Ken Padgett

The images are terrible. Blood spattered locations. Families, friends and bystanders overcome with grief.  Seriously injured and dying victims being carried to waiting ambulances and other vehicles by first responders and citizen volunteers. Pictures of the perpetrator(s) smirking at us from social media. These videos are on a loop, playing over and over again while t alking heads use the tragedy for political gain. On the Right, it's all Obama's fault for refusing to destroy ISIS and for refusing to use the term " Radical Islam " . On the Left, it's more calls for gun control and lamenting the influence of the NRA. Cable News Networks have become our YouPorn for disaster porn, delivering stimulation for our reptilian brains 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. There is no greater money maker for cable news than tragedy. And cable news exploits tragedy for all it is worth. Eric C. Wilson, a Wake Forest University English Professor and author of Ever...

There is a titanic struggle between Shia and Sunni Muslims for control of religious belief and political power. It's a holy war between sects of the same religion for supremacy. Why on Earth are we in the middle of that? We upset the balance of power in the region with our invasion of Iraq and have been reaping what we sowed ever since. Saudi oil money finances much of the terrorism against Israel and her allies, including the US, and also their Shia enemies in Iraq and Syria. Iran finances the Shias who oppose them, while also financing terrorist acts against Israel and the US.    At least 80 per cent of Muslims worldwide are Sunnis. Sunni dominated countries include Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan Egypt, Turkey Pakistan and Syria. Shia Muslims are the majority in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon.    The Saudis are supposed to be our friends but we're bombing their ISIS pals and debating how many ground troops we should send in to oppose them. Meanw...