Can Flip Flops Prevent the Next War? Two Vets Think So

Combat Flip Flops seek peace through 'business, not bullets'

Matthew "Griff" Griffin and Donald Lee served multiple tours in Afghanistan as members of the elite Army special operations force, the 75th Ranger Regiment. Now, they believe there's a better path to peace: selling flip flops.

"We're preparing to make the exact same mistakes as we did in Afghanistan in the '80s. And if we make those mistakes, those little girls, those little boys that go to school with my daughter…[are] going to be fighting there again in 10 years," states Griff. "We can make a change."

The Rangers used to trek through remote mountain villages, hunting Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters who thought they could hide there during the punishing Afghan winters. They faced a common paradox of modern warfare: winning hearts and minds while conducting raids, armed to the teeth. After leaving active duty, they joined forces once again to create Combat Flip Flops, a company that flips the battle on how wars are won through their "Business, not Bullets" mantra.

Griff and Lee recently sat down with Reason TV producer Justin Monticello to discuss their company's history, growth, and ethos. 

This video was originally posted on Sept. 18, 2015. Full text, links, and downloadable versions can be found here.

Comments

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I haven't killed anyone since I started wearing flip flops full time.

[GILMORE?]

"I haven't killed anyone since I started wearing flip flops full time."

Yeah, well I hope your bid goes smooth homie. Send my love to all my Vatos Locos.

[Crusty Juggler]

since I started wearing flip flops full time

Blocked

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

GOOD

[Homple]

Anybody here remember the sort-of-sandals called Ho Chi Minh racing slicks? The soles were cut from tire treads and the straps were strips of inner tubes.

[PapayaSF]

Never heard them called that. I think of them as a hippie/Third World thing. Haven't seen any in decades.

[Homple]

We bought them from the Vietnamese villagers, hence the name.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

My flip flops have bottle openers on the soles. Do yours?

[Agammamon]

I just drink margaritas.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It's hot enough today that I might have to drink margaritas just to stay hydrated.

[Hyperion]

Not needed. The only time I wear my flip flops is when I'm in Brazil, and I don't open beers there, someone else does that for me. Is my privilege showing?

Today, I will open beers myself, cause I'm in Murika where my privilege is under attack and has been minimized. Murika, fuck yeah.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I can conclude 2 things from that statement.
1) You don't wear flip flops enough
2) You don't drink enough beer

[Hyperion]

2) My wife disagrees

[The Late P Brooks]

Them flipflops had better be as good as Reefs, or those guys are just wasting their time.

[CFF.Griff]

Buy them and find out.

[american socialist]

I like these sappy articles from a libertarian magazine about how these "heroes" have embarked on a new gig from their old one-- you know, killing impoverished villagers for bullshit political reasons.

I didn't watch the whole interview. Did you ask them if they were embarrassed by their service? I'd be. You can't be too smart by volunteering for multiple tours in a war conducted on third world villagers by an imperialist modern army at the behest of a criminal President

[Agammamon]

So . . . you hate Obama now?

[american socialist]

I voted for kucinich in both primaries. Do I think there's a difference in starting and trying to end a war? Yes. Obama's not my boyfriend and I don't like any part of the Afghan War, but it's worth noting who started this thing.

[PapayaSF]

Kucinich! Voted by a poll of historians as one of America's all-time worst mayors.

[Austrian Anarchy]

Sounds like the magic word: Consensus

[Agammamon]

Its also worth noting - at every turn - who *kept the fucker going*.

Which was your babydaddy. All those dead impoverished villagers and the continual 'signature strikes'? Those are the price you pay for Obamacare.

[PapayaSF]

Plus, the war in Iraq was basically over before Obama got in office, but it restarted once he took our troops out.

[Cytotoxic]

The Iraq War would have restarted anyway because their government is useless.

[Cytotoxic]

"who *kept the fucker going*."

That would be, first and foremost, the Taliban.

[Agammamon]

In *Iraq*?

C'mon man - I know you got a warboner for the BSP's in the ME, but the Taliban was *never* in Iraq and was destroyed in Afghanistan loooooong before Obama took office.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"but it's worth noting who started this thing."

But never the one who KEEPS IT GOING.

Nice little blanket you have there.

[sarcasmic]

I know that a lot of people honestly believe that killing goat herders on the other side of the globe somehow keeps America safe, but I have yet to figure out how.

[Hyperion]

It keeps military contractors safe, at least there's that.

[sarcasmic]

Job security. I'll take it.

[Cytotoxic]

That's a strawman that exists solely in your head, which is jammed up your ass. Maybe if you'd engage with real arguments, you might have more political success.

[sarcasmic]

Whatever gave you the impression that I value political success?

[Cytotoxic]

Ah yes my mistake. I forgot the base pleasure you get from typing out the same tropes over and over and over again.

[sarcasmic]

I give you the opportunity to hurl insults at a stranger on the internet instead of someone who would punch you in the face. You should thank me.

[Cytotoxic]

"a war conducted on third world villagers by an imperialist modern army"

But enough about the Soviet Union's '80s Afghan adventure.

[Agammamon]

See? Now *that's* a zinger to throw at AS - no this 'hur, TALIBAN DID IT' stuff.

[De Oppresso Liber]

Fuck you. These two guys learned from their experience, and better yet, decided to take bold action to correct the injustice they saw. What the fuck have you done lately. Sincerely, fuck you.

[PapayaSF]

OT: LOL

[Mr Lizard]

You know who else thought they could achieve peace through flip flops?...

[egould310]

Jimmy Buffet?

[Zaytsev]

Julius Caesar.

[lap83]

Rand Paul?

[Austrian Anarchy]

Ho Chi Minh?

[Quincy.]

The Dude?

[egould310]

My wife and I are at Lou Malnati's ready to dig into a deep dish. Fucking delicious!

Suck it, dickholes!!!!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I notice that you didn't use the word "pizza".

[egould310]

I'm not throwing stones at that hornets nest.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You should. We need a niiice, looong thread to take us into the night.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I've been!

So suck it back!

[The Late P Brooks]

I voted for kucinich in both primaries.

And in the general?
I'll go with Two Time Obama Voter.
Do you even pretend to be ashamed by how badly you were duped?

[Mr Lizard]

OT: VW busted for pulling California ricer trick on a mass scale

http://hotair.com/archives/201.....ons-rules/

Quite crafty for those Germans actually

[Ted S.]

Didn't H&R have a full post on this on Friday?

[__Warren__]

Delay delay dealy and hope for a Repug administration who will be way more sympathetic.

[__Warren__]

Dealy?

[egould310]

Yo!

[Robert]

What's the California ricer trick?

[GILMORE?]

Modifying the ECU software to produce different emissions results under test conditions.

I forget the term they use for it.

"Ricer", for those not aware, is the (derogatory) term used for West Coast people who like to hot-rod cheap Japanese cars. turbo the shit out of everything, slam the suspension, bolt plastic parts on, cover it with neon stickers, etc. See = Fast + Furious

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Derogatory? I thought it was a compliment.

[GILMORE?]

I guess it depends where you're from. I don't think the term was ever very popularly employed in the Tri-State area, where the style overlaps pretty strongly with "Guido Cruisers"... which is any shitty car that's been given rims, a subwoofer, maybe some neon underlighting, and drives around your neighborhood blasting techno, shaking windows at 3AM.

[Juan Segway, Sidewalk Avenger]

Oh, sweet, sweet nectar. It's like my pool is tearin' ass around the backyard. But it's stayin' still. Still waters run deep!

[Austrian Anarchy]

It is as complimentary as you can get for those 1/4 engine, front wheel drive crap drivers.

[Heroic Mulatto]

VTEC JUST KICKED IN, YO!

[Hyperion]

I'll just take one of these:

Honda Jet

[Francisco d'Anconia]

That's sweet.

[Juan Segway, Sidewalk Avenger]

1/4 engine? I take it you're a Marmon fan?

[SIV]

It's not rice if it's fast. Ricer are all wing, wheels, body kit and stickers for mod parts that either don't make the car any quicker or they don't have. SI or SiR or Type R badges on a auto Civic DX with a giant wing for the poors.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Engrish prease

[Rhywun]

I thought I was the only one.

[GILMORE?]

WHUT YOU WANT TO GO BITCH? YOU HATIN CAUSE HE BAE

[PapayaSF]

OT: Anette Kahane, former Stasi agent, will assist the German government in monitoring and censoring Facebook for "xenophobic" content.

[Mr Lizard]

I knew they had it in them

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Do I hear 3?

[Jerry on the sea]

Don't click that link if you want your lunch to stay inside.

[PapayaSF]

She's a cutey, isn't she?

[Hyperion]

Lovely and I'm sure quite charming company as well.

[Number.6]

Separated at birth?
Adelai Niska

[Lee G]

Ha! She looks like the papers please woman at checkpoint Charlie from back in the 80s.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Is she single? Asking for a friend.

[commodious spittoon]

That is so problematic, bro.

[PapayaSF]

You do realize that she'll ask you to wear an SS uniform, right?

[Hyperion]

And then put him in a Pillory and whip him with a cat o' nine tails.

[Marshall Gill]

That friend being Crusty Juggler, right?

[Rhywun]

Huh, I thought all Germans were thrilled at taking in millions of "refugees".

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Sure. They'll shower them.... with attention.

[Atanarjuat]

I see your pun.

[Suthenboy]

I love watching the caring, tolerant proggies, who deny charges that they are just like the totalitarian left of yore, morph into the totalitarians indistinguishable from those of yore. It is even better that they seem to have no awareness of it at all.

[Crusty Juggler]

Nice.

[Millard Fillmore]

You know who else monitored Germans' speech?

[Quincy.]

The Duden?

[Rhywun]

Ausgezeichnet.

[Hyperion]

Murikans, much like not being able to make a decent lager, also cannot make flip flops. The flip flops that can be bought here hurt my feet. I suspect most of them are made in China. To get good flip flops, you have to get them where people normally wear them all of the time. At least that's my theory.

[Mr Lizard]

Soooooo your mother's house?...

[Hyperion]

Yeah, my mom knitted me some sandals to go with my multicolored knitted cap and scarf. And for like a week everyone thought I was from Portland.

[Mr Lizard]

Well that's understandable. At least your extremities were warm

[Agammamon]

This? Coming from a reptile residing in the the flip-flip and bathsalt capital of the country?

[Hyperion]

No, bathsalts don't turn you into a reptile, it's that other really scary drug... Also, Murlanders do not wear flipflops.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

My reefs are awesome. Wore them at the pool this morning, and they're coming with be to the beach later. They have Airsoles. Oh, and did I mention that they have a bottle opener?

[lap83]

So do the hops in your IPAs help cover up the essence of gravel and chewed bubble gum?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

No, but they could. I don't use them as an ice luge into my mouth. Yet.

Bonus:
Ice Luge for Jesse.

[Hyperion]

Why did I click that?

[Ted S.]

Because you're a glutton for punishment?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Don't pretend that you didn't know what that would be.

[Hyperion]

Dude, are you telling us that orphans do not open your beers? The sandals should only be used to beat the orphans about the head when they don't open you another beer at the right moment. You are so out of the club.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

My kids act as stand ins for my orphans.

[sarcasmic]

You can't make a decent lager?

It's pretty easy to make a European style lager at home. American lager is another beast entirely. Because it has so little flavor, there is no wiggle room. You've got to get the balance just right. But it's pretty easy to make something like a Czech style lager at home (think Pilsner Urquell). All you really need is a way to control the temperature. I'm able to make a few every winter because my basement gets down near 50 degrees. If I had the room and money to build a fermentation chamber where I could make lager all year round, I'd probably quit brewing ale.

[Hyperion]

Well, I've never seen anyone do it including any American micro or full scale brewery. Never once. I have friends who've been making their own beer too, for a long time and everything they make that's supposed to be an attempt at a Euro style lager tastes like IPA. They've basically told me that making a Stella type lager at home is impossible.

So if you really can do it, I'd suggest you stop doing whatever else it is you're doing and open a brewery, you'll probably get rich.

[sarcasmic]

It seems to me that most homebrewers tend to want to make big beers. By big I mean lots of alcohol and lots of hops. I was like that for a few years until I got it out of my system. So when they go to make a lager, they make a strong beer with lots of hops. Doesn't mean they can't make a decent beer. It's just that they always make something with lots of alcohol and lots of hops. If they applied the same process to making a beer that doesn't have a ton of alcohol and hops in it, it might be good. But too many homebrewers are all about "Go big or go home," and they give the impression that all homebrew is bitter and high in alcohol.

[Hyperion]

Well, a couple of my friends were for years trying to make a beer that tastes like Stella or Heineken or other Euro lagers, and they weren't trying for it exceed 6% alcohol and they basically gave up and told me it's not possible with home brewing equipment. As someone who's never tried it, I don't know. But I do know that I've had so called 'lagers' from lots of micro breweries from all over the USA and they are all shit, all of them taste like some version of an IPA. So, I mean if you want just another IPA, then I guess that's ok.

I would love for someone to prove me wrong about this.

[AlmightyJB]

I actually just got back from Asheville and had a pretty decent lager from a brewery called Hi-Wire there. Maybe a very slight hint of hoppiness but definateIy not an IPA. I don't like IPA's and thought this to be a pretty good representation of a lager.

[Hyperion]

I'm headed down to Asheville in a couple days. I'll try to check it out.

[AlmightyJB]

Had a blast. There is also Asheville Brewing company right around the corner that had a decent selection of styles. Go to Wicked Weed Brewery for the food. WW had a nice pumpkin ale with chiles called Xibalba. Mostly IPAs though. All 3 within walking distance of each other. Fun town.

[Hyperion]

Hmm, I'm looking those up. We're going from there down to Greenville and then back up to Charlotte, before returning to the PRM. Were you down on business or vacation?

[AlmightyJB]

Vacation. Got in Sunday evening and left Friday morning. Great trip. Not sure if you are planning on driving any of the Blue Ridge Parkway which I highly recommend but the view from the Mount Mitchell observation deck is spectacular.

[AlmightyJB]

Best meal we had in town was at The Market Place. Pricey but not break the bank so. Excellant food. How long you planning on being there?

[AlmightyJB]

Looked like on Thursday evening the homeless crowd was beginning to desend on town.

[Hyperion]

Yep, we'll be heading down that route.

[sarcasmic]

I gave a go at American lager to the point of using corn to dilute the malt. Some came out pretty good. I had to really restrain myself with the hops. I'm so used to making hoppy ale that it was difficult to make a brew with just a dash of the stuff. I couldn't make American lager, but I ended up with some passable stuff. Thing is, the lager thing has been done, and there's only so much you can do with it. Making lager that tastes like an IPA is different, so that's why people do it. If you want PBR, buy PBR. If you want to make something that's like PBR, do it quietly. You won't make any money selling it. At least that's how I look at it.

[AlmightyJB]

I don't get the hops thing. I like porters, stouts, wheats, browns, reds, blonds, various trappist styes, and more. Not into the IPAs, or the strong alcohol bourbon or rye beers or the vinegary goses.

[AlmightyJB]

Usually after 3 or 4 crafts I'm on to light lager just because the crafts are just too heavy.

[Crusty Juggler]

I don't like IPA's

Blocked.

For those of you who do like IPAs and live on the east coast, this Southern Tier IPA I just had is fantastic.

[AlmightyJB]

Their Warlock is pretty good.

[Hyperion]

Reason is really going downhill. They now don't know the difference in sandals and flipflops, only a couple of days after they tried to pass off a cannabis leaf as a leaf from a maple tree.

[sarcasmic]

A magazine that promotes creative destruction is becoming a victim of that which it promotes. Irony is on hold on line four.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

They're running out of stories as they wait for the libertarian moment!

[Suthenboy]

Has this been covered yet?

Could a commie pope cause a rift in the church? Looks like it. It is pretty clear that he is a commie first and a Catholic...is he even Catholic?

Catholic Congressman boycotts commie pope's speech:

http://townhall.com/columnists...../page/full

"More troubling is the fact that this climate change talk has adopted all of the socialist talking points, wrapped false science and ideology into "climate justice" and is being presented to guilt people into leftist policies. If the Pope stuck to standard Christian theology, I would be the first in line. If the Pope spoke out with moral authority against violent Islam, I would be there cheering him on. If the Pope urged the Western nations to rescue persecuted Christians in the Middle East, I would back him wholeheartedly. But when the Pope chooses to act and talk like a leftist politician, then he can expect to be treated like one."

[Hyperion]

It's almost like it's 1610 again. And the luddites even have the pope on their side again! The cultists of the church of warming should change from calling people deniers and call them Galileos!

1610: The earth is the center of the universe and the science is settled, burn the witches!

2010: The earth is warming and it's your fault and the science is settled, burn the witches!

[Francisco d'Anconia]

I hate Illinois Nazis commie Catholics.

[Austrian Anarchy]

I hate Illinois Nazis and commie Catholics.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He really gets on my nerves with his socialist drivel.

Catholic here.

[Ted S.]

You're just pissed that the Pope isn't Italian.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That too.

I mean...the nerve!

The Polish are the best.

[Cytotoxic]

Ridiculous. Peace is attained by absolute victory over The Enemy, not wining the (worthless) hearts of mind of Afghan people/savages.

[Hyperion]

So basically what you're saying is that every single person in Afghanistan is a worthless savage?

[Cytotoxic]

Just the ones who think it's okay to circumcise young girls or execute apostates ie +90% of them

[Hyperion]

But you'd be willing to let them all immigrate here, right?

[Suthenboy]

Why not? They will all put on blue jeans, start eating Big Macs and vote Libertarian.

[Hyperion]

2 out of 3 ain't bad.

[Cytotoxic]

With some heavy-ish security screening, why not? Once they're assimilated the bombings can cease!

[Hyperion]

Except for the bombings in local markets and at comic book publishers.

[PapayaSF]

"Assimilation" and "Muslim" rarely seem to go together.

[Rhywun]

I know it's just anecdotal but I've lived in a heavily Muslim neighborhood in Brooklyn for about 7 years and I'm seeing what I would call assimilation. It's not "complete" - there's a lot of burqas on the street and way too many hookah joints - but it's nothing like the situations in France or England either, and I think that is because they are not as completely isolated here. There are lots of Chinese, Latinos, and whites here too - in contrast to Europe where there seems to be less "mixture".

I have no idea what's going on behind closed doors but in public I'm not seeing any of the problems that are associated with such groups in Europe.

[Hyperion]

way too many hookah joints

This is a problem? Wait... what are they putting in those? I know that Muslims are tea totallers, unless they think that tea is a sin also. Sort of reminds me of my religious (Christian) parents and how they see alcohol as pure evil. Anyone who touches it is doomed. They know I drink and that I'm also successful despite that fact, but they'll still occasionally ask me 'you don't drink anymore do you? I thought you quit that!?' ... concerned look.

[GILMORE?]

" what are they putting in those? '

Fruit flavored tobacco.

[Rhywun]

It's only a "problem" in that I think the neighborhood could use a wider variety of shops.

[Ted S.]

Ain't collectivism grand?

[Cytotoxic]

That's not collectivism. That word should launch a suit against the commentariat for abuse.

[d3x / dt3]

I'm sure you'll be grabbing a rifle and heading off to fight real soon.

[Jerryskids]

So how long are you bitches gonna avoid the big story? You know, the one about the Cleveland Browns and their new quarterback, What's-his-face?

[Rhywun]

Lou Reed?

[Austrian Anarchy]

Did you ever see Lou Reed and Muammar Gaddafi in the same place at the same time?

[AlmightyJB]

Should I watch Evil Dead or Silent Hill:Revelation?

[Rhywun]

How can you even ask that.

[AlmightyJB]

I've never seen either. That's why I'm asking.

[Rhywun]

Heh OK. I'll give you hint: the Silent Hill movie was terrible. And I was a huge fan of Silent Hill 3 (the video game).

[AlmightyJB]

Cool. Went with Evil Dead. Won't bother with Silent Hill. Thanks for the tip!

[Rhywun]

Not that I won't watch it again 🙂

[AlmightyJB]

Ok well I haven't deleted it yet so maybe next weekend:)

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Which Evil Dead?

The 2013 movie is IMO the best horror remake of the past 10 - 15 years.

[Cytotoxic]

There was a remake!?!?

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Yes, and only those blinded by nostalgia (or in love with Bruce Campbell) would deny that it's AT LEAST as good as the original movies.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I will cop to both of those things.

[Cytotoxic]

BRUCE CAMPBELL UBER ALLES

[Ted S.]

Everything in Hollywood has been remade.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Twice

[Rufus J. Firefly]

...no FEE TINES!

[AlmightyJB]

It's the 2013. Guess I'll go with that. Thanks!

[Mint Berry Crunch]

I hope you enjoy it.

Just try not to be distracted by Jessica Lucas's hotness.

[AlmightyJB]

I liked it. And Jessica Lucas:) Good call.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Find the original.

[Rhywun]

I didn't know there was a remake either.

[Cytotoxic]

What PM said. Find the original first.

[Suthenboy]

You have to ask?

Go to your room.

[Suthenboy]

Also, I just got wind of this:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4189022/

[Mint Berry Crunch]

I might try watching that, but doesn't Starz have a reputation for canceling shows pretty quickly?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It says that they already made 10 episodes.

[Crusty Juggler]

Watch the Ash vs Evil Dead trailer and tell me you do not want see it, even if Starz cancels the show after ten episodes.

Like a quarterback on prom night, people.

[Rhywun]

Oh hell yeah. Too bad I don't have Starz.

[Cytotoxic]

I'm tentatively excited for that.

[AlmightyJB]

Yeah, I had heard about that. Have to check it out anyways.

[JeremyR]

That depends if you find tree rape funny or not. If not, go for Silent Hill

[JeremyR]

The problem with this is that radical islam is mostly from rich and middle class Muslims. Oh sure, they get some poor ones to go along with it, but they're in it for the base pleasure of killing and raping, not really ideologically, except in the sense that they like a strong horse as opposed to a weak one..

[Hyperion]

I'm finding it difficult to believe that people of wealth are willing to give all that up and become jihadists because of the scribblings of some 6th century camel merchant.

[Number.6]

Why not? You have the approximate equivalent demographic in America drooling over the prospect of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. Both of whom espouse beliefs that spell disaster to the future of the self-same people who are supporting them.

Cults are cults. We all got 'em.

[Hyperion]

Being a totally uneducated and clueless voter is not exactly the same as strapping bombs to yourself and blowing up the local market.

[Hyperion]

Being a totally uneducated and clueless voter is not exactly the same as strapping bombs to yourself and blowing up the local market.

[Hyperion]

I hatez squirrels.

[Heroic Mulatto]

BELIEVE HABIB IT!

[Hyperion]

Thanks for the link, interesting theory.

So, do you think that if these peoples are moved to a more stable and supposedly less corrupt form of government in the EU or USA, they'll instantly abandon their extremism and turn into full on free market capitalists and lovers of democracy? Because that does not seem to be happening in parts of Sweden, France, and the UK.

[Hyperion]

His argument is not that convincing to me.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

If they're already radicalized and come here, they won't change.

[Hyperion]

I'm sure they'll feel that the government in the USA is also corrupt, and I'll agree with them, until they tell me that Shariah is the answer. That's when I tell them to go fuck themselves with a salt encrusted cactus.

[GILMORE?]

I think this confuses some of what we describe as "Radicalized" muslims.

Most of the ideological "Islamic Jihadist" types are primarily concerned with eradicating secularism and corruption within Arab society.

They don't give a shit about Western countries/cultures other than for the fact that we have tended to support and prop up Secular and/or Corrupt leadership in Arab countries.

(Mubarak having been the most notable of both, the Sauds being the least secular, most corrupt... and a small handful of others in-between)

They'd certainly prefer the US stop meddling in Arab issues, and probably support blowing up shit in the US if it would convince said stoppage.... but doubt any truly "radical muslims" would bother *seeking a new life* in the West at all.

Maybe there are certainly some grumpy motherfuckers who are Orthodox muslims who would seek refuge in the West ... but actually "Radicalized" = people who've dedicated their lives to the overthrow of secular regimes and install a caliphate? I don't see them migrating to New Jersey anytime soon. The mere fact of abandoning their countries is a sign that they're not quite as "radicalized" as one might suggest.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Not to say natting but haven't we informed folk known what's pointed out in the video to be true?

[Cytotoxic]

Sunni radicalism has been spread in large part by wealthy Gulf Arabs.

[AlmightyJB]

Isn't that mostly to distract the plebs?

[Suthenboy]

"I'm finding it difficult to believe that people of wealth are willing to give all that up and become jihadists because of the scribblings of some 6th century camel merchant."

Then you aren't paying attention because that is exactly what is happening.

[Hyperion]

Well if it is true then they should join forces with rich white liberals in the West, because they are true brethren. Both want to kill free speech and send us all back to the stone age. The difference being that rich white liberals aren't actually willing to give up any of their own luxuries and are too big of pussies to join a jihad and blow themselves up. They'll hide under their beds in their gated community while the Islamists do the dirty work.

[Suthenboy]

That, also, is happening.

The rich white liberals are truly useful idiots though. I can't find it now but just in the last day or two I saw several Imams preaching that they welcome alliance with the western left but that the western left must be subservient to Islam (i.e. they will be the last infidels to be beheaded).

Proggies everywhere love the Palestinians and muslims in general. It took me a while to figure out why: they are fellow travelers.

[Hyperion]

Well, I think it's due to the unbelievable level of naivete on the part of the American left in believing that everyone who is not a white Christian male or right winger of some type (mostly white Christian males) are on their side.

[Suthenboy]

You can say that again.

Also, multiculturalists think that deep down all people are the same. They are not.

I have met Amazonian Indians who kept slaves and treated them almost as family for years and years. Yet, when hard times hit they will slaughter and eat those slaves without the slightest hesitation or remorse. Creatures like that are as different from you and I as fish are from dogs.

[Hyperion]

There are Amazonian Indians down there? We really do need to build that fence. Go Donald!

[Notorious UGCC]

Wait, what? Have you discussed your experiences before and I missed it, or are you saving it for your memoirs?

[Suthenboy]

I remember discussing this subject but it may have been a few years back.

I will wait until I am sure you are there and recount some of it.

[Hyperion]

Well, I certainly need to hear about your escapades in the regions of Amazonia near the Peruvian border, because as far as I know, that's the only region of Amazonia that still has tribes of which the most important thing in life is not the newest iPad, iPhone, and Michael Kors stuff for the wiminz folk.

[Suthenboy]

It was thirty years ago, dude.

Not long ago I looked on google earth at some of those areas. They have roads now. And bridges.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Not just the American left; the entire Western left. Truly useful and useless idiots.

[PapayaSF]

I'm finding it difficult to believe that people of wealth are willing to give all that up and become jihadists because of the scribblings of some 6th century camel merchant.

Like bin Laden? Like Ayman al-Zawahiri and Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, both doctors?

[Cytotoxic]

LOL at the BTC thread. Got a real tard storm up in their. Apparently TRUMP is the libertarian Republican option on the ticket.

[Hyperion]

That's the typical level of political enlightenment on libertarianism.

[Hyperion]

Hey, reasonable started working again...

[Notorious UGCC]

[Notorious UGCC]

What's that you say? You haven't had enough of Talk Like a Pirate Day, and you want to know what Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address would be like in pirate language?

Well, then, this is just what you've been waiting for!

[Quincy.]

Can Flip Flops Prevent the Next War?

No. Next queston

[Notorious UGCC]

If flip-flops could prevent war, then Alcibiades and Benedict Arnold would be honored as peacemakers.

[Ken Shultz]

"Can Flip Flops Prevent the Next War? Two Vets Think So"

I bet they don't, and I bet they don't appreciate the headline writer saying they do.

No, business rather than bullets doesn't mean "flip flops can prevent the next war", and the only other people I've seen make obtuse connections like that around here were The Weigel and Tulpa.

If you want to make libertarians look like idiots, please keep writing obtuse headlines like that. Or maybe you're auditioning for a job at Salon?

[Hyperion]

To be fair, I've never actually read anything here nearly as dumb as every single article on Salon. Cosmotarianism comes in, even though it's clearly starting to annoy libertarians, as way more reasonable than completely unhinged progressive lefty babble.

[Ken Shultz]

They write stupid headlines just like that at Salon all the time.

[Hyperion]

Just that the content isn't nearly as meandering senseless drivel.

[Ken Shultz]

I'm complaining about the headline--not the content (necessarily).

We may have an intern that thinks he's writing headlines for Salon. Do millennial interns need to be told not to write headlines like they're working for Salon?

[Hyperion]

Libertarian moment, Ken, all thanks to the millenials, most libertarian generation ever.

[Hyperion]

Well, this is embarrassing:

Not our culture

[Notorious UGCC]

"soldiers and Marines have been increasingly troubled that instead of weeding out pedophiles, the American military was arming them in some cases and placing them as the commanders of villages ? and doing little when they began abusing children."

Cardinal Law is jealous.

[Hyperion]

I mean, I don't think we should be there to start with and I don't want to fuck with their cultures, it's their own affair. But I'm sensing a disturbing amount of hypocrisy by our noble leaders, that's all.

[Notorious UGCC]

Given the humanitarian-crusade rhetoric accompanying this intervention, they U.S. will be seen as taking part ownership of the scandal.

If we'd just said, "we're coming for Osama and his allies, then you guys do what you want as long as you don't attack us," I suppose that would be one thing.

But a long-term presence accompanied by all this talk of democratizing and human-rights-izing a whole country? No, the contrast between rhetoric and reality is going to be uncomfortable.

[Hyperion]

The reality is that you cannot forcefully reprogram a culture, and you shouldn't be trying. The more you try, the less you will succeed. It's amazing the amount of recorded history we have to learn from and how little we have actually learned.

[GILMORE?]

Eddie's right

the people we put into power were/are in many cases worse than the Taliban

the Bacha Bazi thing isn't so much "Their (All Afghan) Culture" as it is a Warlord culture = abuse of the population that isn't part of your heavily armed Dominant Clan.

Was there any avoiding it after we toppled the Taliban? Probably not.

But what in god's name were we doing there with 4X as many troops in 2011 as in 2008? WTF was their mission, and what were they supposed to have been accomplishing?

If there's anything especially galling about the Left's smug moral superiority about Iraq, its the utter lack of interest in brutal military misadventures now that Their People are in charge.

[Hyperion]

I've pointed this out to my leftist acquaintances many times. They absolutely cannot understand, feel offended by, and will not discuss how it is that you are possibly questioning the righteousness of Obama's foreign policies. After all, what Obama is doing is really trivial compared to what Bush did, right?

[GILMORE?]

"what Obama is doing is really trivial compared to what Bush did,'

Apparently if 4,000 people die in Iraq, its a crime that can never be surpassed.

When 2,000 are killed on Obama's watch, due largely to *utter indifference to his own strategy*... well, I don't see what the big deal is, you big whiner. Stuff Happens.

[Rhywun]

Well, that was fun dinner-time reading.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

You think people who fuck little boys have any interest in being part of a democracy?

Let's spend trillions nation building there.

[Hyperion]

They just need some free camels to stick their dicks in, then they'll abandon their evil ways. Let's tax the rich, it's the only solution.

[Suthenboy]

What a fucking mess. You can't make a civilized place if that place is filled with savages.

Nation building, my ass.

[SusanM]

OT: Just for fun

"Even more bizarre and totalitarian in its implications is the often proposed concept of a child's "right to be wanted." Apart from the impossibility of using violence to enforce an emotion on someone else, such a criterion would arm outside parties, in practice the State, with the power to determine when "wanting" exists and to seize children from parents who don't meet that scarcely definable criterion. Thus, Hillary Rodham, of the Children's Defense Fund, has challenged this criterion: "How should a 'right to be wanted' be defined and enforced? . . . The necessarily broad and vague enforcement guidelines could recreate the hazard of current laws, again requiring the State to make broad discretionary judgments about the quality of a child's life." Hillary Rodham, "Children Under the Law," Harvard Educational Review (1973): 496."

Murray Rothbard, The Ethics of Liberty

[Notorious UGCC]

I just noticed that Hillary published her childrens-rights article in 1973.

No further comment.

[Hyperion]

All of your childrens is belong to us.

[PapayaSF]

It Takes A Village. A village with a large, well-paid, properly-diverse, left-leaning, and unionized public sector.

[SusanM]

Just makes me wonder how you go from Goldwater supporter quoted approvingly by the Grand Dragon of libertarianism to where she is now. Was it the pantsuits?

[Hyperion]

Desperation to grasp the inherited entitlement that is slipping from her evil grasp.

It's her turn, double wide pantsuit, cankles, and all.

[RAHeinlein]

One word - Wellesley.

[PapayaSF]

In the early '70s, the child welfare bureaucracy was The Man, Oppressing Poor and Minority Women. Now that it's gigantic and unionized and controlled by the left, it's her natural constituency.

[GILMORE?]

OMG REPUBLICANS ARE SO RACIST AND CRAZY

An article which seems to fall over itself trying to make bold claims, for which it has mixed, inconclusive and mostly irrelevant evidence =

""Recent polls have found that 43 to 54 percent of Republicans think Mr. Obama is a Muslim, and only 45 percent say they would vote for a Muslim"

Can you believe that? *almost half of all republicans would vote for a muslim candidate*....

...after having been at war with "radical islam" for over a decade.? the WaPo helpfully adds....

" The only less-desirable characteristics tested were being an atheist (40 percent) and a socialist (50 percent)."

Oh, they hate Muslims... but don't even get them started on *Democrats*.

Both the CSM article and the WaPo article desperately try to amp up the perception of 'crazy, disconnected GOP'... yet they never actually show a single piece of data of what the "sane majority" actually thinks.

e.g. "...many Republicans of today want on a host of key issues runs counter to what the emerging America of tomorrow would appear to want. "

...immigration reform, distate for islam, and cutting off Planned Parenthood funding. All of which are things i'd guess are popular with a huge swath of the US. Yet the liberal media literati seem to think the "Middle" is somewhere slightly to the left of Salon.

[Hyperion]

The middle is now somewhere maybe slightly right of Lenin, Marx, or Mao. Seriously, the goalpost has been carried from the field and now anyone right of it is out of the stadium, out of the city, and somewhere in a desolate swamp.

And the left truly believe that everyone else on the planet outside of the USA, 100% agree with them on everything.

I remember a few years back when I was in DC giving a tour for a group from South America. We were near the capital building and were approached by planned parenthood, no shit. They were looking for donations and I had to explain to my group what they were saying. I have to tell you those guys would have been shocked by what they would have heard if they could have understood any of it, but no one in the group wanted anything to do with what they were selling. Unknown to most politicians here, apparently, a large majority of those south of our borders are very socially conservative. Hell, most of them think I'm a crazed hedonist. Now, understand, I am not talking about economics here, that's a totally different subject.

[PapayaSF]

Yet the liberal media literati seem to think the "Middle" is somewhere slightly to the left of Salon.

It's to their advantage to define "middle" as "people who will go along with my ideas, even a bit." The middle never includes "people who strongly oppose my ideas." Thus, the advocates plus the leaners is a majority, and the minority can be demonized as stupid/selfish/haters.

More simply:

1. Declare your views as representing "the emerging America of tomorrow."

2. Profit!

[PapayaSF]

The "Overton window" has shifted so far left that what used to be considered "common-sense fairness" is now "racist/sexist/homophobic/xenophobic."

And that is part of Trump's appeal. He's 1) saying some things very close to what many people think and talk about, and thus 2) ignoring the current establishment/media view of "acceptability." E.g. it is simply defined as improper to question Obama's religious beliefs, or the value of mass immigration. He just says out loud what a large percentage believe, and yet never hear expressed in the "respectable" media. In the sense of not sounding like a typical pussyfooting politician, Trump is very "real," so accusing him of being a phony doesn't stick very well.

[GILMORE?]

How bad can comedy get when everything is identity politics bullshit and people are so nervous they'll laugh at everything? OMG WE'RE SUCH LOSERS

[PapayaSF]

How in the world did you run across a YouTube video with a grand total of 34 views, done by a comedian with a grand total of 9 Google results? Is this someone you know? Is GILMORE Tig Notaro in real life??

[Agammamon]

Its a military thing - open toed and no strap on the back = flip-flops. And you had fucking better not be wearing flip-flops out on liberty shipmate!

And where are your fucking socks?! You know wearing sandals without socks is a violation of uniform regs.

[commodious spittoon]

Hey, you see those people? Those boobs and jerk wads are the best friends you'll ever have. Without them, you're nothing. Remember that. Your family will never understand you, your lovers will leave you or try to change you, but your fans, you be good to them, and they'll be good to you. The most important thing is, you got to give the people what they want, even if it kills you, even if it empties you out until there's nothing left to empty. No matter what happens, no matter how much it hurts, you don't stop dancing, and you don't stop smiling, and you give those people what they want.

[Hyperion]

Most definitely not. Flip flops only have that toe strap to hold them on your feet.

Those are sandals of whatever variety.

[Marty Comanche]

You people are Nicole. Google image search flip flops, then look again at the Combat Flip Flops. The only difference is the material.

[AlmightyJB]

Flip flops are horrible and are only meant for beach house and gym showers.

[Cytotoxic]

This.

[Hyperion]

Murikan flipflops are terrible. You have to get them in a country that they are often worn to get the good ones.

[LarryA]

Flip flops are horrible and are only meant for beach house and gym showers.

And Hawaii.

[Pathogen]

"Murikan flipflops are terrible. You have to get them in a country that they are often worn to get the good ones."

Bullshit. Who do you think makes "Murikan flipflops"?

(Hint: People in countries that often wear them)

Our flip-flops are the cutting edge.. of flip-flop technology. State of the art..

[Hyperion]

Bullshit. Who do you think makes "Murikan flipflops"

Chinese peasants who do not wear flipflops, ever.

Our flip-flops are the cutting edge.. of flip-flop technology. State of the art..

Nope

[Quincy.]

"Oh, you know what I'm going through? Why? Because you were on some dumb kids show a million years ago?"
"Hey, now."
"I had my own fashion line when I was ten. By 20, I was packing stadiums. I get letters every day from boys telling me that I was the first girl they masturbated to. Literally, someone tells me that every day."
"That is gross."
"Oh-ho, I know! You sit up here in your little house and feel sorry for yourself? Oh, guess what, Bo-J, in order to be a has-been, you have to have actually? you know? been."