DO ASSAD AND ISIL HAVE A SECRET AGENDA?

Why did Assad allow the Islamic State to refine oil without even attempting to bomb the refineries?

Why did ISIL invade Iraq rather than try to defeat Assad?

If I was writing a political thriller, I would use the story that Assad and ISIL have a secret agenda. In my story, Assad makes a deal with ISIL. ISIL's job is to take out the moderate opposition, allowing Assad to say that Assad is better than these evil terrorists.

In my story, ISIL would have agreed to invade Iraq, rather than finish off Assad. Iraq was an easy target because no one expected a quick and dirty invasion. Also, it is possible that Assad was using Sadam's plan to ruin Iraq if Sadam was gone.

It is really clear that Assad is willing to bomb his country into total rubble in order to stay in power. Is it such a reach to think that Assad would make a deal with the devil in order to stay in power?

MY FAVORITE POLICE CHIEF IS GONE

Years ago, the former police chief of San Jose, Joe McNamara, spoke to the California Bar Association about the War on Drugs. He believed that the enormous amount of black market money was too much temptation for young police officers.

He brought respect to the San Jose Police Department.

If you have not read his novels, you should. The novel set in LA made clear the problems then faced by the LA Police Department. For instance, every police person in town went to view celebrity crimes, in spite of the contamination of the crime scenes.

He believed that the police should become professional investigators, and not just be societies' "bouncers".

The War on Drugs made the intellectuals of the 60s hate the police. Dr. McNamara taught us that we could respect the officers of the law.

Dr. McNamara is dead. I am not certain that he can be replaced.

SCOTLAND THE BRAVE

The romantic in me wants an independent Scotland where Bonnie Prince Charley won the rebellion.

The realist in me thinks that counting on a revenue stream from North Sea oil is a BAD idea. It is never a good idea to "put all your eggs in one basket".

I believe that all countries are going to have to learn to work together. A UNITED EUROPE was possible because of the example set by the United Kingdom of Great Britain.and the United States of America.

I know that being UNITED is sometimes a drag. Ask me how I feel about our federal policy toward marijuana.

A democracy means PATIENCE. It takes a long time for us all to agree on anything.

Now Scotland is voting, which is the way we solve these things in a democracy.

I just hope Scotland does not vote "yes" just because of a three hundred year old grudge.

THE PAST MATTERS, BUT THE FUTURE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE PAST.

NOTHING COUNTS AS MUCH AS YOUR VOTE

I REALLY hope that I am wrong about this song. (To the tune of "John Brown's Body")

  "Michael Brown's body lies a bleeding in the street,
    "Michael Brown's body lies a bleeding in the street,
    "Michael Brown's body lies a bleeding in the street,
    "With the cop car no where near.
  "Michael Brown's body lies a bleeding in the street,
    "Michael Brown's body lies a bleeding in the street,
    "Michael Brown's body lies a bleeding in the street,
    "And the Blacks still did not vote."

It is almost impossible to convict a police office of murder. Murder is an intent based crime. Juries can not bring themselves to find that a police officer really MEANT to kill an unarmed person.

The only way to prevent these kinds of shootings is to VOTE. ALWAYS VOTE for the people who say that they will get an independent police review board, and who will pay for training of police officers so that they react appropriately during stressful situations. These decisions are made at the local level so you need to vote in the elections for the people who run your city. I almost always vote for the Democrat.

You also need to be VERY CERTAIN that your US Congressperson has enough sense to stop the militarization of the police, the legal theft of property of arrested persons, and the stupid, racist War on Unauthorized Drugs.

If you do not vote, and things go wrong, the only person you can blame is yourself.

BTW, in a Democracy, only one person wins the right to the elected office. The loser needs to concede, work with the person that won, and wait for the next election. Too many people do not seem to understand that DEMOCRACY IS COMPROMISE. Compromise means that you NEVER get everything you want.

BULLIES LARGE AND SMALL

A bully wants you to obey. First they will try intimidation, and then they will try harassment. Basically, a bully wants you to be a slave and do what the bully wants.

Countries can often be bullies. Gaza said, "Do what I want or I will bombard you with rockets."

Intimidation is a more subtle form of bullying. Russia says, "I want Eastern Ukraine or I will cause chaos in Eastern Ukraine. If the Ukrainians separatists will not cause chaos, I will order Russian soldiers to spend their vacations causing chaos in Ukraine."

If you obey a bully, you will become a slave of the bully.

Cutting off heads is an extreme form of bullying, but it does not cause as much over all harm as deliberating financing and fighting a civil war.

I am not certain how to stop bullies. I can not even stop the bully in my house from leaving hoses for me to trip over. What kind of person thinks it is OK to try to trip a 67 year old disabled person, a pregnant woman, and the mailman?

I do know that submission to a bully does not help. I again recommend the book, Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Hitler taught us that submitting to international bullies is A VERY BAD IDEA.

PRIDE vs PRAGMATISM

ANY decision you make because of PRIDE is almost certainly a MISTAKE. A decision made because, "I am not going to let that _______ WIN," is ALWAYS A MISTAKE.

Even though you might "win", the price you pay will be too high. The biggest price is always LINGERING RESENTMENT from the losers. Ask Britain about the price of this lingering resentment in regards to SCOTLAND.

Just because you CAN do something, does not mean that you SHOULD do something. Sometimes I will stand or walk just because I am too embarrassed to ask for help. I ALWAYS pay the price in pain.

Sometimes leaders kill people to try to get others to comply with their orders. Unless those other believe that death is the correct punishment for the act, they may obey direct orders, but quietly resist acting with intelligence in doing complex tasks.

If you do things that make other people HATE you, you and your family may pay a unknown price sometime in the future.

Compromise is ALWAYS better than winning at all costs.