Last week German newspaper Köelner Stadt-Anzeiger published an interview with Abu Al Ezz, a commander in the Nusra Front, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.
According to Al Ezz, U.S. materiel has been key in turning the tide against Syrian army forces:
I think of myself as a socialist, and would be called such by most people, but this is the most sane video I've seen today, and it was posted by a user called "The Right Wing Conspiracy". I really didn't want to post this video I found linked from reddit, I feel embarrassed, but I wanted to share this with y'all. It's actually a decent vid, but I feel like apologizing for posting it.
I just this morning responded to a response I had from poster CantStoptheSignal on the subject of permaculturists being dismayed by the phenomenon of what they call 'entryism', in other words, new people trying to take over their movement, which movement is, I might add, complete non political.
Now, I am a fan of CantStoptheSignal, and greatly admire that poster's acumen and brilliance as showed in many diaries and posts.
The Waffle Queen, also known as #WhichHillary, has responded to a request for her comments by the New England Journal of Medicine
An uncritical reading will think Medusa's "vision for health care" is just wonderful. However, we must read everything the Mad Bomber says, and parse it like a lawyer--just as she is and she does.
With increased bombing, inflamed rhetoric rising on all sides and open talk of using nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future, I started digging for a more accurate assessment of the situation in Syria. The dense fog of war generated by TPTB is unprecedented; earlier attempts at understanding the players and dynamics had me signing off in frustration. Yesterday, though, I began to locate some credible sources.
The sheriff of Wake County, N.C. is reconsidering the dedicated assignment of his police officers to protect school children and teachers, as a result of a standoff with school administrators, who he accuses of not adequately defining the district’s policy on transgender children.
I originally published this essay on TOP in December 2015; it received 352 recs back then.
Fair warning: This may be tl,dr for some. For others I hope it proves to be worth the time you spend to read it.
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DEALING WITH SYMPTOMS
Generally, it's good to do strategic thinking in politics. If you have a political goal, you need a means of achieving it, and not just an idea. Of course, recognizing the need for strategic thinking does not mean that ideas are of no importance -- both good ideas and strategic thinking are necessary.
The meme goes
But the poor darlings just want free everything.
No we bloody don't, even here in socialist commie France.
When we earn enough we pay taxes, we pay towards the health care of all and we pay towards our retirement.
The idea of taxes is to pay for everyone to have at least the minimum chance to compete in life on an equal basis.
