Stashing uniforms

I hear the Jim Morrison line "we want the world and we want it now" as I watch the Nigerian-jihad punks slash and cut a British soldier in a London suburb, and edit a Morrissey title to "box-cutters of the world unite."

Eurpean countries are considering asking soldiers to not wear their uniforms off -duty. When does backing up stop? Did giving your lunch money to to the school bully stop his stomping?

Assimilation does not have to be a complete submission. It's an adjustment that does not require immigrants to forget and/or forsake their customs and ways.

 Leave the hate at the door.

And all roads don't lead to Mecca.

9/24/13

Home grown terrorists from Minnesota, etc think the road to Mecca  involves shooting folks in a mall in Kenya. Clueless as to how sweet liberty is.

10/19/13

Meanwhile......Prez BO has brought Abu Anas al Libi -- an alleged al Qaeda operative whom U.S. Army Delta Force soldiers captured in Libya this month -- to New York, a U.S. attorney's office said Monday.  Interrogation over & NYC has to deal with the terror implications.  Holder & BO  pursue their naive  feelgood dreams..

12/11/13

Is Muslim migration into Europe, a slow creep Crusades

1/23/14

Marseille, France- 40% Muslim population and one of the most dangerous cities in Europe. -do the math.

3/24/14

Does the missing Malaysian airliner fit into the terrorist equation? Pilots in uniform.

4/6/14

Dearborn Muslims offended by secular easter egg hunt. GMAFB

5/13/14

Hey Hillary , now you think Boko Haram is dangerous.  Maybe there two many terrorists groups on the State List at the time?

8/27/14

Whatever uniform Al Sharpton wears, it ain't about improving life in the USA.

9/27/14

I guess Muslims  can't be called terrorists inside the USA. Ft  Hood, Oklahoma beheading, etc. Serious reality check needed.

10/14/14

Galligan, the Ft Hood shooter  Hasan's lawyer: 

“I don’t know where they come up with the term workplace violence […] Workplace violence is not the crime with which he was charged,” Galligan said, explaining that Hasan was charged with mass murder.

1/9/15

The world is focused on the Jihad killer in Paris- don't forget Boko Haram.  Tolerance is not in jihad  lexicon.

Boko Haram threatens Cameroon with violence 'unless it embraces Islam'

2/15/15

On the shootings in Denmark: Go back to my opening comments, the Jim Morrison lyric,  and apply it to the these free-speech hating  Islamic terrorists.

2/22/15

BO ADM won't says Islamic extremists but  the DHS will mis-label domestic anarchist terrorists as right wing terrorists.
Meanwhile, Ali-Shabbab threatens malls in the Uk,USA, and Canada .
Ali Shabaab,  Somalia-based militants, have heavily recruited in Minneapolis,  a city is home to the largest Somali population in the United States.

3/9/15

Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS  then Hundreds of troops from Chad and Niger launched a ground and aerial offensive against Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria on Sunday, according to residents and military sources from Niger

4/3/15

"Read the Koran or die now"- 147 dead at the hands of Al-Shabab in Kenya and our White House won't call them Islamic terrorists. Deaf, dumb, & blind.

6/18/15

Chad isn't hanging .. around waiting to deal with Boko Haram. link

Chad bombs Boko Haram bases in Nigeria

3/24/16

Brussels: So Muslims are segregated and disenfranchised?  Do they want to integrate?

8/13/16

After reading an excellent column on the Boko Haram in the WSJ, I'm still poring over this comment from a 13-year-old female rape victim. “We want the government to kill them all, including the children, so we don’t have a resurgence of this,” she said, referring to the Boko Haram fighters.

10/4/16

#RahamaSadau's appearance in a music video "hugging and cuddling" Nigerian pop star #Classiq offended  some people. She's been banned from #kannywood films
If there are moderate Muslims out there, get more vocal.

10/26/16

Alleging Racism has surpassed  using patriotism as the last resort for the scoundrel. Another leader playing with crayons. I 'm not a big fan of the ICC but not for the reason stated by Gambian Information Minister #SheriffBojang :

"an International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans"

11/15/16

A body of Muslim clerics in #Mauritania has called for the death sentence to be carried out against Mkhaitir, a blogger convicted of apostasy, the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief, in 2014. 

12/30/16

Zambia's President Edgar #Lungu has called in the air force to help contain an invasion of army worms, which eat most vegetation in their way, in maize fields. 

1/17/17

A Kenyan MP #MishiMboko, the women's representative for the coastal city of Mombasa,   has asked women to withhold sex from their husbands until they register as voters for the 8 August elections. How will we know if this is effective?

1/23/17

More than $11m (£8.8m) is missing from #Gambia 's state coffers following the departure of long-time leader #YahyaJammeh who had refused to accept election results. And no one stopped luxury cars and other items from being loaded on to a Chadian cargo plane as Mr Jammeh left the country.

4/21/17

#Cameroon 's English-speaking regions have Internet again after a three months cut off following protests.The government didn't appreciate phone users spreading what they labeled false information

5/1/17

#Mali is a former French colony so why are 4000 French soldier deployed there?

5/17/17

This is more important than the #trump, #comey, #russia, #ISIS. Nigeria commences #Ebola screening , thermal scanners, at its airports.

6/19/17

Up to half the food aid meant for people who have fled #Nigeria 's Islamist insurgency hasn't been delivered, and it's being described as a "diversion of relief materials."  How's that for a euphemism for theft? Here are some of the culprits
In May two Nigerian officials were jailed for selling food aid.

7/3/17

Is #Sudan progressing or are we being duped?  President Omar Hassan al-Bashir decreed on Sunday,
that Sudan will extend a unilateral ceasefire with rebels until the end of October, two weeks before the United States may end a 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan.

7/8/17

#kenya is going through a rough election season and this will get  conspiracy talk into high gear.  #JosephNkaissery, Kenya’s 67 year-old interior minister and a retired general,  died of natural causes a few hours after being admitted to a Nairobi hospital for a check up.

10/5/17

Three US soldiers have been killed and two others wounded in an ambush in #Niger near the border with #Mali. How did our  "train, advise and assist" role  become patrolling? It appears we're in deep in #africa.

10/21/17

The World Health Organization (WHO) has appointed President Robert #Mugabe of Zimbabwe as a "goodwill ambassador". Giving a sad LOL  cuz this was a BBC report  not an Onion piece.

10/23/17

#who  rescinds #mugabe appointment. Bet those donations dried up quickly.

11/15/17

#Mnangagwa's dismissal last week left Mr Mugabe's wife Grace as the Zimbawe's president's apparent successor. #Mugabe 's move backfired as the miltiary has placed him under house arrest.

12/7/17

Nigeria's anti-Boko Haram general #AttahiruIbrahim sacked- because the Boko Haram bomb attacks have not stopped in the northeast.

1/19/18

Two American and two Canadian citizens have been kidnapped in the northern state of Kaduna, #Nigeria,. Their police escorts were killed in a shootout with the kidnappers. Will #trump and #trudeau work together on this one. 

3/24/18

Denied  entrance to a hospital because of a crocodile.Yep, a crocodile 6 miles from water, was blocking the entrance to St Patrick's hospital in #zimbawe  before wildlife authorities shot it.  Heavy rains in the area.

4/18/18

Is this coming to your country next? #Tanzania 's new law #TCRA requires bloggers, as well as Tanzanians operating online radio and television streaming services, to apply for a license and pay an annual fee of over $900 (€750) before they can publish any material online. President #Magufuli can revoke a permit if a site publishes content that "causes annoyance" or "leads to public disorder." 

5/7/18

Worth a chuckle : Four men accused of stealing a car  and being chased by police in  #CapeTown South Africa inadvertently drove it straight to prison.

6/23/18

Things are shaking good and bad in #ethiopia .  A deadly bomb blew up at a rally for Ethiopia  PM #AbiyAhmed , the product of a mixed Christian/Muslim, family, who has been loosening up restrictions  on web sites and TV stations. Ahmed was not injured.

7/6/18

Stop enjoying your self cuz we're going to tax you!   #Museveni , the President of Uganda, called social media a "luxury by those who are enjoying themselves or those who are malicious...all the moral reasons are in favour of that tax".

7/10/18

#Ethiopia and #Eritrea leaders formally restored relations Monday, ending 20 years of enmity. Ethiopian PM #AbiyAhmed, and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki,signed agreements to open embassies in their respective capitals, restore flight services, and use port facilities in Eritrea

8/20/18

When Medical staff is targeted  by both the military and armed separatists in #Cameroon 's English-speaking regions, it's time to home.

10/12/18

A growing trend of saying no to mainland #china and its "new colonialism": #SierraLeone is shuttering a $400 million China-financed construction project. #Malaysia cancelled $22 billion worth of China-financed projects in August, 2018.

10/18/18

The fight against breast ironing in #Cameroon continues. Young girls in Cameroon have their breasts bound or beaten with stones. #africa

11/28/18

#JohnMagufuli needs to read the fine print when he states #Tanzania prefers 'condition-free' Chinese aid. Apparently his comment is driven by the EU's  review of its aid packages to Tanzania over the lack of gay rights, etc.

12/04/18

Is black not beautiful? 

Some African women believe that lighter skin enhances their beauty so skin bleaching products are selling well, but Rwanda’s president #kagame set about to confiscate them, and the online response has been ugly

12/12/18

 Proof-of-life test of the #Mozambique civil service between 2015 and 2017 has detected around 30,000 ghost employees costing $250 million according to Public Service Minister #CarmelitaNamashulua 

12/27/18

  Nigeria's military called for the banning of human rights group #AmnestyInternational. The army accused Amnesty of using its operations to demoralize the soldiers fighting Boko Haram, the resurgent jihadists. And it also accused AI of spying but didn't offer proof.

1/17/19

#Ali-Shabaab , terrorists based in Somalia, attacked a hotel in #Nairobi in the heartland of Kenya. Most of their attacks had been along the border.

3/22/19

 #Kenya , located 90 miles from the equator, has a hockey team trying to qualify for the next winter Olympics. And I thought it was wild that the NHL has teams in Florida and Arizona.

 4/20/19

Liberian President #GeorgeWeah was forced to work from home on Thursday after his office was invaded by two black snakes  slithering from a hole in the reception area of the building. A little lighter news for the day.

5/15/19

 This is usually the path to a longer term dictatorship or military junta rule. #Sudan 's military leaders have announced an agreement with the opposition alliance for a three-year transition period to a civilian administration.

08/14/19

  Good luck Nigeria with Operation Safe Corridor: After their release from  rehabilitation centers, ex- #bokoharam insurgents are issued certificates confirming their 'psychosocial normalcy'.

9/15/19

Just a bit uncomfortable at the funeral:   #Mugabe 's family was in attendance right alongside the president and military who had pressured #Mugabe out of office.

9/16/19

Hundreds of doctors have marched through the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, to condemn the alleged abduction of their union leader, Peter Magombeyi, who had organised a series of strikes over poor pay and working conditions in recent weeks.

9/21/19

 Action Against Hunger has been shut down in Nigeria because the military accused it of aiding and abetting terrorists in the country's war-torn northeast region. What's curious is that AAH  won't address the accusations while complaining it just wants to do its work.

11/4/19

African pirates kidnapped nine sailors from Norwegian ship #Bonita which was anchored of the coast of Benin. I'm curious as to why the remaining crew was able to dock at port with its cargo.
The Gulf of Guinea, which extends from Gabon to Liberia, is a notorious haven for pirates.

Jan 22, 2020

Trump may add Nigeria, Tanzania, Sudan and Eritrea to a travel ban list to the USA.

March 3, 2020

  Great Britain is  stepping up its military support in West Africa, particularly in Senegal and Sahel, to combat the world's fastest growing Islamist-led insurgency. France and the UN have been active there for awhile.

May 16

 Rwanda genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga, who was living under a false identity in a flat in Asnieres-Sur-Seine, near Paris, was arrested today after a 25 -year pursuit.Was he that slick or did he bribe well

June 2, 2020

Coronavirus: South Africans cheer as alcohol goes back on sale, and BTW, the government has  lost a fortune in tax revenue.

July 13, 2020

Sudan opens  up a bit and allows alcohol for non-Muslims but it must be consumed in private, and decriminalizes apostasy, the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief. I don't know if the citizens have their religion on their ID cards.

Hitch 22

I picked up this memoir in the B&N discount area, and it's been a mad scramble tracking Hitch's allusions, delusions, and explanations. When I first noticed Christopher Hitchens on the cable chatter shows in the late 1990's I was perplexed by his wild swings across the ideological map, and I've never  grasped how fervently one can be so anti- organized religion and not realize that has become one's religion.

His tales of travels inside the International Left  has been educational, but I've never understood that fascination. When I was ten, I read a biography of Tito and knew that that the totaliarianism of Communism would never appeal to me.

Perhaps, I've never grasped the English public school boy's continuing dalliance with the left.

Some amusing tales of Bill Clinton's days at Oxford in the late 1960's.

I'll read on and type more later.

March 6, 2013

Since Syria dominates Middle East headlines , I thought about Hitchens and found his article on the time he defaced a swastika while walking in Beirut , Lebanon.  2009 Vanity Fair article

I recognized it as the logo of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, a Fascist organization (it would be more honest if it called itself “National Socialist”) that yells for a “Greater Syria” comprising all of Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, Cyprus, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, and swaths of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt.

Another thing to consider when evaluating what's going on in Syria today.

May 11, 2013

I wonder if  those on the left who bashed Hitchens as a neo-con have  started to see him as more of a realist on Islamic terrorism, Syria, and messy Middle East. He's turning over in his grave.

June 18, 2013

  Just saw a funny quip from martin Amis, one of Hitch's buddies: Amis "views the Brooklyn hipster scene as populated by conventional posers." Amis & Hitch were not always on the same political page.

July 2, 2013 

 I've read about thirty pages  of  Lionel Asbo and  felt a Faulknerian dilemma, the need for a  flow chart of family trees.. Granted, the 15 year-old Destin fucking his 39 year-old grandmother   does give one pause for thought. Maybe he's trying to be Derek Raymond (Crust of the uppers). His personalization of Lionel's killer dogs, Joe & Jeff, adds to the confusion of tracking events.

Oct 3, 2013

I scanned through the article link in  the March 6th comments and thought it was worth noting that it wasn't too long ago that the now troubled Syria had troops in Lebanon.

The street reaction to the murder of Rafik Hariri was so intense that it led to the passage of a United Nations resolution mandating the withdrawal of the Syrian Army from Lebanon after almost three decades of occupation. 

Oct 18, 2013

I mentioned Derek Raymond (aka Robert William Arthur Cook (12 June 1931 – 30 July 1994), in my July memo , and may re-read some of his works if I can find a Cockney  dictionary.

12/11/13

I suspect Hitch would be livid over western concessions to Iran

4/17/14

Syria mess spills into Jordan. & Turkey. Maybe they should ask Putin to rein in Assad? Interesting 2004 Hitchens column on the Kurds role in the area. Hitchens on the Kurdss

6/21/14

Quote from Hitchens  "Saving Islam from bin Laden," from The Age, September 5, 2002:

It is impossible to compromise with the proponents of sacrificial killings of civilians, the disseminators of anti-Semitic filth, the violators of women and the cheerful murderers of children.

If it weren't for oil would we (the west), bother with the Stone Agers. 

6/23/14

Some things change little. Hitch on the Kurds in 2007 Slate column:

It maintains its own security, does not require foreign troops, has put an end to sectarian warfare among Kurds, fights against al-Qaida with some success,

8/28/14

2004 Hitch column on the Kurds & Syria. kurds

9/23/14

Syrian refugeees, including Kurds, flooding into Turkey.  Putin is mad at the world but won't agree with anyone. Hitch would be hitting all pundit shows today.

11/10/14

Yep Syria, Iraq , Turkey , and Iran remains a mess. I'm sure the way the Brits carved things up still is wreaking havoc

1/31/15

 “Who are your favorite heroines in real life? The women of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran who risk their lives and their beauty to defy the foulness of theocracy. Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Azar Nafisi as their ideal feminine model.” 
― Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22: A Memoir

3/17/15

Hitchen paid attention to the Kurds maybe we should start. link

A senior Kurdish official in Iraq has voiced concern over Iranian-backed Shia Muslim militias fighting with Iraq's army against Islamic State (IS).

5/19/15

Kurds getting closer to an independent state? link

Barzani added, “A lot of countries have the same attitude shown by Hungary, whose PM declared its support for the independence of the region of Kurdistan.”

6/23/15

Kurds backed by US air units gain ground in Syria. kurds

7/16/15

From 8/16/10 Slate column by Hitch: link

The concept of "nonproliferation," so dear to the heart of the right-thinking, will go straight into the history books along with the League of Nations.

10/05/15 

Even Hitch couldn't keep up with the Syrian "scorecard". Ergodan ctiricizes Russia on a few issues plus

Turkish jets 'intercept Russian plane'

10/7/15

Watched  some of a 1951 movie Sirocco  featuring Bogey  gun-running for the rebels during the 1925 Syrian insurgency against French occupation. Wonder what the French stance is on Syria now?

11/7/15

Maybe Hitch would've comented on this today. 

Nov 7, 1917 - British capture Gaza, Palestine, from Turks

11/19/15

Keep coming back to why the "West" won't  use the Kurds more in the Syria&Iraq

11/24/15

Turks shot down a Russian plane and I  thought of high school history lessons on the Crimean War.

3/2/16

sad laughter on this line  assad?

Syria's Assad: We've shown restraint, but 'everything has a limit'

6/20/16

Must be fun to live in Syria.

Russia denies bombing U.S.-backed Syrian rebels near Jordan border

8/20/16

Maybe, I'm stretching for a comparison, but #Morrissey is just as difficult to pigeon hole politically as Hitchens was. The former lead singer of the Smiths  bashed the BBC for denigrating LEAVE voters   and has hailed #Farage (UKIP) and ex Labor MP #Galloway in the same sentence.

9/10/16

One of clearer , less Cockney quotes from Derek Raymond.

"Existence is sometimes what a forward artillery observer sees of enemy lines through field glasses. A distant and troubling view brought suddenly into focus with a wealth of obscene detail.” 

10/17/16

Anarchy and/or various agendas in Syria?

"Turkish troops involved in Operation Euphrates Shield clashed with the YPG militia, part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)."

safe zone

11/20/2016

 Probably was 50/50 on  #Hitchens opinions so I'll turn back the clock to an excerpt from a   Hitch diary  on the 1996 RNC convention:

" #DonaldTrump – a ludicrous figure, but at least he’s lived it up a bit in the real world and at least he’s worked out how to cover 90 per cent of his skull with 30 per cent of his hair."

Jan 6, 2017

Russia, Turkey , and Iran are bragging about "peace"in Syria, but the UN is claiming more than five million people in Damascus are currently without drinking water.

Feb 10, 2017

Is this the main reason #assad remains in power in Syria :  the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t

feb 27, 2017 

another part of The Syrian war: #Saudi Arabia and #Iran support different camps,

march10

#hitchens was spot on about the Kurds .  #Kurds and #turks are supposed to be fighting ISIS in #Syria but

Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition forces have killed 71 Syrian Kurdish fighters in northern Syria this week.

March 30 

#Tillerson told Turkey no on its request for the US to drop its alliance with Kurdish fighters, because they are the most effective force in #syria

April 27

In the mid 1970s a a guy came back to our neighborhood from  his Navy tour of duty, mostly in Nam and told us that a stint in Cypress on the way home was the scariest because  all sides were shooting at us. Syria is the same way. #turks are bombing the #kurds in syria although both groups claims ISIS is the enemy. Now there are reports that Israel targeted a Hezbollah military base in Damascus. #tednugent song "free for all" should  be the background music for a #syria documentary

May 8. 2017

Syria remains the regions "war ground" and more than a  civil war is going on. Syrian Foreign Minister #WalidMuallem labeled the role of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds fighting the Islamic State group in Syria as "legitimate," which irked the Turks who consider them terrorists.

June 27, 2017

Get ready for more moaning from #ergodan. #Mattis said the U.S. has made it clear all along that, "we're going to equip them #kurds for the fight in Raqqa , Syria

aug 17, 2017

The #Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq  will  hold an independence referendum in September. A Yes vote will rock #syria , #iraq, #turkey , #iran .

sept 27 2017

An act of protest in #Iran : thousands of Kurds marched in support of the #Kurdish independence referendum, defying a show of strength by Tehran which flew fighter jets over their areas.

Oct 20

#Kurds  got rid of #ISIS in their province when Iraqi soldiers couldn't , and now Iraq is attacking the Kurds and you can bet oil is a big part of that fight.

dec 11, 2017

Russia will keep the Hmeymim air base as well as a naval facility at the Syrian port of #Tartous. Here's what I'm not buying: #Putin  gave the order today for Russian forces to start withdrawing from Syria to their permanent bases in Russia.

jan 21, 2018

#syria has become a playground for it's neighbors' goals. Turkey is bombing the Syrians Kurds , a group the USA supports in a fight against ISIS, in #Afrin . It sure feels as if Syria may never attain peace.

jan 23

#ergodan 's clampdown on the press grows.  Turkish PM #BinaliYilidirim summoned journalists to a meeting on Sunday to lay out a 15-point plan on how the operation in #Afrin should be covered in order to quash criticism.  Members of the press, peace protesters, and some Kurds were arrested.

jan 31

Plenty of chatter from #trump and now #macron  who  "warned Turkey that its operation against Kurdish militias in northern Syria should not become an excuse to invade the country and said he wanted Ankara to coordinate its action with its allies." But #ergodan rolls on

feb 7, 2018

Iran's President  #Rouhani seems to be echoing the USA stance by calling on Turkey to stop its military operation in the Syrian enclave of #Afrin. #ergodan is headed toward a wake up call.

Feb 19, 2018

 The Syrian government and the main Syrian #Kurdish militia in control of #afrin may have reached a working agreement. Will #Turkey  exit?
march 19: Interesting move : #Iraq approves payment of civil servant salaries for #Kurdish Region amid ongoing budget dispute.

may 29, 2018

Has #syria become Iran's playground? The US  State Department warned the Syrian government against “any actions that risk broadening the conflict”.

#Israel says it does not want Iranian forces massing close to the nearby occupied Golan Heights.

june 17, 2018

#ergodan   needs to be checked in his pursuilt of #kurds   An offensive against the PKK in Qandil, #IRAQ  is Turkey’s third cross-border operation (other two in #syria ) since 2016. Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan #Rouhani have  agreed to maintain regional security while #Iraq 's leadership  has been silently complicit.

sept 8, 2018

#iran is having internal problems and yesterday protesters outside Iran's consulate in #Basra , Iraq  burned an Iranian flag and chanted "Iran, out!"  Many blame Iranian-backed parties for interfering in Iraqi politics and playing a role in the deterioration of its public services. Maybe the #Syrians will the be the next group  to give the middle finger to Iran.

sept 27, 2018

Maybe the #Sisi (Egypt) and #Netanyahu chat yesterday and the announcement that Israeli and Egyptian companies  will buy into a pipeline that would enable a landmark $15 billion natural gas export deal to begin next year will ease tensions in the Middle East?

oct 27,2018

 #Macron says such calls , including  #merkel 's , to halt all arms exports to Saudi Arabia  are "pure demagoguery." What? Are France and Germany having a lovers' spat? But Merkel's not done piling on Saudi Arabia. She insists it do everything it can to solve the urgent humanitarian situation in Yemen where the Saudis are fighting a war with Iran -backed #Houthis.  
#Hitchens woud need a flow chart to keep track of all this cr^p.

dec 2, 2018

Chicks watch what you wear in Egypt. An Egyptian court is prosecuting  actress #RaniaYoussef for wearing a lace dress to a Cairo film festival. #Eltahawy  sums it up

"In Egypt, and much of the Middle East, 'inciting debauchery' is like violating national security," 

dec 16, 2018

 US-backed, Kurdish-led fighters have captured #Hajin ,the last town held by the Islamic State (IS) in eastern Syria, near the Iraqi border. #hitchens stated years ago that the Kurds were our friends, and they continue to prove it so screw #turkey  .

dec 19, 2018

The #Pentagon warned Turkey against launching an operation targeting #Kurdish militias in northern Syria, particularly as American personnel may be present or in the vicinity.

 jan 11, 2019

EU, with a big push from #denmark ,  approved sanctions against the Iranian Security ministry and two Iranian nationals for their involvement in thwarted terrorist attacks in France and Denmark.

march 1

 #Hezbollah, a group founded in 1982 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and a potent political force in Lebanon,  condemned on the British government’s decision to list it as a terrorist organization, saying the move showed “servile obedience” to the USA. No surprises there!

april 9, 2019

If you're going to #Dubai soon or for the #WorldCup in 2022 , keep your phone at home. #Shahravesh , a British woman was  arrested last month over a 2017 FBook comment about her husband's new wife.

april 17

 Lynn Maalouf, a member of #AmnestyInternational, said that a #Bahrain court's decision to sentence 138 people to jail and strip them of their citizenship for conspiring to create a terror cell linked to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards force,"makes a mockery of justice." The IRG is Shia and and Bahrain 's Government is Sunni dominated., but I wonder when AI became so concerned with the rightsof  Hezbollah-friendly groups.

may 26

  Aren't the Turks and Russians "friends"? #Turkey has equipped  Syrian rebels it backs with fresh supplies of weaponry to help them try to repel  Russian-backed Syrian army assault in the northwest section of #Syria. You need a dozen scorecards to keep track of the shifting alliances.

june 17 2019

 For something a little different in the Middle East:  Slave to Sirens are the first all-female metal band #Lebanon

july 4

I'm not sure why it took this route.  British Royal Marines in #Gibraltar have detained the supertanker #Grace1 on suspicion of carrying crude oil to Syria. Mapping showed the shipped sailed from Iran headed for the Banyas refinery in Syria, an entity that is subject to EU sanctions against Syria.

july 11

  8 years of war and #Syria is carved up into areas of U.S., Russian, Turkish and Iranian influence.Way to go #Assad

July 20

Sure signs tensions with #Iran are about to get messier: Saudi Arabia’s #KingSalman approved hosting U.S. forces in the country.

Oct 4, 2019

Interesting response to the riots in #Iraq:  The Higher Council for Corruption Combat has ordered the dismissal of 1,000 employees at state institutions who have been convicted of wasting or embezzling public money.

Jan 23, 2020

Lebanon’s new government is dominated by Iranian ally Hezbollah and is not is being greeted well by the Lebanese. Also,  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo withheld support from the USA, for now.

feb 24, 2020

#hitchens is rolling over.  Lebanon's  most powerful party is Hezbollah, the Shiite political and militant group backed by Iran, and now Saudi Arabia, Iran's regional arch-rival, is ready to support debt-ridden Lebanon.

may 27, 2020

Lebanon 's descent which began long before #Covid19  was unleashed has a few key flash points. In October 2019  the government proposed new taxes on tobacco, petrol and voice calls via messaging services such as WhatsApp . The #whatsapp tax was rescinded quickly, but the discontent did not ease much then ,and it's grown to the point that many Lebanese fear that poverty will end up killing more people than coronavirus.

June 11, 2020

#christopherhitchens  is smiling somewhere. Protesters were chanting anti-Hezbollah slogans during on-going protests yesterday in Lebanon. Some want Hezbollah, the only group to have kept its weapons since the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990,  to be disarmed. Good luck with that!

Patti- Smith - Just Kids

I think it was Johnny (Rotten) Lydon then of the Sex Pistols who referred to Patti Smith and her band as those hippies when they toured England  at the height of the punk scene in the mid to late 1970's. After reading about 60 pages of her book Just Kids (Patti and Robert Mapplethorpe), I can see  the 1960's flower child influences, but I also see the  bluecollar -working class  grittiness that she had in common with English punk rockers.

I'm  aware of how Mapplethorpe's art  and it's connection to NEA funding caused  such a ruckus, but I knew little about him and his art.

The transition from songwriting and poetry to writing a biography doesn't always go smoothly for Patti, but I suspect  the writing will improve as I read further.

Jim Carroll definitely used Mapplethorpe as a reference when creating the composite character Billy Wolfram in his final book Petting Zoo.

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Jan 15, 2013: .Some famous folks  are light on  details about their familes. The focus remains on their public persona . While I'm not  that curious about their private lives, a few more details could give a fuller picture.

Mar 4, 2013: The writing picked up and I'm sure if she wanted to she could pen another book or two about famous artists she hung out with at the Chelsea Hotel. She glossed over how she co-wrote Because the night with Springsteen. Apparently, they shared the same producer, Jimmy Iovine , at the time.

May 20, 2013

  Here's a tune from Jim Carroll about Patti Smith fall from a Tampa stage in 1977. Crow

July 31, 2013

 It didn't occur to me until yesterday while reading an item  on  the band Blondie's possible retirement until yesterday that Debbie Harry's (Blondie)  was closer to  Patti's age 67 than my age 54.

Dec 2, 2013

 Amusing line from Patti:

 My sunglasses are like my guitar.

7/15/14

Immigration ain't a new problem.  Patti's tune addressed it almost 40 years ago.  Obviously she's taking one of many views:  citizen ship

Stateless, they got shame.Cast adrift from the citizen ship, lifeline denied, exiled this castaway.

8/16/14

Continuing with the Jersey/NYC theme.   Jim Carroll  city drops into the night

 It's when the sky over Jersey That sky starts to drain from view

11/16/14

I'm bemused that Patti is playing the Vatican Xmas FestivalSpirituality has shown throiugh in many of Patti's  tunes, but this is still the same lass who sang rock & roll nigger, with N-word  referring to artists Jackson Pollack, Jimi H) of various skin tones as outcasts.  I  recall trying to explain to a party-mate (also a Catholic boy) in the late 70's that she had a type of reverence, not hatred, for for Jimi Hendrix. She has been a  populist for some time campaigning for Nader and singing tunes like WTO blues. I get  that  she and the Pope have some similar geo-political goals.

1/24/15

Dear Patti Smith, please bang on the Pope's ear  about his recent comments : "you can not insult the faith of others". You've carved out a career expressing freely.

8/13/15

Patti  Smith will collaborate with John Logan, creator of Penny Dreadful on a limited Showtime series based on Just Kids . Characters based on Mapplethrope and Patti will be the leads but I wonder if they find a cameo role for the Jim Carroll character.

7/3/16

 Debbie Harry hosted a tea party at a London hotel in 1980. The conversations between and among these chick musicians- Chrissie Hynde , Siouxsie,  Viv Albertine (Slits). Pauline Black (The Selecter), and Poly Styrene ( X-Ray Spex)- was probably noteworthy.

5/28/17

#pattismith performed some public readings of #jonesbo 's Blood on Snow in 2015 , and Jo  slipped in a mention of #justkids in his latest #harryHole book, #TheThirst. 

8/13/17

#protests are the news cycle soup de jour today. I've been to a few over the years including reaching  an area near the Pentagon in a protest over US involvement in El Salvador (circa 1981). My takeaway was DC traffic sucks on Sundays, too. Quite a few folks including #jimcarroll have mentioned that attending  the Vietnam war protests was an easy way to  get laid. Yes, I know everyone is so serious and their concerns  rule the day.

10/13/18

#pattismith keeps getting ink  and its more apparent that #johnnyrotten nailed it when he said this about The Patti Smith Group during their visit to England in the late 70s: who are these F'n hippies. BTW,  I like Patti and Johnny.

april 11 2020   

“I sat up all night listening to it(Patti Smith – Horses) on a very tiny stereo, and I couldn’t stop."Quote from Morrissey who bumped into future bandmate, Johnny Marr, at an August, 1978 Patti Smith concert at the Manchester Apollo. 

oct 24, 2020

Patti Smith and Jimi Hendrix  each released "Hey Joe" as a first single. I discovered this while doing a crossword puzzle after answering a few of the surrounding clues. Smith added her own lyrics to the tune penned by #Tim Rose  and her tune was mostly about Patty Hearst.

Nov 12, 2022

Patti Smith sang “You Light Up My Life” with composer Joe Brooks on 1979 on the show Kids Are People Too. Years later in 2009 Brooks was indicted on 91 counts of rape  However, Brooks committed suicide on May 22, 2011, before he could be tried. I wonder if anyone interviewed Debby Boone about any of this?