Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Who did they kill when they informed the American public of The Truth?

The argument can be very easily made that when a soldier breaks within his capacity of service, it is not he or she that owns the responsibility, but, the country that sent them.

When their intention is only to serve and war changes their resolve, it is the country responsible for their change of heart. For if a war is heinous and the deaths of fellow soldiers egregious it is the duty of those that serve to bring the truth to the people they were sent to defend.

May 12, 2005
A top US commander at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq - where detainees were abused by American guards - has been reprimanded and fined $8,000 (£4,274). (click here)
 
The US army found Col Thomas Pappas guilty of two counts of dereliction of duty, including that of allowing dogs to be present during interrogations.
Col Pappas was in charge of military intelligence personnel at the prison near the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. 

Last week, former commander of the jail Brig Gen Janis Karpinski was demoted. 

Nine junior US soldiers have been charged in connection with the abuse at the prison in late 2003, and seven of them have already been convicted.

Calley

...After thirteen days of deliberations, (click here) the longest in U. S. court-martial history, the jury returned its verdict: guilty of premeditated murder on all specifications.  After hearing pleas on the issue of punishment, jury head Colonel Clifford Ford  pronounced Calley's sentence: "To be confined at hard labor for the length of your natural life; to be dismissed from the service; to forfeit all pay and allowances." 


IV.
Opinion polls showed that the public overwhelmingly disapproved of the verdict in the Calley case [OPINION POLLS].  President Nixon ordered Calley removed from the stockade (after spending a single weekend there) and placed under house arrest.  He announced that he would review the whole decision.  Nixon's action prompted Aubrey Daniel to write a long and angry letter in which he told the President that "the greatest tragedy of all will be if political expediency dictates the compromise of such a fundamental moral principle as the inherent unlawfulness of the murder of innocent persons"[AUBREY LETTER].  On November 9, 1974, the Secretary of the Army announced that William Calley would be paroled.  In 1976, Calley married.  In August 2009, while speaking at a Kiwanis meeting in his hometown of Columbus, Georgia, 66-year-old Calley offered a public apology for his role at My Lai:  "Not a day goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day at My Lai.  I am very sorry." 


My Lai mattered.  Two weeks after the Calley verdict was announced, the Harris Poll reported for the first time that a majority of Americans opposed the war in Viet Nam.  The My Lai episode caused the military to re-evaluate its training with respect to the handling of noncombatants.  Commanders sent troops in the Desert Storm operation into battle with the words, "No My Lais-- you hear?"

Military Cleared in Raid on Iraq House (click here) 

By Josh White Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 3, 2006

...The military scrambled to announce the investigation's findings amid rising international furor about another alleged mass slaying, in Haditha, on Nov. 19. Several U.S. Marines are under investigation into whether they shot as many as two dozen civilians in their homes and in a taxi.
The alleged slayings have increased tensions between U.S. forces and the Iraqis amid claims that the military has used excessive force while fighting insurgents. Military commanders acknowledged yesterday that frustrations and stresses related to battling the insurgency may be causing a small number of U.S. troops to fail to follow proper procedures.
Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, spokesman for Multi-National Force-Iraq, issued a statement last night saying that investigators had found no wrongdoing in the Ishaqi raid and that the ground force commander "properly followed the rules of engagement as he necessarily escalated the use of force until the threat was eliminated." Caldwell said troops captured a Kuwaiti-born al-Qaeda cell leader -- Ahmad Abdallah Muhammad Na'is al-Utaybi -- and killed an Iraqi bombmaker and recruiter during the coordinated raid...

The other alternative will never be challenged in court. Assign a tax.

By E. C. Gogolack
Published: July 30, 2013

...Seeking to reduce runaway obesity rates, (click here) the rule was announced by Mr. Bloomberg last May and approved by the health panel in September. The measure would have prohibited the sale of many sweetened drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces, but the appeals court wrote that the rule was laden with confusing loopholes and exemptions. 

Only establishments that received inspection grades from the city’s health department, including movie theaters and stadium concession stands, would have been subject to the ban. Those with self-service drink fountains, like most fast-food restaurants, would be prohibited from stocking cups larger than 16 ounces. Meanwhile, vending machines and some newsstands would be exempt, along with convenience stores. The signature 64-ounce Big Gulp at 7-Eleven would escape the soda ban unscathed.... 

The New York City Mayor and Council need to provide an award to CUNY's anthropology department in conjunction with the university's Health and Human Services department.

Anthropology? You betcha, here is an example.

April 26, 2013
...Williams’s dissertation, (click here) “From Coercion to Consent? Governing the Formerly Incarcerated in the 21st Century United States,” looks at the emerging policy of prisoner reentry reform. The ethnographic project asks: “Is the aftermath of mass incarceration merely another site of racialized social control or do new reentry programs combine with other changes in the penal system to signal a shift towards a less punitive mode of governance in the United States?” Prof. Leith Mullings is dissertation supervisor....

What are the funds for?

Social Anthropology is a very powerful tool government rarely turns to in harnessing the problems that face them and their citizens. Another under utilized form of Anthropology is Speech/Linguistics. Anthropologists are far more interesting than simple journal articles or physician statements in support of a controversial legislative directive.

A Social Anthropologist PhD. in cooperation with a Heath and Human Services PhD. can put together a study that will guarantee the link between disease, consumption of large amounts of soft drinks and THE COST to the city. 

I am quite confident New York City spends a significant amount of money on the health of its' citizens. In realizing those costs should not be born by the city government alone is the key to bring about a tax on drinks over 12 or 16 ounces. A 10 cent an ounce tax on any drink over 12 or 16 ounces. 

The gift within the cooperative relationship of anthropology and HHS are STATISTICS. Anthropologists are whizzes with statistics, especially those in Social Anthropology. A well designed study can pull out the facts and seek facts not yet collected to present the health care facts of New York City as dependent on large consumption of soft drinks.

The HHS PhD. will provide the cultural component to designing the study. The jargon and the definitions to that jargon. The HHS PhD. can also help with designing questionnaires properly worded to seek insight from other health care professionals as well as their patients and the public. 

A sound study with good statistical analysis will present the city with the argument they are looking for. While their people need health care they should not be denied, the cost has to be borne by a tax to relieve the burden on the general budget. It is a good idea, well thought through and pertinent. There would be no reason not to link the cost of healthcare, especially for children and the elderly with diabetes, to a tax to assist in their care.

Good luck.

Private Manning is harmless to this country. He should not serve one more day than he already has. He is innocent.

...Tune in Wednesday (click here) when we will speak with Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange and others for further reaction to the verdict and its implications.

Today’s verdict follows just three days of deliberation in court martial of Army whistleblower Bradley Manning for the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history. Manning faces up to life in prison for the most serious of the more than 20 charges against him — aiding the enemy — after he leaked more than 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks in an attempt to spark a national debate about U.S. foreign policy. He has pleaded guilty to 10 of the charges which could carry up to 20 years in prison.

After nearly two months of trial at Fort Meade, Maryland, the judge, Colonel Denise Lind, said she plans to announce her verdict at 1 p.m. EDT today. After the verdict, the trial enters the sentencing phase where both the prosecution and defense will present more evidence and arguments....


I just love hydaulic fracturing as an energy solution and export for the USA, don't you?

Look at that, it is almost like the 4th of July fireworks all over again. Who wouldn't want a natural gas operation near their home. So inspirational and a wonderful model for the rest of the world, too.

TAVARES, Fla. (AP) — A series of explosions (click here) rocked a central Florida propane gas plant and sent "boom after boom after boom" through the neighborhood around it. Eight people were injured, with at least four in critical condition.
John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said early Tuesday that no one died despite massive blasts that ripped through the Blue Rhino propane plant late Monday night. Officials initially scrambled to find more than a dozen employees after the explosions.
"Management is comfortable saying all of those they knew were there tonight have been accounted for," he said.
Tavares Fire Chief Richard Keith said possible causes of the explosion may be either equipment malfunction or possibly human error. Sabotage was not suspected....

The increased violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan is also affiliated with long term instability.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, PAKISTAn
Prison guards (click here) said Tuesday that they were totally overwhelmed when around 150 heavily armed Taliban fighters staged a late-night attack on their jail in northwest Pakistan, freeing over 250 prisoners including over three dozen suspected militants.
It was the second such attack by the Taliban on a prison in the northwest within the last 18 months. But even so, the security forces were totally unprepared for the raid, despite senior prison officials having received intelligence indicating an attack was likely. Over a dozen people were killed in the assault.
The incident in the town of Dera Ismail Khan raises serious questions about state institutions' capacity to battle a domestic Taliban insurgency that has raged for years and killed tens of thousands of security personnel and civilians....
This is near Kashmir. Everyone knows how long and intense the instability in that regions has been. It just seems to me the problem with vermin such as the Taliban is more opportunistic than organized. Instability is the enemy, not the people. Ironing out the instability will cause the people to admire far less a military regime that brutalizes it's citizens. I am quite confident the people would rather peace over the Taliban, but, they do not yet have that choice available to them.

Instability inspired by 'threat' breeds radicalization. I believe long standing ethnicity has to have a homeland. Something to value and call their own to defend and hold dear. Bringing down the numbers of those radicalized and/or willing to be radicalized is the real challenge. Killing them in a war won't do it, it only makes it worse. Their tangible reality is what is important; measurable and real provided FOR PEACE. 

For as much as Israel may or may not regret the reality of Gaza, it still is working to provide loyalty and hope for the people. Radicalization has lasted so long with Hamas they know little of any other peaceful existence. Giving up the hate means feeling vulnerable. It is far easier to be armed and willing to kill for a homeland than to live in peace among all others. NATIONALISM and it's violent definition is the danger Hamas has defined as a political expression. There is no confidence in violence. There is no confidence in the willingness to be radicalized. Violence is a desperate state and not a stable one.

I am really just endorsing the obvious.

July 29, 2013

The Gezi Park protests (click here) in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, which shook Turkey at the end of May, represent a turning point in Turkey’s contemporary political history. Although their main target was Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his style of government, the protests, in combination with developments in Syria’s civil war, will have significant consequences for the ongoing peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). At the same time, the need to effectively address the Kurdish issue could accelerate recent shifts in Turkey’s stance on the Syrian crisis....

Stabilizing the Middle East is not as daunting a task as it seems. Not really. There is more wealth in peace than there ever was in war.

Turkey: War to last until PKK leave

Sun Jan 20, 2013 10:36PM GMT
presstv.ir

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (click here) has said that the Turkish Army will continue its war with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters until they withdraw abroad.

"The terror organization (the PKK) must give an end to its actions, withdraw abroad, and lay down their arms. And we will give our best support to the process," Endogen said in southern Gaziantep province on Sunday.

He added that the Turkish Army would not launch attacks against PKK fighters if they were leaving the country.

Erdogan stated that the government would not allow any kind of separatist movements to work in the country....


Prime Minister Erdogan does not have to make extremist statements, he has to negotiate a place for the Kurds within the sovereign nation of Turkey and then allow the establishment of a peaceful Kurdish state. In that lies the understanding the Kurds themselves will maintain the peace including disarming the extremists such as PPK.

Taliban call on Kurds and Turks to join the Afghan jihad (click here)

The Taliban are horribly terroristic in their methodology and seek complete disruption of peaceful measures. It is not in the Taliban's interest to destroy non-government organizations that vaccinate people to assist their longevity, but, they are doing it anyway. The closest kin to refusing medical treatment in the USA are the Jehovah Witnesses and they don't carry out jihad to do it.

July 30, 2013
by Haider Javed Warraich,  a resident in internal medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

I do not believe Mr. Warraich has a clue about global jihad, but, more or less is frustrated with the ideological concept for the right reasons. There is just no political answer with the Taliban. They are a brutal regime that lacks any ethnic purpose on Earth.

The coordinated murders (click here) of community health care workers in Pakistan, most of them women, in May has once again put into jeopardy the global polio eradication initiative. While the movement initially experienced exponential progress, it now finds itself trapped in an increasingly bloody battle with Islamic fundamentalists. When a female health worker wakes up in the morning, puts on her shalwar kameez, covering her head and most of her face in a dupatta, she is getting in gear to step out on to the front lines of one of the most important and dangerous wars of our time....

There is just no ethnic group that would seek such a brutal regime as a partner unless there was an answer for them as well. The Taliban has no answer that equates to peace and there is no reason to continue to provide reasons for radicalization of any ethnicity. They need homelands, otherwise, their futures are as violent as those that recruit them for their own purposes.

If I may make a suggestion regarding Turkey and the PKK.

I believe there is a great deal of hope in realizing The Kurds are not enamored with Islam. They are very loosely associated with extremism. 

The Kurdish people have always endeared peace as a directive to their ultimate outcomes for a nation they can call a homeland. I believe providing a 'state' for the Kurds within the nation of Turkey might actually bring more stability to the entire region.

...In the wake of World War I, (click here) with US President Woodrow Wilson's call for "self-determination" echoing loudly, the Kurds were promised a homeland - Kurdistan - in the Treaty of Sevres (1920). However, the victorious allies backed away from their pledge in an attempt to court the new Turkish regime of Kemal Ataturk, and in fear of destabilizing Iraq and Syria, which were granted to Britain and France, respectively, as mandated territories. The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne thus abrogated Kurdish independence and divided the Kurds among Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. Ataturk's discrimination against Turkey's Kurdish population began almost immediately, with Kurdish political groups and manifestations of cultural identity banned outright. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the Kurds of Iran, with Soviet support, succeeded in establishing the first independent Kurdish state (the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad). But this was quickly crushed by Iranian troops. 

Today, Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without a state of their own. They are unevenly distributed between Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan. If the Middle East map were to be redrawn to give the Kurds their own boundaries, Kurdistan would be as large as France, stretching over 200,000 square miles....


Kurds are a rather unique brand of Sunni Muslim. They are far more loyal to their ethnic influences than religious. They want autonomy, but, will settle for influence within a sovereign nation so long as that nation is benevolent to the Kurdish people.

The reason I bring this up has little to do with a park, but, for the real opportunity to put peaceful roots among people that can be radicalized as evidenced by the PPK. Turkey has been in negotiations with the PPK. Considering the uptick of violence and with it instability in the region it is time to look at providing stability for a people that were promised their own homeland. The Kurds are adhering to a particular region of the Middle East and that needs to be recognized as a place for their settlement that is agreeable with the sovereign nations of the region. 

Iraq accommodates the Kurds in their northern region, but, yet a civil war continues to dislodge peace. The Kurds have mostly been loyal to The West, including Turkey. The extremists exist, but, not necessarily in the politics of the ethnicity.

Currently, there is a growing unrest in Afghanistan by the Taliban. I believe the Taliban has allies and those are the extremists in the region including the PPK. If the Kurds were provided viable options for the people of this ethnicity then The West is a far better option for them than being radicalized by the Taliban in a forever war.

In the case of Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power of which they have sought for decades. Unfortunately the radicalized members of the Muslim Brotherhood had more sway with the new president than was beneficial to their outcomes as a political strain in Egypt. There are currently two charges against Former President Morsi that maintains him within prison. Being in prison is not alien to Mr. Morsi. That is not the point. The extremists of radicalized people have to be provided a light at the end of the tunnel. 

I strongly believe the Shi'ites have a Homeland in Iraq if not Iran and are more or less their diaspora. The radicalized Islams such as Hamas and Hezbollah existed to assault the political structure to bring about their own nation. There cannot be a global nation of Shi'ite or Sunni or Kurds. They need to have a homeland and believe they are treasured among the nations. The best example for this and the radicals won't like it, but, Israel. Israel is a homeland to an ethnic and religious peoples. It has done well. It found notoriety due to a lousy world war, but, there does not have to exist that extreme in order to find the peoples in disarray and provide for their own homelands.

In the case of the Kurds, a state within the nation of Turkey is more than realistic and it can have some degree of autonomy while still being a part of the nation. The Kurd's state could be bilingual and carry focus on the traditions of the people.

A melting pot. No different than the USA has been a melting pot to some many great cultures and people. 

The uptick of violence in Afghanistan is a concern as is the migratory capacity of the Taliban throughout Pakistan. It seems to me the Kurds are the best avenue to providing a more stable region and I believe the leadership in Turkey is more than adequate in finding a path to peace with all their citizens.

The plan for an Istanbul park is gentrification. It will eliminate an immigrant dense part of the city.

It is not a bad plan in that it reclaims a section of the city mostly forgotten, but, what does Istanbul do with it's immigrants?

June 30, 2013
Istanbul

...“When the Veliefendi Hippodrome (click here) is officially registered as closed to construction, following the 500,000-square-meter Çırpıcı Meadow, this area will total 1 million square meters. This is the biggest open area in Istanbul city center. We will build a park similar to Central Park and significant parks in Europe. This is just the beginning, and our work will continue,” Topbaş told reporters after the fast-breaking dinner in Sultanahmet Square late July 27....

Considering the poor drainage and the desire to invest in a tourist friendly area, the park is a good idea.

Working-class Zeytinburnu is filled with shanties, (click here) or gecekondular. Its maze of streets leads to illegally built brick cottages and many multi-storey apartment buildings with small textile sweatshops on its ground floors. Most of these structures are occupied by migrants from Anatolia working in the manufacturing industry. Zeytinburu’s Maltepe Quarter is one of the city’s major industrial centres, with about 70,000 employees working for its 170 large companies and thousands of smaller businesses.'

Some of these factories are in the neighbourhood of Kazliçeşme, but there are plans to convert it into a more tourist-friendly destination. It is accessible from the airport, and luxury hotels are going up in the area.
Zeytinburnu also suffers from poor drainage systems and the lack of public schools and hospitals. Crime rate and unemployment are also high as literacy rate remains low.

The proposed park area probably houses the immigrants that work for the nearby industrial area. If that housing is removed it will effect both the immigrants and the businesses. The immigrants are most probably working for far less wages than most of the citizens. 

I think the park is a sincere solution for this land in Istanbul, but, somewhat further planning has to be considered that will impact the businesses and the immigrants working for them. 

Basically, while gentrification will solve the problem of tourism and the park a welcome breath of fresh air to Istanbul, there are still economic impacts hiding in this decision. All those have to be looked at and considered to make this public project a good experience for all the people of Istanbul without sacrificing the dignity of the government.

Quinn is the establishment candidate.

I am fairly certain that is the current political paradigm for either party.

Establishment Candidate vs Anti-Establishment Candidate

The percentage of disgruntled voters is significant so it actually provides a strong 'anti' response that could defeat the establishment candidate.

The establishment candidate is likely to take the nomination and then they reach into their bag of tricks as did Romney to find a running mate the emulates the anti-establishment will within the party. Romney did that with Ryan. Ryan of course accepted because he needed to save his Congressional seat, which could be done handily with larger shares of RNC funding as Veep.

How long will this go on? 

I'll just say this, Governor Chris Christie has an interesting lock on politics and he is not a phoney.

"The Anti-Quinn Vote"

Huma Aberdin has quite a following. That is more than interesting.

But, the second place candidate in the New York Democratic Mayoral Primary is the Anti-Quinn vote. It isn't really about the other candidate so much as it is about anyone besides Quinn.

The current city Democratic primary reminds me of the Republican Presidential Primary of 2012. There was a consistent Romney vote and then there was everyone else.

Now the other 'second place' candidates are taking their turns at be second best. They'll either sink as Former Rep. Weiner had done or they will succeed to carry the percentage that does not want Quinn. 

We all know how it works. Once the next best candidate reaches populous following they are tried and then eliminated by the populous opinion court. Former Rep. Weiner will not make a comeback, no different than Rick "Oops" Perry or Grandpa Pizza Sexual Harasser Herman Cane.

Everyone will get their time in the popular public court and then resigned to "Oh, you."

July 30, 2013
By Olivia Nuzzi

My reasons for joining Anthony Weiner’s mayoral campaign were not complicated.
Since high school, I had interned for political campaigns in New Jersey. One morning, several of my friends sent me links to the same online ad for the Weiner campaign, seeking applications for internships.
They thought it would be educational and entertaining.
How right they were.
My education began very quickly.
“I’m here because of Huma,” Clay Adam Wade, a junior staffer, explained to me.
The sentiment was repeated to me again by some fellow interns....

The only position for conservative Democrats in regard to the NSA Surveillance Program is to seek modifications.

The USA has witnessed our national security weaknesses at times of transition such as the changing administrations in the Executive Branch. The attacks on the WTC occurred in the first year of the two Presidents. There is sincere reasons to not change what works.


 






By James Fallows

The real threat from terrorism (click here) is not the harm it inflicts directly but the over-reaction it provokes. We saw that with the invasion of Iraq. We're seeing it with security-state overreach....

The internet is a social tool. It sincerely has no place for national security or corporate business security. If commercial businesses want to place their own corporate security online it is at their own peril. That is the case with social content, too. From the beginning of the commercial use of the 'http: universe' no one ever promised security or benevolence. It is not possible to completely secure a global computer network. That is the TRUTH. Any other idea of internet security is a falsehood.

That is not the point so much as a fact. The point is the NSA finds surveillance a good tool to secure the USA from THREATS. The problem is that the NSA and it's affiliation with government power is threatENING more than the immediate concerns of citizens in regard to their own safety. There is no evidence that the NSA is using their surveillance to round up innocent people or depriving those that they may arrest due process. That stated, the only real threat to Americans with this surveillance is the interpretation by the courts of the information.

My suggestion is this. Leave the NSA alone to do the job they have to do while protecting citizens. That has worked fairly well. We are into this mess by a decade and there have been no real threats to innocent citizens. None that appears anywhere. 

The focus really and sincerely belongs with Quality Assurance at the NSA and monitoring FISA. 

Quality Control at the NSA has to include redundancy of security which includes honoring the right of privacy for the citizen. It also includes self-policing at the NSA. In other words, the telephone and data companies cooperating with the NSA are basically known to everyone. There are a finite number of them. Within that company structure are members of their networks, those that subscribe to their services. There are finite numbers of people using their services. The 'baseline' for surveillance is finite. It seems huge, but, in all honesty is it finite. 

The information the NSA is finding valuable in application of USA national security has characteristics. Those characteristics should have been conceptualized by now. Getting the picture? With a finite baseline of possible insults to the USA national security and defined characteristics of what exactly the NSA calls a threat, where are we going with this thing? Is the NSA going to apply their 'science of identifying threats' to a finite level of consumers forever? Not likely. Sooner or later the baseline of threat perpetrators becomes defined.  

The point is the 'repeat offenders' found in the surveillance becomes obvious and becomes the focus. 

Hasan the Fort Hood murderer developed his tipping point over time. No one wants Hasan reaching a tipping point. We want Hasans to stop progressing to be Hasans. If the threat perpetrators continue their methodology without interruption there will be many Hasan, no different than Hezbollah, Hamas and the rest of the distinguished list of chronic threats. 

Securing the USA from chronic threats has to be one of the goals of the USA's NSA AND how to achieve that. I would think other security agencies such as Interpol would carry that concern as well. The abusive cycle of radicalization has to be interrupted. That is the point. The Boston Bombers were radicalized. McVeigh was radicalized. We know their point of view never enters the paradigm of governing. Quite the opposite. When these events occur we as a nation believe more deeply in our definition of crime and punishment. 

The NSA has a program they claim that works. We have to take them at their word. However, the program has dynamics that have to be examined for it's value. Only those within the NSA can do that, but, legislators can demand same. In demanding tight operations at the NSA legislators and their politics are served. There is always room for quality improvement with the NSA programs. There is always a place for oversight of FISA.  

Currently, I think Congress has been lax and the Executive Branch has been left to pick up where Congress has been negligent or regressive. I can't say I would do anything different if I were in the Executive Branch and seeking to secure a nation of people. It is not realistic to believe there are alternatives to the current surveillance. There is also no reason for politicians to deceive about their knowledge of the operations of the NSA and the extent of the surveillance. 

There are things legislators can do. There are things legislators have to do. It is that reality that has to be served. I am sure to many these statements are as clear as mud. Too bad.

Senator Paul is very verbal about the liberties of the people of the USA. He is correct in many ways. What then if anything does he suggest to maintain the level of security the USA now enjoys while honoring the liberties of Americans? I want to hear concrete policies to apply to the national security of the USA. We don't secure the USA by ideas that are not applicable or the hubris of 'do nothing.'

Congratulatioins, President Putin.




The number of tigers (click here) living in the wild in Nepal has leapt. A new survey shows Royal Bengal tigers now number 198 -- that's 63% more than four years ago.

The country's efforts are part of a global program to pull tigers back from the brink of extinction.
 
The government survey from Nepal was released Monday, on World Tiger Day, at a meeting of conservationists and wildlife experts in the nation's capital, Katmandu, according to the French news agency, Agence France-Presse.

Experts chalked up the gains in Nepal to a crackdown on poaching and better management of the tigers' habitat.

The wider tiger conservation program, known as TX2, was launched in 2010 by countries that have wild tigers. Their goal is to double the number of tigers by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger. 

In 2010, there were as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild, "putting the animals on the brink of extinction," according to the World Wildlife Fund conservation group.

Nepal’s results "are an important milestone to reaching the global TX2 goal," said Megh Bahadur Pandey, director-general of Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, in a news release.
According to WWF, one of the world's greatest concentrations of tigers is found in the Terai Arc Landscape. The region, believed to hold about 500 tigers, covers 600 miles and 15 protected areas in Nepal and India....