Monday, December 31, 2018

Vietnam Photo

A grisly photo of a Saigon execution 50 years ago shocked the world and helped end the war
The VC was not in uniform and had just murdered civilians, the family of a RVN officer. Under the laws of war subject to immediate exeacutation. He deserved what he got. ~Bob

Movie

They Shall Not Grow Old Is the Movie of the Year

1/64th Indian take warpath.

Elizabeth Warren launches exploratory committee in step toward 2020 presidential run
1/64th Indian take warpath. Heap big trouble. ~Bob

Our Exhausted American Mediocracy

Our Exhausted American Mediocracy
Excerpt: The 2016 election and refutation of the ruling class did not signal that those without such educations and qualifications were de facto better suited to direct the country. Instead, the lesson was that the past record of governance and the current stature of our assumed best and brightest certainly did not justify their reputations or authority, much less their outsized self-regard. In short, instead of being a meritocracy, they amount to a mediocracy, neither great nor awful, but mostly mediocre. (Hanson skewers almost everybody! Great column. Link may not be live. Ron P.)

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Gender discrimination: the most dangerous jobs and the % male in those jobs.


Income by religion

A culture that is pro-education and supports family matters

Click on pic to enlarge

Saturday, December 29, 2018

immigration Quotes


Visiting the Troops


The Wall

Worth Reading: Why The Wall Is Not The Solution To Illegal Immigration
Excerpt: Even though a wall backed up by sensors and Border Patrol agents would be at least partially effective, the immense investment in time and money would leave open another route for illegal immigrants. The Center for Migration Studies reports that visitors who enter the US legally and then overstay visas have exceeded those crossing the border illegally every year since 2007. By 2014, two-thirds of new illegals were visa overstays.

Friday, December 28, 2018

The Border Wall Is a Symbol of Our Symbolic Politics

The Border Wall Is a Symbol of Our Symbolic Politics
Excerpt: In the modern age, the people get to choose their own symbols, and they aren’t in a mood to compromise. As we close out 2018 with a partial government shutdown merely adding some extra spice to the monotonous stew of political rage served daily, it’s worth noting that the primary sticking point isn’t an ideological split over border security, nor is it the recalcitrance of the president or the Democrats. It’s about symbolism, for want of a better word. I am in no way trying to minimize the disagreement. We often dismiss controversies or concerns by waving our hands and saying something like, “Oh, that’s merely symbolic,” as if the meaning we give to symbols is somehow irrelevant compared with more tangible things. But symbolism — the way we reduce broad concerns, agendas, and visions to images or rituals — has played a defining role in human life since there have been humans. Try burning a flag or a cross in front of the wrong audience and then tell me symbolism is nothing. The rifts between Shia and Sunni, Eastern Orthodox and Catholic, Israelis and Palestinians, Tibetans and Chinese, obviously have real political, theological, or economic substance behind them, but they are often reduced to symbolism. If you study the history of nationalism, it is often a story of symbols. What flag shall we fly? What icon shall we mount? What books will we revere — or burn?

Predictions

Predictions for 2019, Reflections on 2018. By JIM GERAGHTY

California illegal immigrant ‘cop-killer’ taken into custody, officials say

California illegal immigrant ‘cop-killer’ taken into custody, officials say

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Smoking weed ages your brain by almost 3 years


Smoking weed ages your brain by almost 3 years
https://nypost.com/2018/08/23/smoking-weed-ages-your-brain-by-almost-3-years/

6 customers draw guns on men attempting to steal tools

6 customers draw guns on men attempting to steal tool
https://www.kiro7.com/news/north-sound-news/armed-citizens-shoot-at-shoplifters-in-marysville/894509318?fbclid=IwAR0j0Koc4E1CW6hSlyTDEabOhJKabXYp4HfyhFIVC1wbnbJs60XQn7Ih4vE

And don't neglect Kratman's near-future history series.


Countdown: The Liberators. By Tom Kratman
Well, this is a revolting development. I haven’t finished Kratman’s excellent A Desert Called Peace series, but got turned on to his Countdown series, of which this is book one. Though I have both a very good military history and an excellent political book started, this came when I needed a little escapism. And make no mistake, this adventure fantasy is escapism. So I started it—and finished it without taking up the others. I’ll now have to order the next two. Sigh. If only books came with the extra time to enjoy them. I know, and have recommended, Kratman as a writer of wonderful military science fiction. This book is more of a thriller, set in the too-near future to really be called SF. It is a future that is easily discernable from the converging lines of our deteriorating civilization today. More and more, Kratman reminds me of my favorite escapist novel writer, W.E.B. Griffin, in his terrific characterization of people you’d like to know well, and people you’d stand in a long line in the hot sun to get a shot at. But his plotting and presentation, especially about planning and executing military operations are, if anything, more detailed and authentic than Griffin’s. If Griffin can be called a historical novelist, Kratman is a future=history novelist. He understands how warriors talk, think and act. Kratman is a retired Army LtCol, but has a terrific grasp of all aspects of war: air, land and sea. If you want to see what an unpleasant future will look like, and what men and women of courage will have to do to cope with the brave new world that’s, alas, coming, you can hardly do better than to enjoy one of Kratman’s novels.

Countdown: M Day By Tom Kratman
I know, I usually give you recommendations on great non-fiction in history, politics and economics. I’ll get back to it, have just needed a little escapism lately. I was happily about a quarter into Victor Davis Hanson’s excellent history of the Peloponnesian war, A War Like No Other, when this book, the second in the series, came in the mail, along with the third one. No problem, I thought, I’ll put them in the pile and think about what’s next after Hanson. But I was going away for the weekend, and a paperback was easier to

Countdown: H Hour By Tom Kratman
Since I usually recommend non-fiction history, political and economic books, I was going to skip reviewing this novel. First, I’m a little annoyed with Kratman, in that he doesn’t seem to be able to write these things as fast as I can read them. He was an officer, after all, and I expect a little more attention to my edification. Second, I reviewed the first two books in this series, so I’m running out of superlatives. If you read both of those, chances are you will read this one without my recommendation. And while it can stand alone, I recommend you read the series in order. But Kratman does such an entertaining job of describing realistic military violence, and has such a frightening, reality-based world view of how civilization is collapsing as we watch, that I had to put in another plug. In his “Afterword” (which covers ground he talked about in his science fiction novels, but should be read by every American) he says he is asked if he expects things will really get as bad as depicted in these action novels of the near future. His response is that he expects things to get much worse—that the books only depict the early stages of what is happening to our world. I wish I didn’t think he was right. As with his other novels, there are some running gags, one-liners and historical and literary quotes that make the book an especially great value.

Book Recommendation: A Pillar of Fire by Night (Carerra) by Tom Kratman


Book Recommendation: A Pillar of Fire by Night (Carerra) by Tom Kratman

https://www.amazon.com/Pillar-Fire-Night-Carerra/dp/1481483560/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1545955998&sr=8-1&keywords=a+pillar+of+fire+by+night
Tom Kratman is the leading writer of military science fiction today. I think he has surpassed the late Robert Heinlein, whom I revere and who shaped my thinking from an early age. This is the seventh book in Tom Kratman’s wonderful Carrera series, which started with “A Desert Called Peace.” I’d like to say it’s as good as the others, but it’s not, because Kratman gets better with every book, and this is his best yet. And I thought his first two novels, “Caliphate” and “A State of Disobedience” were terrific. Kratman, a retied Army LtCol, has an incredible grasp of strategy, tactics, logistics (which many fiction writers neglect) and air, land, and sea combat. Better yet, he understands how troops in battle act and talk. His rich characterizations will make you believe these are real people you care about (or loath) by the third chapter. His plotting would make Tolstoy weep with envy. While this novel stands alone, if you haven’t read the others in the series, do yourself a favor and start at the beginning. I received this as a Christmas gift and finished it by the 27th. My major problem with Kratman is that I can read far faster than he can write. Sigh. I understand there is one more coming in the series. At 72 and after a lung transplant, that’s a grand reason to go on living. You won’t go wrong with anything from this master storyteller.

Feds received whistleblower evidence in 2017 alleging Clinton Foundation wrongdoing

Feds received whistleblower evidence in 2017 alleging Clinton Foundation wrongdoing
Excerpt: The answer ... may reside in 6,000 pages of evidence attached to a whistleblower submission filed secretly more than a year ago with the IRS and FBI. That evidence was assembled by a private firm called MDA Analytics LLC, run by accomplished ex-federal criminal investigators, who alleged the Clinton Foundation engaged in illegal activities and may be liable for millions of dollars in delinquent taxes and penalties. In addition to the IRS, the firm’s partners have had contact with prosecutors in the main Justice Department in Washington and FBI agents in Little Rock, Ark. And last week, a federal prosecutor suddenly asked for documents from their private investigation. The 48-page submission, dated Aug. 11, 2017, supports its claims with 95 exhibits, including internal legal reviews that the foundation conducted on itself in 2008 and 2011. (First, notice the source of this report. Not Fox or another right-leaning outlet, but the left-leaning The Hill. Second, notice the author, John Solomon, is an investigative reporter who is also The Hill’s executive VP for video. Notice third, that MDA Analytics did this investigation ON ITS OWN "in hopes of collecting a reward for exposing tax fraud." They must think there's a good chance to collect or they wouldn't have spent this much time and effort on it. This very in-depth article makes no conclusions, but it does raise a lot of disturbing questions. Someone at the Clinton Foundation is going to be very uncomfortable answering those questions–if they ever get asked. And, it looks like Congress may be asking. This SHOULD NOT BE a partisan issue, but it will be. Link may not be live. Ron P.)

Jerry Brown Grants Pardons to Immigrants Facing Deportation Due to Criminal History

Jerry Brown Grants Pardons to Immigrants Facing Deportation Due to Criminal History

Student Found to Have Violated Title IX by Asking Another Student on a Date

Student Found to Have Violated Title IX by Asking Another Student on a Date

If You Like the Peace Process, Please Don’t Read Polls of Palestinians.

If You Like the Peace Process, Please Don’t Read Polls of Palestinians. BY: Noah Pollak December 20, 2018
https://freebeacon.com/blog/if-you-like-the-peace-process-please-dont-read-polls-of-palestinians

Worth Reading: Top Five Media Lies on the Migrant Caravan

Worth Reading: Top Five Media Lies on the Migrant Caravan
Excerpt: It's also worth recalling that verification standards were so bad under the Obama administration that they ended up releasing children back into the custody of human traffickers, where they were subjected to sexual abuse, labor trafficking, abuse, and neglect.

10 Problems Only Smart People Have

10 Problems Only Smart People Have

STUDY SUGGESTS ONE OBAMACARE PROVISION KILLED PEOPLE

STUDY SUGGESTS ONE OBAMACARE PROVISION KILLED PEOPLE
Excerpt: Decreases in hospital readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries may have come at the cost of some patients’ lives, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Tuesday. The decreases originated with an Obamacare program that fined hospitals with too-high readmission rates. Many of these hospitals served lower-income Americans who were less likely to have access to quality, regular care and more likely to be readmitted within a month of being discharged.

Syria

Syria Faces Brittle Future, Dominated by Russia and Iran
Excerpt: Turkey is threatening to invade Syria to eradicate Kurdish fighters. Syrian forces are rolling toward territory the Americans will soon abandon. Israel is bombing Iran-backed militias deep inside Syria. And Russia could soon move to crush the last vestige of the Syrian anti-government insurgency. The Syria that the United States military is vacating on President Trump’s orders is a Balkanized version of the country that plunged into a calamitous civil war nearly eight years ago.

Antisemitism

Be careful who you’re marching behind at the next Women’s March
Excerpt: The annual Women’s March is supposed to showcase the power of the sisterhood when it takes to the streets in peace and solidarity against President Trump’s agenda. But which sisters you march behind matters. According to The New York Times, two women who are now national Women’s March leaders — Tamika Mallory, a black gun control activist, and Carmen Perez, a Latina criminal justice reform activist — told Vanessa Wruble that she needed to confront Jewish racism before she could really understand the women’s protest movement. Wruble said she was ultimately pushed out of the organization, partly because of her Jewish identity. When asked for comment by the Times, Mallory issued this statement: “Since that conversation, we’ve all learned a lot about how while white Jews, as white people, uphold white supremacy, all Jews are targeted by it.” (When identity politics confronts identity politics; Act I Scene 4 of the train wreck we saw coming. --GS)

Farrakhan awash in federal dollars, anti-Semitic hate notwithstanding

Farrakhan awash in federal dollars, anti-Semitic hate notwithstanding
Excerpt: What does an anti-Semite have to do to get ostracized around here? Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan, 84, is America’s highest-profile Jew-hater. Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke might covet that distinction, but he is far less in the spotlight today than yesterday. More importantly, Farrakhan can boast that his loathing for Jews has not stopped him from raking in federal tax dollars. That’s right. The Washington Examiner reported last week that Farrakhan has received $364,500 in taxpayer money for preaching to prisoners. ... ... These Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons funds are not Farrakhan’s first swim through the federal trough. He and Nation of Islam are based in Chicago, miles from Illinois’ corn fields. Regardless, the group has received federal farm subsidies. As first reported by American Transparency/OpenTheBooks.com (on whose advisory board I serve), Nation of Islam scored $160,000 in federal agricultural supports for the Three Year Economic Savings Program. It operates the 1,500-acre Muhammad Farms. Even though that location is in Georgia, these federal payments have been mailed to Farrakhan’s home in Chicago. Taxpayers backed Farrakhan’s operation even though the Illinois secretary of state deemed it “Not in Good Standing.”

Jamal Khashoggi's murder

The Truth about Jamal Khashoggi Is Much More Complicated than Originally Claimed
Excerpt: The brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was an outrage, and the Saudi regime needs to endure some short-term consequences from the United States government in order to deter them from ever pulling a reckless stunt like this again. That having been said, it is now clear that the narrative around Khashoggi’s work as a columnist that was reported immediately after his death was not entirely accurate. Credit the Washington Post for going back and doing additional reporting — and relaying to readers the revelations that are not so flattering or reassuring about their former colleague. ... Perhaps most problematic for Khashoggi were his connections to an organization funded by Saudi Arabia’s regional nemesis, Qatar. Text messages between Khashoggi and an executive at Qatar Foundation International show that the executive, Maggie Mitchell Salem, at times shaped the columns he submitted to The Washington Post, proposing topics, drafting material and prodding him to take a harder line against the Saudi government. Khashoggi also appears to have relied on a researcher and translator affiliated with the organization, which promotes Arabic-language education in the United States. This . . . makes Khashoggi look less like an independent journalist and more like an agent of another country that was, if not an enemy of Saudi Arabia, then certainly a rival. (Scroll down for this story. ~Bob)

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

WATCH: What Can Israel Teach the US About Border Walls?

WATCH: What Can Israel Teach the US About Border Walls?

How to dodge the draft

Did a Queens Podiatrist Help Donald Trump Avoid Vietnam?
Excerpt: In the fall of 1968, Donald J. Trump received a timely diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels that led to his medical exemption from the military during Vietnam. For 50 years, the details of how the exemption came about, and who made the diagnosis, have remained a mystery, with Mr. Trump himself saying during the presidential campaign that he could not recall who had signed off on the medical documentation. Now a possible explanation has emerged about the documentation. It involves a foot doctor in Queens who rented his office from Mr. Trump’s father, Fred C. Trump, and a suggestion that the diagnosis was granted as a courtesy to the elder Mr. Trump. The podiatrist, Dr. Larry Braunstein, died in 2007. But his daughters say their father often told the story of coming to the aid of a young Mr. Trump during the Vietnam War as a favor to his father.

No, Really, We’re Talking about Literal ‘Fake News’

No, Really, We’re Talking about Literal ‘Fake News’
Excerpt: Quite a few noticed Relotius’s “Gorillas in the Mist”-style reporting among conservatives in the American heartland, and Richard Grenell, the pugnacious U.S. Ambassador to Germany, contends that this is a systemic problem at the publication: “Spiegel hasn’t answered as to how this fraud happened. One reporter was able to publish anti-American propaganda for years without an editor or fact-checker?! It’s absurd for them to pretend this is only about one reporter.” In the Washington Post, Charles Lane points out the hard truth that a lot of mainstream journalists prefer not to think about too much: Reporters and editors are as susceptible to motivated reasoning and confirmation bias as readers are, though we say, and believe, that professional norms and training equip us to resist distorting influences. Yet the power of stereotype remains… While many German journalists report honestly from this country, going to great lengths to travel and meet ordinary people, the gun-toting, death-penalty-seeking, racist American nonetheless remains a stock character of much superficial coverage, particularly in left-leaning outlets such as Hamburg-based Der Spiegel.

Seattle

Seattle Under Siege
Excerpt: In its 2017 point-in-time count of the homeless, King County social-services agency All Home found 11,643 people sleeping in tents, cars, and emergency shelters. Property crime has risen to a rate two and a half times higher than Los Angeles’s and four times higher than New York City’s. Cleanup crews pick up tens of thousands of dirty needles from city streets and parks every year. At the same time, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the Seattle metro area spends more than $1 billion fighting homelessness every year. That’s nearly $100,000 for every homeless man, woman, and child in King County, yet the crisis seems only to have deepened, with more addiction, more crime, and more tent encampments in residential neighborhoods. (...) the real battle isn’t being waged in the tents, under the bridges, or in the corridors of City Hall but in the realm of ideas, where, for now, four ideological power centers frame Seattle’s homelessness debate. I’ll identify them as the socialists, the compassion brigades, the homeless-industrial complex, and the addiction evangelists. (Wow. The author, Christopher F. Rufo, is a maker of documentary films for PBS, but he takes a very hard–and critical–look at why the culture of homelessness reduction in Seattle has gone so rotten and had so little success. You’d almost get the idea he could be a conservative, or at least a realist. Link may not be live.  Ron P.)

Syria

US Pullout from Syria: Who Will Fill the Vacuum?
by Burak Bekdil, Gatestone Institute December 26, 2018
Excerpt: U.S. President Donald Trump's unexpected decision to pull U.S. troops from Syria (and Afghanistan) was music to Turkish ears. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called it "the clearest and most encouraging statement" from Washington. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu welcomed Trump's abrupt decision to withdraw all 2,000 U.S. troops from northern Syria. Defense Minister Hulusi Akar vowed that that Syrian Kurdish fighters whom Turkey considers as top regional security threat, would soon be "buried in the trenches that they dig." The way Trump made that decision has also given new ammunition to Turkey's pro-Erdoğan media to portray the decision as "Erdoğan's victory." The media, in Turkey and abroad, widely reported that Trump decided on the pullout after a Dec. 14 telephone conversation with Erdoğan. According to Washington's official account of the conversation, the two leaders had "agreed to continue coordinating to achieve our respective security objectives in Syria."

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Rand Paul

RAND PAUL POKES FUN AT WARREN, TRUMP, BOLTON, GRAHAM, AND EVEN TED CRUZ’S BEARD IN ANNUAL FESTIVUS AIRING OF GRIEVANCES

Erratic Trump Drives Erratic Markets

Erratic Trump Drives Erratic Markets
Excerpt: While the US economy seems to be working well, the same cannot be said of the US government. Nonessential government services are closed in a shutdown that may last well into the new year because the two parties cannot agree on how much to increase spending for the wall. The president’s unilaterally declared trade war is adding unnecessary costs to American business and consumer spending. The world watches as many of the most experienced and stable members of the Trump Administration exit the White House. In a number of cases, the departures are explicitly tied to President Trump’s capricious leadership.

Monday, December 24, 2018

Glitter Bomb Mastermind Makes Shock Admission, Comes Forward Days After Viral Video Explodes

Glitter Bomb Mastermind Makes Shock Admission, Comes Forward Days After Viral Video Explodes
Scroll down to great video. ~Bob

Vietnam

Good video from Vietnam bout the VHF

Caravan organizer Pueblo Sin Fronteras blasted by migrants over risky journey

Caravan organizer Pueblo Sin Fronteras blasted by migrants over risky journey
Excerpt: Pueblo Sin Fronteras, a group of activists escorting the migrant caravan of thousands of Central Americans traveling to the U.S., is being blamed by many — including the migrants themselves — for encouraging such a risky trek. The group, which is comprised of about 40 U.S. and Mexican activists, gave the caravan an option in October. The migrants were asked whether they wanted to continue to the U.S. southern border or stop in Mexico, where the government offered to let them stay. (Well organized and NOT random. Remember the YouTube of men with guns in waistbands handing out cash? --Barb)

Sunday, December 23, 2018

My fifth lung anniversary


Today, December 23, 2018, is the fifth anniversary of my lung transplant. We got the call at 2:45 am and I was in surgery that day. Since 50% of lung transplant patients did in their first five years, I’m very grateful to be here with my family, and grateful to be able to work 20 hours a week to support them and extend the retirement fund. Around May of 2014, the docs thought I was at the check out counter. I don’t think they keep statistics after five years. I do know a friend who is 17 years out, but he had his transplant at 335, mine was at 57. I thank everyone for their prayers, thoughts and support. ~Bob

Coke


Saturday, December 22, 2018

Racism


Ostkrieg


Book Recommendation

Ostkrieg: Hitler's War of Extermination in the East. By Stephen G. Fritz

This terrific history was published in 2011, but I just came across it. At almost 500 words. Reading it is a project not to be taken lightly. But I expect this to be the history of the war between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia to be the standard for many years. It destroys the myth created after the ware by German generals that the German army fought a “clean” and that the crimes, murders and genocide were the work of the SS and the einsatzgruppen behind the lines. The army leaders were in it up to their necks, not only approving of the cleansing of Jews and other “useless eaters,” as the Nazis called them. But assisting in every way. Many individual soldiers participated, and most, seeped in years of Nazi propaganda that the Jews had stabbed Germany in the back in 19918 and, hard as it is to believe now, started WWII. Fritz’s book details not only the horror at the front in the largest war in history, but also the horror behind the lines, as the population was murdered, deported to be slave labors in Germany, or deliberately left to starve. Reports of soldiers shooting hundreds of Jews at a time were commonplace. The individual numbers are staggering. The author points out that while Britain and the US lost less than a million people combined, Russia and Germany combined lost 35 million. Eight of every ten German soldiers killed in WWII were killed on the eastern front. They inflicted four or five causalities on the Russians for every one they suffered, but compared to Germany, Russia’s manpower was functionally unlimited. In addition Russia outproduced the Germans in war material. With lend lease vehicles from the US, they became much more mobile than the Germans, who still depended largely on horse drawn transport, especially as their oil shortage worsened. Nor does the book neglect Russia\n crimes. It reports that something like 1.7 million German women were raped by Soviet soldiers, including 50% of the women in Berlin. Breaking these numbers down into individual human lives doesn’t bear contemplation. WWII and military history buffs won’t want to miss this book.


Child Marriage

Germany: New Law Banning Child Marriage Declared Unconstitutional by Soeren Kern
Excerpt: The ruling, which effectively opens the door to legalizing Sharia-based child marriages in Germany, is one of a growing number of instances in which German courts are — wittingly or unwittingly — promoting the establishment of a parallel Islamic legal system in the country. ... "Germany cannot, on the one hand, be against child marriages internationally, and on the other hand, be for such marriages in our own country. The best interests of the child cannot be compromised in this case. (...) This is about the constitutionally established protection of children and minors!" — Winfried Bausback, Bavarian lawmaker who helped draft the law against child marriage. ... "We should consider one more thing: judgments are made 'in the name of the people.' This people has clearly expressed through its representatives in the Bundestag that it no longer wants to recognize child marriage." — Commentator Andreas von Delhaes-Guenther.

Mattis Quotes

Quotes from Mattis

ISIS beheading image was sent to victim's MOTHER

ISIS beheading image was sent to victim's MOTHER: Fanatics 'gloated about filming the killing of Scandinavian tourist and her friend in Morocco'

Friday, December 21, 2018

Afghanistan

Report: Trump will pull back half of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan
When The Ta-Li-Ban Come Back

When the Ta-Li-Ban come back,
Then we girls will quit the school
For the acid they would throw
Would our faces burn away.

When the Ta-Li-Ban come back,
Women will not doctors be,
Jobs are not for such as us,
Worthless creatures owned by men,
They may beat us as they please.

When the Ta-Li-Ban come back,
I will marry old Rashid,
I must make a good third wife,
For I’m nine and just the age
Of the Prophet’s youngest bride
When she graced his marriage bed.
Peace should be upon his name,
He is perfect in all things.
Baby-wives obey and serve,
Keeping tears from off our cheeks.

When the Ta-Li-Ban come back,
Women then will know their place,
Mother must the burka wear,
Never show a man her face,
Father must go out with her,
Or they’ll whip her in the street.

When the Ta-Li-Ban come back,
Girls must not report a rape.
Lacking four Believers who
Testify it was by force,
They would scream beneath the stones,
Dying for adultery.

When America goes home,
And the Ta-Li-Ban come back,
We will know to thank you for
Living as our mothers lived,
All subservient to men,
Thirteen centuries ago.

~Robert A. Hall, Former SSgt, USMC

Permission to publish this blank-verse poem is granted to anyone with the courage. But remember Theo van Gogh and the Danish cartoonists.