Putin, Tsar Wannabe

Everybody is saying that the U.S. is war-weary and does not want to go to war with Putin. In a broad sense, it is true but if the US strategy is to pull Putin into Ukraine and then smash its military hardware as was done in Afghanistan, Russia will wear out much faster this time. This time around it is the willpower of a stupid Tsar wannabe which is online. Putin's desire is dangerous but has a very limited shelf life.

Afghanistan: A “Guerrilla” Strategy

This article is based on a letter that I sent to President Obama and a few congressional representatives back in 2009. I used to discuss these issues with my colleagues at work back then before writing my letter. I discussed them particularly with Scott Curry among others at Safeco during our lunch breaks. I began my writings after I departed from Safeco but at the time I did not have my blog and as time went by this article went on the wayside. As today is the anniversary of the 9/11 event I find that this article has kept some relevance in our today's world.

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Military Conflagration between Israel and Gaza

I did a post almost seven years ago about the previous military conflagration between Israel and the militants in Gaza, Hamas, and other Islamists. That post applies to today's conflagration, except with the added urgency that if Israel does not finish up Hamas and the Islamists in Gaza, Israel's hesitancy will cause the Islamists' militancy to creep deeper inside Israel as signs of it are apparent in some Israeli cities like Lod.

To read that post click here

Clown and Biden Debate 2020

Watched the debate more or less. At this stage, it is not about ideas which these types of debates were never about. It is not even about routine policy differences between Democrats and Republicans. We are at the stage of the war of memes. Biden needs to arm himself. One thing is he should not debate him face to face, you cannot debate a clown. That is what Trump essentially is and how he has conducted his life. I believe Biden needs to adopt these principles.

Barrett as the Supreme Court Nominee

 My niece thinks she has me figured out. She says "Daee" (that is mother side uncle in Farsi) is contrarian. He likes to oppose anything anybody says. So here are my contrarian views in a nutshell.

Musings of an Ex-Socialist

My first video for the Youtube channel is out. It is in Farsi, a discussion about the coming U.S. election and Iran. My friend Hadi Mahmoudi, is my partner in this discussion. When I was naming this channel, I opted for "Musings of an Ex-Socialist/Communist" but YouTube would not let me. I am assuming it has to do with the name Communist. I do not know why but when I dropped the word Communist from the title it passed the digital censor. Therefore the name of the channel ended to be "Musings of an Ex-Socialist". Click on the previous link to watch the discussion in my mother tongue, Farsi.

How this channel will develop, I am not sure. If you would like to participate in the discussions please let me know. The video posts will be some in Farsi and some in English.

Nayer Joon

This news clipping from 1968 Turlock Journal (click on the previous link) gives you a brief taste of our life when my mother, Nayereh Azam Mahjoubi, arrived in the U.S. back in 1968.

Is There an Iran Strategy?

In my last few posts, I tried to decipher and guess the existence of a strategy from President Trump's actions and statements. It seems that my guess was not invalid. The commentary by Richard Goldberg, in New York Times, outlines that policy and its working strategy. What is interesting are the reader comments to the Goldberg's statement in the opinion pages of NYT. Most of these comments particularly the ones favored by NYT want to deny the existence of such a strategy. These comments seem to be coming mostly from the democratic corner. They strike me as democrats are in denial of the facts and this could be to their detriment in the coming presidential election. Recently I have noticed an increasing number of republicans, who had withdrawn their support from Trump since the 2016 election, coming back into his corner. Republicans are consolidating while the discord among the democrats is increasing. Can the democrats meet this challenge? With the rise in the popularity of Bernie Sanders democrats seem to be oblivious to this challenge, particularly the need for adoption of a clear foreign policy agenda.

The link to Goldberg's opinion "Trump Has an Iran Strategy. This Is It."

Invading Mexico!

Listen to this video discussion (link in the bottom of this post). Ed Calderon is a guest at Joe Rogan YouTube channel. Ed knows quite a bit about the border problems and the dynamics between the U.S. and Mexico. It is an extremely interesting discussion. I recommend you to watch it. The video is a movie length but it is better and more engaging than any movie that you can watch on Netflix.

In there you will get a glimpse of where Trump got the notion of sending troops to Mexico. In my last post I pointed to the new direction that his foreign policy is taking which is a big change both for the U.S. and the world. This is a positive for his administration but this does not change the fact that we have "kid" president, who cannot contain himself. I yet think he needs to be changed at the next election if the democrats can get their political act together and meet his challenge. I am not hopeful. It seems that democrats are on track to present to us a crazy left version of Trump. I will talk about this issue hopefully next.

Link to the video

Game Changer

President Trump delivered his message this morning and it was precise and clear. Either you have already seen it or you can watch the video. This is my understanding of his message and some events surrounding it. It is a confirmation of my previous couple of posts. It only expands the narrative.

The U.S. & Iran Conflict

The U.S.-Iran Conflict was escalated today, by Iran sending some missiles into a few U.S. and allied bases in Iraq. It seems that President Trump is going to address the nation tonight. From his policy direction so far I am assuming that he will clarify his position further tonight. I will hold all my comments until I hear him.

Are Tensions Rising between the U.S. and Iran?

I am already seeing ridiculous signs of "hands off Iran!" and "No war with Iran" are going up all over the place by the leftists or like minded people. Maybe you could think of it this way:

Muslims are Liars!

A few months ago my wife, reserved an AirBnB for my travel to Brooklyn, New York. My son had planned to stay with me for this visit. We arrived at our destination relatively late at night. The host, Sahr, was a very pleasant dark skinned woman who showed us the place.

Alliances and Its Consequences (I)

Do you make a distinction between these two banners?

[The left banner is the Communist banner and the right banner is the Nazis banner. Originally I had the picture of the two banners here and I had to take it down. The reason for me taking these two pictures down is, when one searched my son's name these two banners would appear as if they were associated with his name and it was concerning to him. So for now imagine that you see these two banners being here. I will put the pictures back on once his concern has been alleviated or the Google indexing mechanism has overcome this issue. After imagining the two banners continue with reading the article. Assume you are seeing two banners a Communist banner and a Nazis banner.]

Perceptions of "Capitalism"

In this YouTube video Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist, talks about how our perceptions are formed by the stories we have been immersed in. Although not a new idea, but his way of relating it to our attitudes toward capitalism is interesting. His conclusions which point to a middle of the road perception while healthier than the extremes, leftist and rightist, is incomplete. But the main point is his exposition of these three stories. It caught my attention to the way it relates to my previous post.

Link to Haidt's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOu_8yoqZoQ

Ephemeral Capitalism

Ephemeral means, lasting for a very short time. Am I coming to my past leftist sense thinking that “capitalism” is short lived. Therefore, it is Ephemeral!

Once There Was a Shah

I was seven when my father entered my life permanently. Before that he was an elusive figure who would appear for a day or few hours and then he was not there, with disappearances and durations that I could not keep count of and measure.

1953 Coup and Democracy in Iran

The month of August is the anniversary of the 1953 coup in Iran, the overthrow of the government of Mohammad Mossadegh, then premier of the country. This coup has been widely labeled as the “1953 CIA coup”. CIA stands for the Central Intelligence Agency of the U.S. Alternatively the 1953 coup has been called the “1953 CIA led coup”, a milder version. Mohammad Reza Shah which reinstated his rule through this coup and his supporters have called this event as the “Shah and People Uprising”.

American Myth

Semi woken a thought had me in its grip and uncontrollably began to utter these words: “Now I understand what it means. It is very simple. From now on I am an American. It does not matter that I am not a citizen. It would not matter even if I get denied citizenship. It would not matter if I am thrown out of this country or where I end up living in this world. I am an American! From this moment on I am an American!” Maureen’s voice woke my other senses, “OK! OK! Now go back to sleep!”

"Black Lives Matter", What is it?

"Black Lives Matter" (BLM) is a frivolous movement. This slogan is a leftist dream come true. It works as if it is designed to hide the actual racism in the U.S. instead of revealing it. BLM clouds the forward movement of the society to overcome racial distinctions as a political and social issue. BLM is the brainchild of the leftists in the U.S. and it camouflages their indirect complicity in the existing racism lurking in our law enforcement units. Obviously, I have a different view of this movement than what BLM propaganda portray itself to be. How do my assertions stack up against the reality?