Issue 452 What is ISIS/ISIL's Goals. October 31, 2014

Well here is a spooky topic to sink your teeth into on Halloween.  The goals of this radical terrorist army.  So let us begin with what they want.

What they want:  Basically they want to re-found the Caliphate which is a theocratic based government based on the religion of Islam.  To do this, they want to unite the lands that have traditionally belonged to Islamic peoples.  So this means Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia (they are next on the hit list) and basically any country that exists in the Middle East   Believe it or not, they do know their history.  A pact after World War I created divisions in the Middle East separating it into these countries we know today which included Iraq and its surrounding countries. This agreement is called the Sykes-Picot agreement and was intended to break up the Ottoman Empire into spheres of influence for Britain, France and Russia.  This territorial control would later be removed, but in their place would be warlords and kings.  However, ISIS and its new name (and larger brand) ISIL want to not only unite the countries of Iraq and Syria together, but the whole of the Middle East by force if necessary. 

Methods:  Unfortunately, while removing dictators, and oppressive kings (yea they got kings over there) sounds appealing.  ISIS/ISIL is a far cry from being any more innocent that Hitler is for causing the Holocaust.  For one, ISIS/ISIL is made up of Sunni Muslims who believe anyone can inherit the will of the Prophet Muhammad (among other things) so as to rule over the Caliphate.  However the Shiite Muslims only believe that a member of the Prophet Muhammad's on family can lead.  This is important because now ISIS/ISIL wants to kill all Shiite Muslims for disagreeing with them.  It also does not help that Shiite Muslims as a whole are outnumbered by the sheer volume of Sunni Muslims in general.  In addition to killing all the Shiite Muslims, they wish to kill all the Jews, the non-believers/atheists, and of course Christians.  So basically it is convert to their brand of Islam, or die.  And when they mean die, they mean in a gruesome and violent way.  Many families in the Middle East have been murdered in their homes with their heads placed on spikes (children which includes newborns as well).  They will take women and make them sex slaves so as to have them have "half Muslim" children and that is so long as they are useful.  Once done with these women, they will often times kill them.  Children who are converts are then whisked away to train for war.  If you thought child soldiers was solely in Africa, then you have another thing coming.  The concept of genocide is lost on these people for mass murder is exactly their method for achieving their goals.

Conclusion:  All of this is for a United Middle East in the form of a Caliphate.  That is all they want.  From there it seems obvious that once they have built up their forces, they will sweep through the rest of Africa, Asia, and the pacific Islands to absorb and build up their forces to create the largest Caliphate in history.  Europe can be kissed goodbye as these ISIS/ISIL members ready and waiting to win elections while others are set to terrorize.  Yea that is right, Europe will be conquered through the ballot box as the number of Muslims in European countries grows year by year eventually outnumbering the original population and their religions.  From there it comes down to inspiring people to vote because they are Muslim and should vote for a Muslim candidate.  At this point they will slowly make reforms and then after a long while become part of the Caliphate as well.  After that, it is all about conquering the rest of the planet.  What?  Seems farfetched?  Well, truth has always been stranger than fiction.  And you know what?  You can just see for yourselves that these are ISIS/ISIL's goals by watching their videos.  Well that is if you can find there videos on their goals in between the filming’s of them torturing and killing people.  Yea, we live in a screwed up world, and the only way to stop these twisted freaks is to dismantle their ideology, and crush the rest. Vicious, yes, but effective.  The morality clock has been turned back to the point that it looks like genocide is acceptable again.  

Issue 451 The wrong way to deal with ISIS October 30, 2014

Yes, there is a wrong way to deal with ISIS.  Let's get on with this morbid discussion which I am sure some people are advocating for.

Genocide fought with genocide:  Fact is, there are people calling for total destruction.  I mean annihilating entire cities of people.  Well, it may have merit in areas where ISIS has total control and has wiped out all dissidents, it does not work in every place.  So this is a bad idea as we end up as the murderers as well.  So Genocide (or indiscriminate killing) is not the answer.

Dragging others into the fight:  ISIS is a single group, so other groups should not be dragged in that have nothing to do with ISIS.  This also means not blaming other Muslims for what ISIS has done.  ISIS ceased being Muslim the moment they started committing atrocities, and as such they are nothing but murderers.  So we must always remember to not blame the Muslim community as a whole.  This also means sticking to the target (ISIS) and not expanding the conflict further.

Conclusion:  I kept it short and to the point for a reason.  So that we do not begin to resemble the scum that is ISIS and similar groups.  They believe the ends justify the means, but we must maintain a moral high ground of sorts so that we do not become our enemy.  We are fighting quite possibly a multi-generational war and as such, we must always be ourselves.  We must always stand on the side of justice.

Issue 450 The effective way to deal with ISIS October 29, 2014

Opposed to yesterdays "Nice" method of dealing with ISIS, well here is the effective way.  In this case we fight ISIS like we should have from the beginning.  Here is how it is to be done.

Strategic attacks:  For one, we isolate their communications network to identify their movements.  This insures we know when and where they will be, when they will attack and in what strength.  At this point we make surgical strikes to the enemy’s infrastructure so that they can no longer re-equip themselves with weapons.  Thus, we are draining them of their resources.  While we do that, we try to steer their movements so that large clusters of them gather together so we can strike them down in swaths.  In addition (something we should have done from the beginning) is to kill enemy troops as they move from city to city.   This denies the enemy the freedom of movement they have enjoyed up to this point.   Once accomplished the enemy troops become isolated and thus easier to kill off.  

Part of this strategy is also having professional soldiers trained from the indigenous peoples of the towns and cities where they live to fight ISIS and other insurgents once the towns are retaken.  Thus, these secret forces and a strong police force/militia on top of that will help secure the rear lines from being retaken by ISIS remnants.  

How to accomplish this:  Unfortunately this will require troops on the ground again.  It will need us bringing in our air force and our land battle troops to help secure areas and strike at enemy forces.  In short, it will be a third Iraq war that will also include Syria and any other European and Middle Eastern Country that wants (or is forced) to get involved. This, while a dim prospect, means we will be fighting another war that will define the early part of the 21st century as violent and brutal.  Where nations no longer just fight each other, but against large groups of individuals capable of toppling nations.

Conclusion:  Well, this is option two, which is slightly less appealing than yesterday’s option.  In this case, America will be doing the grunt work alongside its allies for this conflict.  Yes, we are probably going to end up doing this eventually, but by then we may end up waiting too long with millions dead yet again like in the holocaust. All I can say is, if we are going to do something, let's get on with it already.  I'm already sick and tired of seeing footage of the beheadings and the stories of murder and rape by ISIS commits acts of genocide. 

Issue 449 The Nice way to deal with ISIS October 28, 2014

The nice way to deal with ISIS is to not even send troops overseas.  Instead we host a proxy war where others fight in our stead.  How this works is simple, so let us discuss.

Proxy war:  In this case we would be using Iran, and other Muslim countries to fight the battle.  ISIS is made up of Sunni Muslims.  However, Iran, large populations of Iraq and parts of Syria are all Shiite Muslims.  As such, ISIS is also seeking the death or conversion of Shiite Muslims as well.  So we have the champions of Shiite Islam (Iran, and the large communities in Iraq) wage war against these terrorists.  America need only lend intelligence support, perhaps some equipment and humanitarian aid to help in the battle.  This reduces the overall American foot print and negates our need to have another violent war.  Turkey and other Sunni countries can join in to fight ISIS, as ISIS seeks the destruction of their governments.  So with a united coalition they can actually crush ISIS and achieve a "Muslim" victory over radicals.  

Reasoning:  For one, the United States is war weary, and thus should avoid fighting as much as possible.  We are also in debt which will only increase if we fight another war.  On the other hand, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries have fresh militaries ready to fight a battle and they can distribute resources as needed to better handle ISIS (not to mention they are a bit more ruthless).  In addition, this allows for their armies to be weakened slightly which makes them less apt to strike Israel after they finish off ISIS in Iraq and Syria (Syria is a staging ground to strike at Israel).  So instead of sending masses of troops and wasting large sums of money, let these other countries who have the means and the opportunity to fight and defend themselves rather than us defending them.

Conclusion:  Yea sure, this really is not the nice way of doing this.  While ISIS is a brutal group, the other countries getting involved may be just as brutal.  But they also have their own radicals as well who will more than likely be placed on the front lines which means we may be left with less radical members of the Muslim society once the fighting is complete (assuming that actually occurs).  But militaristically it makes sense to preserve and rebuild our resources and let the world attempt to take care of its own problems for a change.  Heartless sure, but sensible to a large degree.  

Issue 448 ISIS's Foreign Friends October 27, 2014

Have you heard of the terrorist group ISIS and its more large scale form ISIL?  Well for those who do not know, they are a terrorist group turned large army that seeks to wipe out the infidels and create a caliphate.  But what is really disturbing is the large number of foreign radicalized Muslims who have jumped on board to their cause.  Let's discuss.

The foreign Friends:  ISIS has a large contingent of foreign fighters amongst their ranks.  Approximately 3,000 come from the European Continent alone.  You can now begin to wonder, that if 3,000 members came from Europe and they seek the death or conversion of all non-Muslims, what does this say about the possible number of radicalized Muslims still in their home countries.  Apparently, some of the fighters also came from the United States, which means we have those radicals here too.   So what does this mean to us?

Implications:  The primary implications is that this means there is a greater possibility of an attack by one of our own citizens than an attack coming from a terrorist group abroad.  So they do not need to sneak anyone over the border to kill Americans and our Allies overseas.

What's to be done:  So the only thing we can do now is monitor the situation.  We must use surveillance techniques to find and isolate these radicals before they act.  It may even be possible to intercept them before they even begin to act and convince them via subterfuge to be a real Muslim who renounces violence.

Conclusion:  I feel that this must be brought to the forefront with respect to information shared with the public. The fact that we have U.S. and European citizens fighting on ISIS's side demonstrates the amount of free movement they have and the potential for them to launch more devastating attacks on innocents.  It is hard to feel empowered to do something when people in your own country can potentially seek to kill you.  However, we must be strong, and we must react in the right way.  Muslims, Christians and Jews in their countries should unite to denounce the violence committed by ISIS and their beliefs.   In short, you tell them that they have ceased being Muslim and call them a murderer for even being a part of the ISIS cause.  By shaming them, and Muslim Clerics teaching them the correct peaceful version of Islam may be the only way.

Issue 447 Educate the public on Drugs October 24, 2014

The most disturbing thing I have found while working at a pharmacy is not the sheer number of patients (though it is sad), but that most do not even know why they are taking these medications in the first place, let alone how they may interact with their other medications, food and vitamins.  This too me is really bad as they could just be taking these medications and actually be hurting themselves.  So I say educate the public in the following ways.

Medications:  People should know and understand what each drug is used for.  So they should be educated on the nomenclature of each type of drug, or the names adjusted to reflect what they do in an easier to understand format.  This way the populace can know what each drug effects without having to go through the schooling of a pharmacist.  Also, basic rules of thumb on which medications can be taken with what will also need to be made known so as to prevent harm as well.

From there pharmacists, or special lines of communication should be open for anyone to call so that they can ask questions on their medications.  Further, knowledge of when and how to take the drugs should also be easy to understand.  For instance, you should space an hour between taking a medication that affects your thyroid, and that taking it with milk makes it less effective.  These kinds of thing are essential to patient health and safety, and limiting that knowledge to just pharmacists has a negative effect on society in my opinion.  

Vitamins and food:  Both of these can affect health as well and interact with medications.  So by educating people on what foods you can eat to maximize Iron levels, which can act as blood thinners, and so on, we can avoid having to pay for expensive medications, and even avoid vitamins save to increase absorption rates.  This more holistic branch of medicine can aid in reducing the chances of having to take medicines with negative side effects, or actually dealing with those side effects without additional medicines.  Also, as mentioned, foods and vitamins can affect other medications you are taking and thus should also be made available in an easy to understand format.

Where this should be taught:  Rather than teaching sex education in a health class in high school, maybe health should actually focus on healthy bodies and knowing and understanding the medicines, foods and vitamins we all ingest.  In addition they can discuss ways to take care of oneself so that there will not be a need for such chemicals being placed in our bodies.

Conclusion:  An educated populace is a healthy populace as then we may even be able avoid going to a doctor for unnecessary treatments, needing to bother a busy pharmacist and maybe we can actually treat ourselves on occasion so as to avoid using our insurance and having to dish out cash to see a doctor.  I will tell you now that in my experience, most doctors do not know about medicines at all.  But pharmacists do, and they know what interacts with what.  And guess what, they have a database that helps via the internet.  Would it not be just grand if we could all do the same thing and read off the internet in an easy to understand format?  Well you bet it would and that is slowly becoming more viable.  But many sites unfortunately do not have health care lingo written in layman's terms.  So can we adjust the system to make it so that we have to see doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals less?  Yes we can, but that only comes with a populace that is educated in such a way that we need only to look to ourselves for the answers we seek.

Issue 446 How many Credit cards should you have? October 23, 2014

Credit cards are basically cheap low denomination loans that you must pay back.  However, having too many credit cards can lead to financial ruin.  Let us discuss.

How it leads to poverty:  The reason why having too many credit cards can lead to financial ruin is due to the lack of ability to see those funds disappear.  You do not consistently see your balance going down.  So when people realize that they have spent all that money, then they proceed to typically get another credit card to pay off the debt they have now incurred.  This becomes a vicious cycle that can lead to the destruction of your credit score and thus you’re being unable to get a loan or risk a higher interest rate.  Also, what many people do not realize is that if your debt is high enough, regardless of the amount of income you gain, you can still become impoverished.  More debt equals poverty.  So how can this be avoided.

Simple solution:  You should not have more than two credit cards.  At most two is easy enough to keep track of on a daily (or even a weekly) basis.  One of those credit cards will be used for large purchases or when you lack the cash.  The other will be used if and only if you cannot pay down the first card quick enough and thus will only be used in emergencies.  I personally have one credit card which I use exclusively for internet purchases, and for when I like cash.  Otherwise I pay off as much of the debt incurred before interest is tacked on so as to avoid a higher credit card bill (usually I just pay off the entire amount owed).  For those with two credit cards, you can switch back and forth between the two so the amounts on both remain low and thus make it easier to pay off even if you have to pay interest on the debt.  Also, if you find a credit card that has a better interest rate, then you should eliminate the card you have that has the highest interest rate and replace it with the new one.  You can then proceed to use the new card to pay off the old cards debt so that it does not hang over you.  From there it is all a matter of carefully picking your purchases and buying more cheaply so that you stay ahead of the debt and finances you have.

Conclusion:  We all have to be smart with our money so as not to burden ourselves or loved ones with financial instability.  As such, I found two credit cards maximum to be the best way to maintain my financial wellbeing without accruing too much debt.  So cut out the excess in your life so that you too are not forced into poverty by your own spending habits.