Violence is a bad strategy for overcoming oppression because oppressors usually have the biggest weapons and will win in the end.

Violence is usually a bad strategy for overcoming oppression because those with the most powerful weapons are the one's who usually prevail. The violence that Hamas brought against Israel was met by a far more powerful response from Israel killing many times more people.

There are better strategies. New inventions and economic conditions can disrupt established orders and bring big changes.

The gradual change that the gay liberation movement and feminism has brought in American culture, over the past few decades, is another example. These things are sometimes thought of as subversive ways to gradually erode and change an existing order.

Arab Americans for Trump changed name to Arab Americans for Peace. Why did they support the Republicans to begin with? Then I remember the Log Cabin Republicans.

Arab Americans for Trump has changed it's name to Arab Americans for Peace. This, after plans were discussed to turn Gaza into a resort during a meeting between Trump and the Israeli prime minister.

Odd that there would even be an Arab group for Trump, but I do remember that there has been a gay rights political group called the Log Cabin Republicans. Log Cabin Republicans support many of the principals of Republican economics; such as smaller government, low taxes and pro business interests. Mostly Libertarian in philosophy.

From article: In a press release issued Wednesday by Arab Americans for Peace, the group said its members “appreciate the president’s offer to clean and rebuild Gaza” but “take issue with the president’s suggestion of taking over Gaza and removing its Palestinian inhabitants.”

I say, people of various interests don't necessarily march, in lockstep, with any political party. I've heard of a book called What's the Matter with Kansas. It's about many poor and rural people still voting against policies that could help them; such as government spending on rural infrastructure or government programs that benefit folks in red states.

There is also a large segment of people who are just angry at the world, almost. They were dissatisfied with incumbent politicians, such as Biden was, who were not necessarily doing enough to improve the situation. This anger and disappointment often keeps folks away from the polls swinging, an election farther away from the goals of people sitting out the vote.

I think anger tends to be a counter productive emotion in politics.

Remembering a lot from the news over the years (if my memory serves me correctly). Log Cabin Republicans backed the Republican Party, but did not endorse Trump for 2016. They did not endorse any presidential candidate for 2016.

I also remember, from the news of years ago, when Log Cabin Republicans sent a donation check to (I think) Bob Dole who was running for President on the Republican ticket. The Dole Campaign refused to accept the check from a gay organization.

I haven't been paying that much attention to the news about that organization in recent years; such as 2020 and so forth.

One of the best forms of nonviolent civil disobedience is living a less consumptive personal lifestyle.

Consumerism, or lack thereof, can bring mighty corporations, governments and economies to their knees. It doesn't have to be radical, or extreme. One can remain safe and comfortable, but just not falling for the latest fashions could be enough for bringing in a more ecologically friendly, humane, sustainable and enjoyable culture.

Any difference between Harris and Trump? I doubt Harris would have wanted to turn Gaza into a resort, but other solutions worn't working either. I did vote for Harris, however.

I doubt that Kamala Harris would have proposed turning the Gaza Strip into a Riviera style Mediterranean resort. Then again, it seems like no solution that Harris, Biden, Trump, Bush, Obama, or anyone else tried, was working.

Some people think there isn't much difference between politicians, Democrat or Republican. I tended to still side with the Democrats, most of the time, but I do think that human culture shapes the world, anyway; human culture, beyond what politicians can usually fix.

Who is more immoral, the Palestinians or the Israelis?

On my moral scale, both are equal.

So why have the Israelis killed so many more people than the Palestinians?

In my opinion, only because the Israelis have more powerful weapons.

The violence and hatred is similar on both sides, but larger weapons will only amplify the violence.

Folks on both sides who wish for peace are of higher moral character than those who wish for war.

I say the best way to liberate people from oppression of a powerful ruler is to subvert the ruler's system in some none violent and creative way.

Innovation tends to works better than violence.

If one is going to fight fire with fire, one needs to have equal firepower.

Is having gratitude an option only for the privileged? Well, those who are privileged don't have enough gratitude either.

Some people think promoting the concept of gratitude is a bias enjoyed by folks with privilege. Not everyone has lots of things to be thankful for.

Still gratitude is important as even folks with privilege often don't have gratitude either. They are complaining about taxes, crime, their neighborhoods changing and so forth.

Gratitude is also pretty important for folks trying to improve their situations as people, who aren't that happy with their situations, often quarrel among themselves in a sea of complaint. The perfect can be the enemy of the good.

Quarreling often opens the door to "divide and conquer;" a tactic used by folks in power to stay in power.

56 people killed in Guinea soccer stadium disaster following controversial referee decision.

Competitive sports can be hazardous. Here in USA, we recently had some controversy over a logo, or something, displayed in the opponents side of the field. Stirred up news headlines that I didn't fallow, but now I can't find that news.

Things have been even worse overseas as this headline was also in the news, around the same time.

56 people killed in Guinea soccer stadium disaster following controversial referee decision.

Monday's events are the latest in a long line of soccer stadium disasters over the last three decades.

I remember, in the 1980s, when a riot broke out in a stadium in Great Britain and part of the old stadium structure collapsed killing many fans. They talked about suspending the games for a while in UK back then.

Some Arabs in Michigan shot themselves in the foot by not voting for Harris.

Anger is usually a bad tool in politics. Excerpted from a recent article I saw.

Visuals of the conflict — with tens of thousands of deaths collectively in Gaza and Lebanon — stirred anger among many in Arab and Muslim communities about President Joe Biden and Harris' backing of Israel.

Trump picks what pro-Israel conservatives call a "dream team." Those in the community with concerns have specifically pointed to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, nominated as Trump's ambassador to Israel. Huckabee has consistently rejected the idea of a Palestinian state in territories seized by Israel, strongly supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposed a two-state solution, claiming "there really isn't such a thing" as Palestinians in referring to the descendants of people who lived in Palestine before the establishment of Israel.

Michigan-arab-american-voters-trump-cabinet-picks.

Biden still much better than what looks like what's going to be the alternative again.

It seems very foolish to blame Biden for the excesses of Netanyahu's military campaign in Gaza. Maybe Biden could call for a ceasefire and threaten to withhold military aid, but I think Netanyahu would just go ahead and do what he is doing anyway.

Meanwhile, many Republicans, backed by Trump, would be more apt to fully support Netanyahu. Republicans have an aid bill, in the House, with military aid for Israel while removing aid for Ukraine.

Biden is calling for restraint in that war but our country may not have much say in what other countries do; in the short run at least. I would guess that Israel has plenty of weapons without us.

I think it's terrible what Hamas has done, but the rightwing government, in Israel, can overreact.

Meanwhile, here in this country, many American Jews and others are critical of the right wing politics within Israel. Unfortunately some on the left, in this country, are taking their anger out on Jewish people. Left wing opposition would be better directed at some of the Christian Right which is more backing of Netanyahu's politics in Israel.

In pretty much every situation, anger tends to be misdirected and does more harm than good. Anger could bring Trump back to the Whitehouse.

Of all the emotions we have, whether sex or whatever, anger is, by far, the emotion that is on the shakiest ethical grounds.

Worth repeating. Of all the emotions we have, whether sex or whatever, I think anger is, by far, the emotion that is on the shakiest ethical grounds.

In an ideal world, anger would be a more immoral emotion than eroticism.

In an ideal world, anger and hate would be emotions that tread close to the lines of immorality while eroticism would be more acceptable.

In this world, it's almost the other way around.

First a teacher was hated in Sudan for the misnaming of a Teddy bear. Now a hateful war.

There's a big war of hate happening inside Sudan.

Flashback to 2007 and I remember the controversy about when a teacher, from UK, was arrested and convicted, in Sudan, for insulting Islam by allowing her class of six-year-olds to name a teddy bear "Muhammad."

She was later released back to the UK. Having some memory of that news, I just looked it up in Wiki.

Here in USA, the name "Teddy Bear" was named after our former president Teddy Roosevelt. One could just call then "stuffed bears," I guess. We, in USA, are usually more tolorent.

Some folks might say a president is different than a religious profit, but some hard core fundamentalist Christians, here in USA, nearly consider Donald Trump to be the second coming of Christ.

I don't think much of fundamentalist religions.

Avoiding a hostile world

So many controversies, involving the police, start with a traffic stop. Reckless driving, or whatever. Another problem related to a transportation system overly dependent on private automobiles.

Police can over react, but at the same time, the public worries about rising crime rates, auto theft and increasing violence, including gun violence and reckless driving, in our society.

Seems like our culture has too much anger, but at the same time, I notice the people, around me, seem reasonable, for the most part. The media tends to focus on the problems as there is an old phrase, about journalism, that goes, "if it bleeds it leads."

In everyday life, I still place a fair amount of trust in the kindness of strangers. I'm fairly sympathetic to the police, for the most part. At the same time, I don't worry much about property theft as I don't have much property. Pretty much all of my possessions have a low replacement value.

I often leave things on my bike and they have been untouched when I return. The pannier, I use in town, looks very tattered and anything in it is usually not worth more than a few dollars; such as the flashlight I use for a light. Yes, it's modern LED, but just a flashlight from a regular hardware store for around $5. My jackets are from secondhand stores.

While biking through Sequim, WA. in 2021, I found these banners, along the main street, promoting kindness.

Anger and fighting can definitely lead to friendly fire such as accidentally shooting down a civilian airliner

Hostility can backfire. I'm not a fan of anger and fighting. There has got to be better strategies to oppose an injustice.

Now it's clear that Iran accidentally shot down a civilian airliner with its citizens on board. I'm remembering, just a few days before this incident, a post I put here about accidentally blowing up the wrong temples in Israel. It was a "what if this were to happen" thought. Now this airliner incident has happened. A coincidence.

I'm not letting the US off the hook either. In 1988, we accidentally shot down an Iranian airliner.

Looking it up on Google, I find it was July 3rd 1988. I do remember it was not that long before the Fourth of July. There was quite a bit of shame and soul searching, within the US, after that incident.

I remember watching the Forth of July fireworks, that year, from Boulevard Park as they were shot out over the bay. A patriotic celebration, but definitely tempered with guilt.

Looks like there is soul searching in Iran over this recent incident as they accidentally shot down their own passengers. I'm glad they aren't still denying that it happened.

Often it is human nature to deny something in spite of overwhelming evidence. Total denial of climate change; for instance. I'd also put into the denial category, a lot of strongly held religious beliefs; for instance the 6 day creation story, or the tale of Noah's Ark, just the way it's written in holy scriptures. Questioning authority is valuable.

I also think that total sanctions against Iran is a bad idea. We need to think of better strategies to help the people of that country; especially the people who are trying to push for a better society.

Fighting over the sacred places

There is lots of feuding between religious people in this world. Not all religious people, of course, but it does seem prevalent; especially among fundamentalists. Much of that fighting happens around what are sometimes called the "Holy Lands," like where Israel / Palestine now resides.

Over the years, I've sometimes thought that it would be poetic justice if someone hellbent on destroying a nation, such as Israel, or Palestine, for that matter, Accidentally destroyed holy sites that they, themselves hold as sacred. So many of these sites that are highly regarded among the 3 religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity are in very close proximity to one another. An errant weapon could easily destroy the wrong temple. Seems like such a mistake would serve angry religious leaders, who would launch such a weapon, right.

Now it looks like our leader, Donald Trump, is toying with the idea of purposely destroying sacred sites. This wouldn't be an accident; like in my above thought, but on purpose. Trump does, of course, still have the backing of a lot of fundamentalist Christians in USA. Religious feuding continues.

If this were to happen on purpose, rather than just as "collateral damage," it would be on the level of ISIS destroying Ancient Roman sites in Syria or the Taliban destroying the large Buddhas that were built into the cliffs of Afghanistan. It's a race to the bottom.

Lynch mobs are at it again in some of the Middle East

Innocent people die just because some bigoted people in the US made a bad video. The killing mobs are basically lynch mobs. It's all stupid. The video, the mobs and all the conflict in the name of religion.

Then Presidential candidate Mitt Romney put his foot in his mouth as well. I'm kind of glad about that as it may help him loose the election.

You've probably read about the Romney issue already. Romney accuses Obama of being weak since he thinks Obama criticized the video on first opportunity after the killings in Libya. Actually, as you've probably already read, staff at the US embassy in Egypt (I think) put out a criticism of that crummy video, before the killings and not involving the White House. I guess they were supposed to clear all statements with the White House, but they didn't. Still one has a right to say it's a bad video. Obama and any private citizen has that right. Maybe the embassy staff doesn't officially have that right due to the job description, but that's organizational protocol versus citizen rights.

I haven't seen the video in question, but I guess it's pretty negative; like trying to offend Mormons by putting the Book Of Mormon in urine, for instance.

Romney is Mormon.

While there is freedom of speech, freedom also means one can criticize such videos. Nothing wrong with Obama weighing in on the topic, if he so chooses.

I guess Romney is upset because the White House isn't rushing to defend a crummy video? Of course, crummy is a matter of opinion, for the most part. It's all part of free speech, but Romney looks kind of foolish now. He does have the right to put his foot in his mouth also.

Obama looks pretty good at the moment, at least. Cool heads and moderation seems the best course. Not judging everyone who happens to live in a particular country with the same brush whether that country be the USA or a country where the majority of people practice Islam. There are moderate, sensible people who practice Islam as well as Christianity and other religions.

Seems like it's the hot headed and mostly the fundamentalist folks that we have to worry about in any religion.