn't hear about it. It wouldn't look good in the American publics eye if they caught wind of it, or then again these days I'm not even sure anymore. I'm angry. I'm pissed. I'm depressed at humanity and what it has come to. But most of all I'm terrified. In scared to death that when God asks me what I did for those kids I will have nothing to say. I would have been an accessory to murder. No, if only I would be so lucky, in fact I would be an accessory to genocide. And I may have nothing to say for it

     For the record I don't hate jews. I have many Jewish friends (sorry don't have an exact number) and I can at least tell the difference between jews, the religion, and zionists killing innocents half way across the world