Break Time

Taking a break for a while

Defeating The Islamic State

A man ahead of his time in many ways, General Sherman realized that the path to victory was not only in defeating the Confederate  Army in the field but in destroying the Confederacy's material ability and psychological will to wage war.

His strategy involved moving his armies through the South heartland by using his superior numbers and firepower to consistently outflank and force back Confederate troops under General Joe Johnston and later General John Bell Hood...and destroying anything  the enemy could possibly use. His army killed comparatively few civilians, but  lived off the land and left a swathe of destruction in its path.

He refused to allow his army to be tied down occupying bases. After conquering Atlanta, the South primary railroad and communications hub, he simply had the population evacuate to the Confederate lines, destroyed the railroads, ammunition and stores Hood's army had left behind  along with anything else his own troops couldn't use (including a large part of the city itself) and continued to move east to Savannah on the Atlantic coast and then north through the Carolinas, using the same tactics. According to Johnston's own memoirs, Sherman's troops moved at the rate of something like a dozen miles a day, leaving virtually nothing that could be used by the Confederate armies behind them.  This also forced the local populations to concentrate on survival and subsistence rather than providing either men, food or materials in support  'for the Cause.' It is a fact that there was very little if any guerrilla warfare behind Sherman's lines in the conquered territory.

Sherman eventually forced Johnston's army to make a stand in North Carolina at the Battle of Bentonville, where he decisively defeated Johnston's troops, and eventually took the surrender of Johnston and all the remaining confederate  forces  in Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas on April 26, 1865,  the largest surrender of Confederate troops during the war.

The lesson of General Sherman is an important one. Whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not, The Islamic State has a lot more popular support in the Muslim world ( including Muslims in the West) than we realize. That mistake has to be brought home to them, and the sooner it is, the shorter the war will be, ultimately saving many lives.

With modern adaptations, (for instance, using air power supporting armor to force Islamic State's forces back)  General Sherman's strategy  would both destroy The Islamic State's capacity to wage war, bankrupt it by eliminating the finance and support  it gets from its base  and discrediting its ideology among the people it most needs to be discredited with - Muslims. It would end their psychological support for jihad.

In contrast to WWI, Germany in WWII suffered total and unmistakable defeat. Germans were able to see first hand the destruction and death that following National Socialism and Hitler had brought upon them. The lesson was brought home and thus the German people had the ability to rebuild and start with something like a clean slate.

There is one final thing we are going to need in order to win this war, and it's unfortunately something deeply lacking - leadership.





http://joshuapundit.blogspot.com/2014/09/defeating-islamic-state.html

ESPN's College GameDay Returning to Downtown Fargo

FARGO, N.D. – ESPN's College GameDay Built By The Home Depot will return to downtown Fargo for Week 3 and the home opener of three-time NCAA national champion North Dakota State, the network announced Saturday.

The show airs live on ESPN from 8 to 11 a.m. CT each Saturday during the college football season starring Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack and Samantha Ponder.

NDSU, which leads the nation with an FCS-record 26-game winning streak, beat Iowa State 34-14 in the season opener for its fifth straight victory over an FBS opponent.  The Bison are coming off a 24-7 win at Weber State.

NDSU attracted College GameDay for the Week 4 home game with Delaware State in 2013 after beating defending Big 12 champion Kansas State 24-21 in the season opener.  ESPN's set was downtown at the corner of Broadway and Third Avenue North in front of the Fargo Theatre marquee.

North Dakota State is one of four non-FBS schools to host College GameDay since 1993 and the first to do it twice.  NDSU and Air Force are the only schools outside of the "Power 5" conferences and Notre Dame to host the show more than once.

NDSU's opponent for the home opener is University of the Incarnate Word, a first-year member of the Southland Conference.  Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on the NBC North Dakota network and ESPN3.


http://www.gobison.com/news/2014/9/7/FB_0907142242.aspx?path=football

Let's Play Double Dutch

Kate Hupp and Double Dutchess, I am counting on you...

Carmina Burana - O Fortuna (O Fortune)

Psalm 22

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.

19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!

Nine Inch Nails - Hurt

black

Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence ( LIVE HQ )

close to black

The Cure - Pictures Of You

darker yet





I've been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they're real
I've been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are all I can feel

Remembering you standing quiet in the rain
As I ran to your heart to be near
And we kissed as the sky fell in, holding you close
How I always held close in your fear

Remembering you running soft through the night
You were bigger, brighter and whiter than snow
Screamed at the make believe, screamed at the sky
And you finally found all your courage to let it all go

Remembering you fallen into my arms
Crying for the death of your heart
You were stone white, so delicate lost in the cold
You were always so lost in the dark

Remembering you, how you used to be
Slow drowned you were angels, so much more than everything
Hold for the last time then slip away quietly
Open my eyes but I never see anything

If only I'd thought of the right words
I could have held on to your heart
If only I'd thought of the right words
I wouldn't be breaking apart all my pictures of you

Looking so long at these pictures of you
And never hold on to your heart
Looking so long for the words to be true
And always just breaking apart, my pictures of you

There was nothing in the world that I ever wanted more
Than to feel you deep in my heart
There was nothing in the world that I ever wanted more
Than to never feel the breaking apart, my pictures of you

Songwriters
SMITH, ROBERT JAMES / GALLUP, SIMON / O'DONNELL, ROGER / THOMPSON, PORL / TOLHURST, LAURENCE ANDREW / WILLIAMS, BORIS

Published by
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Read more: The Cure - Pictures Of You Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)

The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?

Getting darker...




I am the son and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of the nothing in particular

You shut your mouth, how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

I am the son and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and the heir
Of nothing in particular

You shut your mouth, how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

There's a club
If you'd like to go
You could meet somebody
Who really loves you

So you go and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home
And you cry and you want to die

When you say it's gonna happen now
Well, when exactly do you mean?
See, I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone

You shut your mouth, how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
Add song meaning

Songwriters
MORRISSEY, STEVEN PATRICK/MARR, JOHNNY

Published by
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Read more: The Smiths - How Soon Is Now? Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Will the Islamopandering of the Jewish family of beheaded reporter Steven Sotloff never end?

Submitted for your review.  If true, what future can western civilization have?


http://www.barenakedislam.com/2014/09/04/will-the-islamopandering-of-the-jewish-family-of-beheaded-reporter-steven-sotloff-never-end/

Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)

Some escapism...