Iran & President Trump

After symbolic sanctions imposed by Mr. Trump for firing of Ballistic Missile by Iran, the Iranians defiantly fired another missile. It seems egos are flaring up. No one was surprised by Mr. Trump’s escalation of the situation, but Iran’s firing of second missile is puzzling. What Iran is thinking? Can it militarily stand up to USA? The wise course is to lay low and not escalate the situation otherwise it may end up like Iraq. There are some hawks in President Trump’s inner circle who desperately want to confront Iran militarily and this escalation may give them an excuse to do so. Israel might be looking for the same window. The check Mr. Obama kept on Israel is no longer there.

Iran may be doing it intentionally to blow up the nuclear deal thinking that it will be hard for Mr. Trump to get Europeans, Russia and China on his side to re-impose the sanctions. It may be true, but it is still a highly risky move as Mr. Trump and Israel may decide to go it alone to use military. If it happens, Europe may not have much choice but to join them also.

It is better to stay low. Iran cannot out bluff Mr. Trump. He will continue to put more chips on the table, no matter what the consequences for anyone.

F. Sheikh

We are still reeling from the horrible shock of Orlando massacre and now this hideous evil act in Istanbul taking many innocent lives and injuring dozens. No words can justly sooth the suffering of the innocent victims, and no words of condemnation can justly describe the depth of such evil acts. These are simply satanic acts.

There are all the warning signs that unless Turkey, all the surrounding Muslim countries of ISIS  and other Muslim countries wake up and collectively act to eradicate ISIS and other extremist organizations within their borders, it will not only eat them away like termites but it will also continue to spread this poison worldwide.

Unfortunately because of their  own selfish reason, they want USA and other western countries to eradicate ISIS  for them, which is delusional and self-defeating.

Is this a clash within Islamic civilization, clash of civilizations or both? No matter what the answer, it cannot be solved unless Muslims do it themselves.

NOT EVERYTHING THAT IS FACED CAN BE CHANGED BUT NOTHING CAN BE CHANGED UNTIL IT IS FACED!!

President Obama quoting James Baldwin at today’s commencement speech at  Howard Univ.

Following comment by a reader in NYT on Texting and Driving ( or other distractions while driving) is worth reading.f.sheikh

“I was right behind a car that flipped over and bounced around on the highway. I had to pull over with two to three other people and approach the upside-down, smashed car.

I never felt such dread in my life, and then we all saw a baby car seat. It took guts to peek inside that car — not sure I would have been brave enough to do it in the first place. Luckily there was no baby, and the driver was alive, and bloody but largely unharmed.

She had just grabbed her phone for a sec to text her mom that she would be there soon. I got back in my car and cried my eyes out.

Please, people, you’re driving several tons of metal at high speed. Don’t text and drive.”