Silas

I was at a conference over the weekend and discussed this issue with a few people who were there I pointed out that the issues in Europe involving crime, violence, etc., and Muslims had nothing to do with Islam. These things are a bi-product of allowing large numbers of uneducated, young men without skills, and from very different cultures (specifically north Africans or sub-Saharan Africans) into western nations. Without language skills, education, etc., these men will find themselves among the ranks of criminals. As I have pointed out before, I live in one of the most Muslim areas of the US, and we have virtually no crime here. No violence or terrorism. The Muslims who live here are very different from the ones who live in the ghettos of Paris. One has to only go out into poor, rural areas of the US to find dangerous, uneducated people. Likewise, we can go into poor areas of the inner-city and see the same thing. Doesn't matter what religion these people are. The media and politicians want to conflate Islam with race. They also want to instill a sense of victimhood in the minds of Muslims. A vast majority of Europeans are quite tolerant and welcoming of Muslims, but those who have had bad experiences may think differently. In the US, there are many people living in rural areas who are ignorant and suspicious of Muslims, but I wouldn't say they hate Muslims. They just view such people as different or strange. Just like if I were to go to Iran tomorrow, there would be places in which I was welcomed, and other places where I wouldn't be. And as long as we have Salafist terrorists and radicals committing acts of terrorism, we have a problem. These people WANT Islam to be viewed with suspicion and fear. They want to be hated. The best thing to do is engage with the larger community, have "open mosque days", give lectures and presentations, inter-faith dialogues, etc. And many Americans know the Shia have never been the "problem ones". The Jews want to push this idea of a dangerous Iran and Shia terorrists. A vast majority of Americans and Europeans are not buying it anymore.

Among all those on that list, only Tulsi Gabbard has a chance to win the Whitehouse. The others are bad candidates with baggage, or unknowns with bad policies. Bernie does not have the support of his own party, and cannot raise the necessary funds to run a legitimate campaign. His policies are way left and do not resonate with the American middle-class. He is also too old. Kamala Harris is way too radical and out-of-touch to even be considered. Biden is old-news, and doesn't stand a chance. Only Gabbard has the charisma, the military record, and the anti-establishment credentials to challenge the GOP in 2020. If she adopts centrist policies, and resists the temptation to go hard-left, she will easily win the Whitehouse.

It isn't simply Trump supporters. Interventionism in the Middle-East is something the neo-conservatives and mainstream left want. Hillary Clinton would be dropping 3000 bombs a day on Arabs as we speak if she had won the election. The Democratic Party is dominated by Jews who hate Muslims and support the Apartheid ethno-state of Israel, despite a handful of leftists that openly criticize that nation and involve themselves in BDS. Obama kept the money and weapons flowing into Israel his entire term of office.

I don't think it is so much a problem of laziness vs. a problem with hopelessness and helplessness. When you grow up in an environment of broken families, rampant crime, illiteracy, and government-dependence, it is pretty easy to assume that nothing you do will ultimately matter, and that the deck is stacked against you. That results in chronic unemployment, and what looks like laziness to others (whites, Asians, etc.) The Chinese and Japanese did not have an easy going when they arrived in this country either. Between ghettos, discrimination, language barrier, and even imprisonment for the Japanese during WWII, they still rose above their circumstances and became very successful. Of all the ethnic groups in the US, Asians have the highest college graduate rates, longest lifespans, and some of the longest lifespans. Much better than whites. But no one talks about "Asian privilege". The politicians in this country fully intend on keeping the blacks in the crime-ridden ghettos, by convincing them that institutional racism will prevent them for ever being self-sufficient. It is the "Democratic Plantation", that produces voters, since these people vote for the politicians that promise to keep food on the table. They exchange welfare for liberty, and self-respect for dependence.

True: no one denies that racism and prejudice exist. But I used to tell my students when I was a teacher that you cannot wait for the world to be 100% fair and equitable to everyone. There will always be ethnic and religious conflict, and the groups that hold more power today, could be replaced by others tomorrow. There is a lot of opportunity in the US, even with the legacy of racism. When I worked for a trading firm at the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the owner of my company was a very smart black man who went to Williams College. He was worth many millions. Such a thing would have been inconceivable 75 years ago.

What are the chances that Turkey simply rolls tanks into Syria now?

The Civil Rights movement in the US was launched over 60 years ago, and its objectives were completed by the time the early 1970s rolled around: voting rights, an end to segregation, equal access to monetary loans (banks could no longer "redline" black communities"), equal access to good schools (to the point of busing students into different neighborhoods, etc. To this was added affirmative action, minority business set-asides, etc. there is no legal right or prerogative that I possess as a white man, that a black person in this country does not possess. In other words, there is no legal or established institutionalized discrimination in this country anywhere. So when blacks claim discrimination, persecution, or unfair treatment, it requires clarification. Their own people persecute them through gang violence, rampant illegitimacy, etc. They have access to public education, jobs programs, etc., but nevertheless drop out of school and go on welfare in alarming rates. It is a cultural problem--an issue where a group of people has learned helplessness, and chronic dependence on the State. There are black leaders in this country who have also said this. I have seen similar complaints about the situation in Saudi Arabia, where many Arabs barely work, and live directionless lives, because the oil wealth and expansive welfare state has rendered them idle and helpless. If Don Lemon really believes the average black man has more to worry about from imaginary groups of Nazis hiding somewhere in the city than from another black man in his own neighborhood, he is a fool.

Israel will "convince" Trump to keep the troops there. I'm sure AIPAC has already arranged to meet with the president over this

US troops in the Middle-East has never been popular lol, save for maybe going into Afghanistan after 911 A recent survey show 86% of Americans are against military intervention in the middle-east --or anywhere else! AIPAC and other elements of the Jewish lobby get our government to send troops to the middle-east. Likewise, the primary reason we cannot normalize relations with Iran is because of the Jewish lobby.

wow, I didn't even know about the Canary Mission --that is crazy!

It should be pointed out that this isn't just Texas 26 states have enacted similar policies and laws (Oaths to support Israel, anti-BDS, etc.) I am a consultant, and my client is a state agency. The new Jewish governor (and mayor of Chicago) will be giving us loyalty oaths to sign. They also want to enable the state to look into our social media for any criticism of Israel

https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/israel-texas-anti-bds-law/

Much has been said here, but I can only add advice on practical grounds (the religious opinion is pretty clear) There are times in our lives that we will be asked, or sometimes forced, to lower our standards, set aside our ethics, or even our faith, in order to appease a close friend or family member that is acting in a reprehensible way, or has committed grave sins. The idea is that once we give in to small demands on this front, everyone will simply be "OK" with the behavior or sin in the future. Some will say "you cannot choose your family--you must take them as they are". That is nonsense. Unless we stand firm and set an example, more sins and bad behavior will be the result. You should not be asked to repair this guy's image by making him into a good Muslim. If he truly believes, and wants to reform his life, or try somehow to correct his sins (which will be difficult), he must do that himself, and depend on the mercy of Allah. My father recently died, and while he was a brilliant man (spoke 8 languages, including Farsi and Arabic), and was very successful, he led the life of a profligate and libertine. He was adulterous, psychologically abusive towards his wife and girfriends, and his whole life was a web of lies and deceit. He was an atheist and cynical. He did not want any kind of funeral or religious service after he died. Nevertheless, after he died, my Catholic sister-in-law held this big Catholic funeral for him, where people who barely knew him sung his praises. It was a false-narrative, and I was outraged by the whole thing. The point being, that we are often called to gloss over the sins of others in an effort to make peace within the family. We should resist this.

Messi is the best offensive threat I've seen. He is the Gretzky of football. But there are other players who were more complete, such as Johann Cruyff If I had to point to one guy and say best footballer ever, I would have to say Lev Yashin , the "black spider". He completely dominated.

I have noticed that numerous Muslim women attend the gym where i exercise. It is also a YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) lol! But they are modestly dressed. Here in the US it is difficult to find a male-only gym. One recommendation would be to find a boxing gym. Such a place is typically very inexpensive and almost entirely populated by men (very rare to see women in such places, and even if they are there, they won't be dressed provocatively).