tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70838370402406530942012-02-16T12:59:46.506-05:00Ted Simmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133669116793459956noreply@blogger.comBlogger91100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7083837040240653094.post-82127551698335231382007-03-02T17:04:00.000-05:002007-03-02T17:06:00.578-05:00

One of the many failings of our Current Occupant seems to be his inability to distinguish between the two kinds of enemy we’re faced with today. His refusal to understand that Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein operated on two radically different principles was only the most obvious example of this blinkered view. Osama and Saddam hated each other, for crying out loud, and all we’ve

Ted Simmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133669116793459956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7083837040240653094.post-62716561275648306932007-02-02T15:28:00.000-05:002007-02-02T15:48:42.872-05:00

There is one question that confounds westerm observers: if radical, suicide-bombing, Islamist terrorist-insurgents represent a small fraction of the Islamic world, where are the voices of reason in Muslim society decrying the perversion of their faith? One. not very satisfying answer (to us) is that,while the terrorist tactics are abhorent, Muslims in general must believe their motives are

Ted Simmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133669116793459956noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7083837040240653094.post-63939369632731286532007-01-22T08:23:00.000-05:002007-01-22T08:46:15.769-05:00

I'd like to digress from my usual talk of Middle Eastern culture, to rant a bit about the national leadership of the Boy Scouts of America. I know, I know, it's been done, but now it's personal.Considering the ongoing mess in the Middle East, I think everyone, and young people especially, should learn all they can about the region. What better way to get started than by reading an exciting

Ted Simmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133669116793459956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7083837040240653094.post-21709287404916892882007-01-18T14:50:00.000-05:002007-01-18T15:13:05.674-05:00

A couple of days ago, I learned two new things about Iraq.One, I learned my much-loved grandson had received the call to go toBaghdad in July, to help save America from someone hiding in a cave in Afghanistan.Then I read that the U.N. estimates the Iraqi death toll for the first eleven months of 2006 was 34,452. There are two interesting things about this number. First, they didn't estimate "

Ted Simmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133669116793459956noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7083837040240653094.post-9119400866367963972007-01-14T20:35:00.000-05:002007-01-14T20:44:18.563-05:00

In 1978, just prior to the revolution that toppled the Shah of Iran, I spent a couple of weeks there on a business trip. Outside my hotel window at night, I saw dozens of young men studying under the lamps in a small park. When I went down to talk to them, I found they had all studied English and ALL professed a strong desire to come to the United States. They bought me tea and pastries and

Ted Simmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133669116793459956noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7083837040240653094.post-39993501103207356922007-01-11T13:06:00.000-05:002007-01-11T13:10:08.417-05:00

Patrick Henry apparently hadn’t foreseen Mazlov’s Hiercharchy of Needs. In 1934, Abraham Mazlov proposed a theory in which he listed all the human needs and organized them into a hierarchy, usually shown as a pyramid. He placed the most basic, physiological needs (breathing, food, etc.) at the bottom with safety and security needs above that, followed by esteem issues (self-respect, achievement

Ted Simmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133669116793459956noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7083837040240653094.post-90445331788051096482007-01-06T09:52:00.000-05:002007-01-06T09:54:56.803-05:00

In the United States and other western countries, children are taught at an early age to feel guilty if they do something naughty. In our society, life is full of opportunities to do things our mother told us not to do. We either let our conscience be our guide and keep from doing them, or go ahead and do them – and feel guilty. Arab boys, particularly Saudi Arabs and others from the Persian

Ted Simmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133669116793459956noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7083837040240653094.post-57666069211783415042006-12-29T16:03:00.000-05:002006-12-29T16:09:52.074-05:00

I was discussing Arab behavior with a Palestinian colleague, and asked him about reports of rich Saudi Arabs going to places like London and spending huge sums of money on gambling, alcohol and, shall we say, women of a certain persuasion. Since they would never dream of doing these forbidden things at home, I said, “Isn’t this the worst possible hypocrisy?”“No, no, no,” he said. “You don’t

Ted Simmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133669116793459956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7083837040240653094.post-83986899037818165022006-12-29T14:22:00.000-05:002006-12-29T14:27:58.108-05:00

In a recent military convoy briefing in Iraq, Colonel Peterson advised, “On the open highway we will try to maintain 60 mph. In urban areas we will slow to 10-20 mph. But, watch out for camels in the road!" (Road to Baghdad) He didn’t explain why, so I shall proceed to do so now. A dromedary camel (a one-humper) weighs over 1500 pounds. They stand six feet tall at the shoulder and their skinny

Ted Simmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133669116793459956noreply@blogger.com0