I get a lot of forwarded chain emails.  I don’t forward anything, but I note trends.  Over the past few years, a disturbing trend has emerged of hysterical people worried about the takeover of America by Muslims and Sharia law.  There are lots of photos and videos of European cities like Paris and London over-run by praying Muslims with the implication that the US is soon to follow.  There are demographic charts extrapolating the birth rate of Muslims taking over the world by sheer numbers.  Then there are the court cases in the US with Muslims asserting egregious claims to their civil rights while trampling on the rights of law-abiding American Christians.  Of course, this is all juxtaposed against reminders of 9/11 and what they did to us.  Just for fun, we have Homeland Security and the TSA to freshen up our psychological wounds and remind us of the freedoms we have already given up in order to protect ourselves against these Arab demons.  Isn’t it outrageous?  Their terrorist women want to travel in total anonymity while real Americans are subjected to the delightful alternative of sexual groping or a nude x-ray strip search!

Terror is such a wonderful tool for moving the masses.  It’s especially nice when terror can be blamed on a minority group that is little understood, of foreign origin and has very different beliefs and social norms.  Aren’t Jews Arabs great?

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not shilling for the Arabs.  I have spent a great deal of time working in the Middle East.  I have read the Koran.  I have observed the hypocrisy first hand even as I recognize that they haven’t cornered the market for it.  I’m not a fan of Islam.  I just don’t think Muslims are any greater threat to us than the Jews were to third Reich Germans.

Years ago I was strolling the grounds of the Eiffel Tower in Paris with a friend I had just met there.  Both of us were Americans on business in the city of lights.  It was a quiet, lazy Saturday morning and we had taken a little time to be tourists.  As we strolled, enjoying some easy banter, he was accosted by a team of artful gypsy’s.  One attacked him by rustling a newspaper in his face, obscuring his vision and overwhelming his senses, while the other lifted his wallet and passport.  Boy, were they good!  I was grateful that they had singled him out instead of me.  He spent many more days in Paris sorting out the mess and restoring his passport.

It’s time to check your back pocket to see if your wallet is still there.  If it is, relax a bit and get on with real life and providing for yourself and family.

But, beware of gypsy’s with newspapers or chain emails.