March 1, 2016

By the Editorial Board

In any other February, (click here) the Obamacare enrollment numbers released last month would have been big news. The Department of Health and Human Services announced that 12.7 million people had chosen health-care plans in the exchanges the law set up — far more than the 10 million HHS predicted would have exchange-based insurance in 2016. The number will likely go down, as some people fail to pay their premiums; the best case, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Larry Levitt, is that about a million more people will be covered in 2016 relative to last year....

When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was written there was supposed to be a Public Option. The reason for that was to provide a reasonably good government plan that would be in competition with private insurers. It was not suppose to eliminate private insurers, it was suppose to push back against high prices.

Currently, the only aspect of the law that pushes back against high prices is the 15% rule. Private insurers cannot keep more than 15% profit over their operating costs. That isn't good enough. That 15% can be manipulated by providing higher payments to the medical industry. THAT is why the costs of insurance is going up. The private industry WHEN WRITING THEIR CONTRACTS are paying more for services, hence, the operating costs goes up and the 15% increases exponentially. 

When Joe Lieberman demanded the Public Option be eliminated in order to win his vote he did a great deal of damage to the American people and never reined in the skyrocketing costs of health care and their premiums.

The Public Option was suppose to be there to help set the costs within the health care industry. The American people need to see the Public Option as it was intended to be law, in that it was a method to control prices and introduce other methods of payment. It is important the Public Option be put in place as soon as posislbe and Hillary Clinton is correct in that. But, there is no need for it to be on a trial basis. The Public Option would have helped bring prescription drug costs down as well.

As to Hillary Clinton:

The guy that is getting amnesty from prosecution would not cooperate at all. He evidently was excising his 5th Amendment rights.

Earlier the former Secretary Hillary Clinton stated, "...I wish he would just talk to the FBI and clear all this stuff up...." Those may not have been her exact words. I have trouble seeing her say "stuff."

But, this is most probably the FBI cleaning up details before they finalize their report. There may be more questions after he gives his testimony, but, perhaps not. We just have to wait and see if anything develops.

It was an attempt at being scandalous back in September 2015. This is from "The Washington Times," not the Washington Post.  The Washington Times used to sell for 25 cents about ten years ago and it probably still does.

September 9, 2015
By Victor Morton

...The lawyer for the man (click here) who set up and oversaw Hillary Rodham Clinton’s email server — and asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on the subject — says his client will not give congressional panels an advance look at what he might say if he were to testify.

Republican Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin have been negotiating a possible “proffer” — a legal term for a preliminary overview on what a potential witness might say — in order to determine whether to offer Bryan Pagliano immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony....

There is no reason for the Public Option to be an experiment. Massachusetts has had a public option for a long time. It is time to go forward with it.

March 3, 2016
By Seth Chandler

Presidential candidate (click here) Hillary Clinton has revived recently the idea of adding a “public option” to the Exchanges. Apparently, at least for now, she would permit or perhaps encourage each state to create a publicly operated insurer that would augment private insurers in selling health insurance policies to individuals. Her website suggests she would not mandate a public option at the federal level — at least for now — or somehow force the states to create one.  All of that would require her to push legislation through Congress. The “encouraged” public option, by contrast, could be implemented by cooperation between states and the federal executive without a need for any revisions to the Affordable Care Act....

The RNC has four hundred of the audience tickets at the Republican Debate tonight and only 50 tickets for the public. There are 21,000 requests by the public for tickets.

It is called corruption. Why didn't the privileged Republicans have to stand in line with everyone else?

Bankruptcy is a part of American life. Banks get bailouts, not people.

Personal bankruptcies (click here) in the United States have had a dynamic history over the past 100 years. Bankruptcy filings in the first half of the 20th century averaged 0.15 per 1,000 people and grew at an average annual rate of 2.4 percent. Bankruptcies began to increase during the 1960s and have grown dramatically since 1980. Between 1980 and 2004, bankruptcies grew at an annual average rate of 7.6 percent a year. As of 2004, the filing rate was 5.3 per 1,000 people, more than four times the 1980 rate and nearly 80 times the 1920 rate.

These statistics, however, disguise the fact that personal bankruptcy filings are not equal across the country. For example, at the state level, Tennessee had the highest rate of personal bankruptcy filings in the nation in 2004, with more than 10 filings per 1,000 people (nearly twice the U.S. rate) whereas Massachusetts ranked last with 2.8 filings per 1,000 people. States in the Eighth Federal Reserve District had an average filing rate of 7.7 per 1,000 people in 2004, which is greater than the U.S. average, but the growth in bankruptcy filings in Eighth District states between 1980 and 2004 averaged 7.2 percent a year, slightly below the U.S. average growth of 7.6 percent a year....

And then came 2008 and enormous unemployment.

The employment report out on Friday just goes to show that the American economy is still struggling to create jobs for average Americans.  In fact 85,000 more jobs were lost in December but that isn’t the biggest data point out of the report.  The civilian labor force shrunk by a stunning 661,000 and that is really the only reason the unemployment rate is still at 10 percent.  This economy that is still very much in a jobs recession has pushed more and more Americans into the ultimate economic distress equivalent of a SOS.  Bankruptcies are soaring and in 2009 1.41 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcies, a jump of 32 percent from 2008.

This must put the recent stock market rally into perspective.  The average American is still trying to negotiate the new economic landscape while the select few are able to increase their wealth at the expense of the many.

Free Trade Agreements are not okay.

March 2, 2016
By Jonathan Oosling

..The Vermont U.S. senator, (click here) who won four of 11 state primaries on Tuesday and faces increasingly long odds in his quest to win the Democratic nomination, spoke with The Detroit News ahead of his speech and said he expects to do well in Michigan on March 8.
“State after state we have closed the gap, including here in Michigan,” Sanders said in an exclusive interview. “… We think that short term and longer term, a lot of states out there are in play and we can win. ... I’m not going to tell you it’s necessarily an easy path, but it is a path.”
Sanders said he will seek to differentiate himself from Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton in Michigan by pointing out their “very different views” on trade policies often derided by unions. He noted he opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement that Clinton’s husband signed into law....

LOL.

Mr. 47 percent. Who's phony?

Regardless of party, the candidates need to remind those likely to vote for them to register as a Democrat or Republican because of closed primaries.

• Delaware
• Florida
• Kansas: Unaffiliated voters may choose a party the day of the primary, but may not vote in the primary and remain unaffiliated.
• Kentucky
• Maine
• Nevada
• New Jersey: Newly registered voters may choose a party at the polls.
• New Mexico: Parties may choose to hold semi-closed primaries by changing party rules, but as of January 2016, primaries were closed.
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Wyoming: A voter may change party affiliation on election day. (click here)

Fire exits could become blocked during a mass shooting. That has to be considered when providing these devices for use.

Fire personnel has to be oriented to their use as well and have strategies in place. 

There is a barrier method being promoted to end any mass shooting.

It is promising, but, the bullets can still penetrate the door itself. So, while adding this blocking mechanism there are still dangers. This device also presents a fire hazard leaving only windows as an escape. It is important those using this understand the dangers and how to over come them. Placing the device immediately on suspicion of a mass shooter will end the danger, but, on one, student or teacher, can remain in the line of exposure a wooden door would provide.

My first thought is while the teacher places the blocking device on the door, the students should move their desks together at a distant location from the door and perhaps even turn them sideways to protect from any ricochet bullets. Some school desks have a artificial material top, but, the underside where they store books, etc. is usually metal and would act as additional barrier.

I don't think any of these devices are unsafe, I think they add concerns not existing before. The device is not the end of the worry, but, it certainly is the beginning of safety.

Countries should have environmental laws in place before accepting Wall Street as a partner.

The polluting by the petroleum industry of Third World countries kills their citizens. Nigeria and Ecuador are prime examples of such HUMAN RIGHTS abuses. We can no longer look the other way.

Conclusion Study results are compatible (click here) with a relationship between cancer incidence and living in proximity to oil fields. An environmental monitoring and cancer surveillance system in the area is recommended....

The petroleum industry is one of the most lucrative in the world. Rather than conducting their business in protecting the environment and the citizens of any country, they instead allowed no standards to protect life or Earth.

The United Nation's has to include STANDARD environmental laws in the COP 21 paradigm or a stand alone Convention that provides insight to countries in what is suppose to be the best environmental laws to protect their people and their biotic content.

The petroleum industry can well afford environmental protection if it is demanded of it. No different than Apple had nets placed around a building producing it's phones. These companies aren't going to run the other way if they are faced with regulations and environmental laws. If the international community all subscribed to the same baseline standards of protection, where is Wall Street going to go?

Space? They won't find their fuel for their rocket boosters on the Moon. Trust me on that. USA NASA astronauts did not bring back oil as proof of the Moon's composition, they brought back rocks.

Trump Organization has been in existance for 93 years.

This is the flip side to the Trump Organization. It employs Americans in jobs that cannot be exported, but, the Bangladesh issues are real and should not be ignored.

Currently, China is manipulating currency. That has caused problems within Wall Street and losses were realized. I would think American manufacturers would be rethinking their dependency on Chinese labor in the face of losses due to China's monetary policies. There are some manufacturers such as Apple that will always have connections to China and probably a permanent manufacturing relationship with China because of it's need for Rare Earth Elements.

We know how draconian Mexico has been in causing loss of jobs.

The way Wall Street is conducting itself when it comes to American labor is completely wrong and adverse to even their own profits. We know Americans have enormous economic power. While countries such as Mexico needs a good and reliable economy, the way it is rolling out will cause real problems with recessions in the USA and loss of market to Mexican imports.

The way an economy has to roll out to INCREASE markets across the globe is to mimic the USA economy, but, one that is autonomous from robbing jobs from Americans. In other words, Mexico should be seeing auto assembly plants that will sell to Mexicans not Americans. Isn't Mexico tired of being used by Wall Street without boosting its actual GDP? Supplying labor for exports to the USA is robbing Mexico of it's tax base because citizens should be increasing their incomes from good paying jobs. Jobs that compete for labor, including USA labor, would mean Mexico has it right.

No American is going to China, India or Mexico to work because even minimum wage in the USA competes with pay rates outside the USA. Why is it Mexico doesn't have unions to increase wage labor that will GROW Mexico's economy. Why isn't Mexico manufacturing attracting labor already trained but out of work in the USA?

Mexico should be seeing higher incomes within their populations that DRIVES economic growth. Crossing the USA - Mexico border should not see stark differences in quality of life. The countries taking USA jobs are doing it all wrong. Mexico should be seeing growth of suburbs, cottage industry growth, an increase in entrepreneurial economics.

Mexico should be experiencing a tax base similar to that of the USA. Mexico should be providing a higher quality of life to it's citizens that makes them strong and able to turn their backs on drug cartels. Mexico is selling it's labor to Wall Street in a methodology that enforces drug cartels because poverty still exists.

When countries accept Wall Street on Wall Street terms, they lose. They are made weak and unable to change the path of their people. The unions in Bangladesh are correct. There should be excellent working conditions, good pay and UPWARD MOVEMENT of citizens from poverty to a NEW middle class with purchase power that drives development of an independent economy able to trade with the USA as equals. There should not be draconian relationships between the USA and other countries. The USA and other countries should be trading as equals and not a host to a parasite.

In other words, the cars manufactured in Mexico stay in Mexico and the cars manufactured in the USA stay in the USA. Trade Agreements are robbing more than Americans, it robs the countries and people of those seen as trading partners. The balance of trade within the agreements are self defeating.

When USA labor is exported for profits to CEO bonuses; the USA national debt increases because it has a tax base defeated by Wall Street. When Americans are moving into poverty due to loss of pay the USA is losing it's tax base and even national defense is under threat. A draconian Wall Street is more than simply causing poverty in the USA, it threatens it's national security as well.

China, India and Bangledesh should be experiencing "The Multiplier Effect" (click here) that drives a larger and larger prosperous economy. The demand of Mexican built cars within Mexico should prove to be an increase in GDP and a Mexican tax base. Today, emerging economies are not emerging, they are experiencing problems and shrinking. Wall Street is making profits at the expense of humanity.

September 3, 2015
By Heather Long

...A CNN Money (click here) analysis calculates at least 34,000 jobs attributable to the Donald.
It's not the most straightforward calculation. His company, The Trump Organization, is private, so it does not have to disclose information publicly about how much money it makes or how many people it employs. His campaign didn't give a specific figure either.
CNNMoney turned to PrivCo, which researches and tracks privately-held companies.
According to PrivCo, the Trump Organization has 22,450 employees and brought in $9.5 billion in annual revenue last year....
...But that's not the whole picture. There are likely other jobs that might not exist without Trump. Economists call this the "multiplier effect."
New York's Broadway shows are a good example. Visitors who come to see shows, may stay at least a night or two at New York City hotels and spend money at restaurants and stores. So any analysis on the economic and job impact of Broadway takes into account more than just ticket sales and employment of actors, singers and stage hands.
The same holds true for Trump's resorts and hotels.
Consider Ricardo Ara, the 24-year-old who works in the Koi Soho restaurant in the Trump SoHo Hotel. His story made news last month because Ara is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who has the right to work at the restaurant in Trump's hotel because of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program Trump wants to end.
Ara is technically employed by the restaurant, not the Trump Organization, but his job probably wouldn't exist if the hotel weren't there.
The state of New York says that "leisure and hospitality" companies like Trump's typically have a 1.5 multiplier effect....

When Governor Greg Abbot states "Donald Trump doesn't state what will replace Obamacare." These are not unique questions for Donald Trump; no other Republican, including those in Congress can state what will replace Obamacare.

This is not a mystery. Republicans hand everything over to business to solve it's own problems while government "gets out of the way." Republicans don't have answers for the country's problems. They dissolve government programs and tell the private sector to 'have at it / bring it."

Obamacare is fashioned after Romenycare in Massachusetts. Obamacare is already a bipartisan plan. In 2004, then Governor Romney proposed a plan that would cover nearly all citizens of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts health reform laws passed the legislature with the Governor's plan as the basement foundation.

"He is a con man." Donald Trump needs to get his act together to answer about preceived weaknesses.

Bangledesh is where a building collapsed occurred and killed workers. That happened in 2013. After that collapse the union began a more pronounced role in labors working conditions and wages.

26 April 2013
By Emily Young

A building (click here) that housed suppliers of clothes to European and American retailers collapsed on Wednesday. According to one union leader, garment industry workers had been told to ignore the cracks in the walls and continue with work as normal....

All this will come up one way or another.

22 September 2013

Tens of thousands of garment workers (click here) have downed tools and taken to the streets to urge the government for an increase in the minimum salary.

4 million employees work in the country’s $20-billion garment export industry - 60 percent goes to Europe - and earn about $38 a month. They are demanding a raise to $103 a month.

Earlier, the Bangladeshi government agreed to a 20 percent increase, but the workers called the raise "inhuman and humiliating."

"Our backs are against the wall, so we don't have any alternative unless we raise our voice strongly," Nazma Akter, president of the United Garments Workers' Federation told protesters.... 

He's back. The Kelly brothers set in history a human standard for space.

Scott Kelly is setting all kinds of standards for life at the ISS.

Scott Kelly works on the International Space Station during a nearly eight-hour spacewalk in November 2015. (NASA)

March 1, 2016
By Maya Wei-Haas

After spending 340 days in space, (click here) U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are scheduled to touch down on our little blue marble around 11:30 p.m. ET today.

Though not the longest stint in space, it is the longest anyone has spent on board the International Space Station (ISS) and the best opportunity NASA has had to study what happens to the human body after prolonged exposure to weightlessness, cramped quarters and damaging radiation.

There’s no escaping the fact that Earthlings evolved to thrive with a certain amount of gravity. So since the early days of space travel, NASA has been trying to figure out what happens to a human body beyond our planet's pull....

Now the work to understand the human body in space begins. The Kelly twins are remarkable men. It is a dedication beyond 'the job.' The space standard is being written because of them.

The space industry, including NASA,  should have a special place for the Kelly brothers. What is known today and going forward was provided by truly heroic men. They have made history in this investigation into the human body. 

Thank you to both of the Kelly Brothers. The USA is a little more proud today because of their dedication to their country.

Republicans have their candidate and the Democrats still have a race to the convention.

Why did they vote as they did in the Republican primary (click here)

People are tired of being disenfranchised from their power within the government. They don't like being held hostage in DC.

The Trump mimics are guaranteed. I hear Rubio is calling Donald Trump a con-man. He thinks it sticks. Really?

Mr. Rubio lives in the future. He always states, the best is yet to come. How long do you have to wait? 20/20?

March 1, 2016
By Patrick Healy and Amy Chozick

Hillary Clinton took full command (click here) of the Democratic presidential race on Tuesday as she rolled to major victories over Bernie Sanders in Texas, Virginia and across the South and proved for the first time that she could build a national coalition of racially diverse voters that would be crucial in the November election
Based on results from Democratic primaries and caucuses in 11 states, Mrs. Clinton succeeded in containing Mr. Sanders to states he was expected to win, like Vermont and Oklahoma, and overpowering him in predominantly black and Hispanic areas that were rich in delegates needed for the Democratic nomination.
Mrs. Clinton, who also won Massachusetts and showed notable strength among Southern white voters, came away with a strong delegate lead over Mr. Sanders — notably larger than the one that Barack Obama had over her at this point in the 2008 presidential race....

Super Tuesday is really designed for Republicans since most of their constituency is in the South. The South is the Republican base. I think the Republican race is over. There were record numbers of voters in the Republican primaries most probably due to the Donald Trump candidacy. By all rights, Donald Trump should not have done as well as he did yesterday. 

Today the two Democratic Camps are stating, "Whee, that is finally over.", by for very different reasons. 

Senator Bernie Sanders still has the wind at his back into the part of the nominee process more likely to be attracted to his candidacy. 

Former Senator Hillary Clinton proved her years of experience yesterday and the continuing agenda of our minority members. The rest of the primaries and caucuses will provide her delegates, but, she'll have to earn every one of them. 

This is really amusing, the USA military hasn't got a clue where to put detainees.

Let's see, there are USA black sites, including the one in Chicago, but to imprison them abroad means there could be sympathizers that would turn them loose again.

March 1, 2016

By Eric Schmitt and Michael S. Schmidt

...Although American commandos (click here) have captured a handful of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria in discrete operations in recent years, the Pentagon is now faced with the prospect of detaining a larger group of captives and potentially reprising some of the darkest images of the war in Iraq, particularly the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison....

There are innumerable military prisons they could be housed in the USA where no one is a sympathizer, like Leavenworth. Or. Alcatraz. You know, a place with a mote around it. Alligators. Crocodiles. Parana.

They could just be turned over to a group of American citizens in an enclosed environment. That would be interesting.

But, surely, all this melodrama as to where to place prisoners is a sincere joke, isn't it?

If they need to be interrogated it has to be out of the country and off the CONTINENT. I think there are plenty of places on USA military bases far more secure than anyone would like to admit where interrogations can take place. But, in all honesty, aren't these PRIZES to show off to the others thinking they can get away with something. Is there really that much to know about the wicked Ba'athists? We know a great deal about these people and the fact they are now captured and Syria is beginning to fall under governance says it all.

The USA military knows it can only play the intelligence gathering game for just so long and then the information is stale and what good are the prisoners? At some point in time the war has to be fought and won. I would think the middle east is very close to winning from the sounds to it. I'd rather the military would house POWs somewhere secure and stop the hideous game of "Gitmo." Gitmo is perverse and unhelpful.

I happen to think Russia and the USA make good partners in a search for stability, self-governance and ultimately peace with non-proliferation a goal.

Oh, here is a thought. Load the prisoners of that Mach 20 experimental vehicle and then see how much cooperation they provide.

Virginia Tech was directly involved in exposing the Flint, Michigan water emergency.

In other words, the evidence was collected and documented before it could be covered up.

Officials criticized them as bogus "magicians," but making data transparent caused residents to demand action 

March 1, 2016
By William Rhoads, Rebekah Martin and Siddhartha Roy

Our team (click here) of more than two dozen students and research scientists at Virginia Tech has spent much of the past year analyzing and publicizing unsafe drinking water in Flint, Michigan.

Our “open science” research collaboration with Flint residents revealed high levels of lead, Legionella and damage to potable water infrastructure due to a failure to implement corrosion control treatment.

Despite Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) messages that the water was safe, we fought to educate residents about severe public health risks. That work led to a declaration of a public health emergency, first by the city of Flint and later by the state of Michigan and President Barack Obama; garnered hundreds of millions of dollars in relief for Flint residents; and informed a national debate on “safe” drinking water in America.

Our work, by any measure, succeeded. But at the same time, this experience has forced us to confront broader questions....

Is there any wonder why scientists are a threat to power? The truth is tough to live with.

This is only one example of how the USA's domestic policies have been turned on it's head. Nothing makes sense anymore. It is more important than ever for the American people to stand by the facts to protect their own lives. We are on our own. It used to be Americans didn't have to waste their time in protecting water, air and food. The USA is Third World power when it comes to it's people. Third World has that same lopsided definition. Plenty of power for the military and an elite class of wealthy with the rest of the population in poverty and struggling. Welcome to the Third World USA.

Non-GMO food from organic source, safe bottled water and air purifiers in the house with a strong group of leadership knowledgeable of clean air and water. It has gotten to be very bad in the USA. There are issues that happen today never dreamed off in the past, including a leak of natural gas in California. It is unbelievable how much the infrastructure of the USA had been destroyed since 2000.

Flint, Michigan is the example of flagrant disregard for human life we never thought we would see in the USA; yet, here it is. 

I am grateful that scientific standards and morality hasn't changed. It couldn't even if they tried.

The Red Cross needs some help to recover Fiji.

The Cyclone Winston was the worst of the three cyclones that manifested in the southern hemisphere together.


A remote Fijian village is photographed from the air during a surveillance flight conducted by the New Zealand Defence Force on Feb. 21, 2016.

March 1, 2016
By Sharee Devose

Following the the worst cyclone (click here) ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, the Red Cross is appealing for $7 million to fund emergency efforts in Fiji.

More than 62,000 people are sheltered in evacuation centers 10 days after Tropical Cyclone Winston tore through the Pacific nation.

At least 42 people were killed in the category five storm on February 20, bringing winds up to 325 kph that destroyed homes, crops, and much of the nation’s infrastructure.

Nearly 347,000 people, or 40 percent of the nation’s population, have been affected across Fiji’s 300 islands.

“Entire villages have been devastated and people are in a state of shock,” said Director General of the Fiji Red Cross Society (click here for donation site) (FRCS) Filipe Nainoca in a statement.

The Fiji site asks donor to join, then donate.

NASA - Winston (click here)

The central circulation passed exactly over Fiji. There was no getting away from it. When storms this strong come to the USA, people are evacuated inland away from the force of the wind and ocean. The people of Fiji doesn't have that luxury. They have to shelter within safer places while the storm passes over them. Sometimes those safer places are compromised by the storm.

New York Times (click here)

Senator Sanders took his home state by a very large margin. I am happy for him. I was surprised at the percentage of 90 percent. I knew he would win the state, but, I thought former Secretary Clinton would take more of the delegates than she did.

LOL, get a clue McConnell, no one is listening.

Mitch McConnell joined Loser #2 Paul Ryan to take a stand against David Duke.

Hm?

There is absolutely no way the Republican Party can distance themselves from racist groups. The words of Ryan and McConnell are lies.

December 18, 2015

Senate Majority Leader (click here) Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Friday warned Republican voters to steer clear of nominating Tea Party candidates who can’t win in next year’s general election.

“The way you have a good election year is to nominate people who can win,” he told reporters during his final Capitol Hill press conference of 2015....

I think that was a mistake, right? Maybe the Republicans have bulls that are colorblind. I little bit genetic engineering, right?

...“We’d like to have a nominee who can carry purple states because unless the nominee for president can carry purple states, he’s not going to get elected,” he said.

It was a veiled shot at the GOP presidential front-runners: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson....


February 26, 2015
By Julie Bykowicz
...The story of how (click here) the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, mushroomed from a small, informal gathering of the right into a multimillion-dollar can't-miss pageant for the Republican Party is reflected in its corporate sponsors. It's underwritten by the National Rifle Association, the Heritage Foundation, the Trump Organization Inc. and the Motion Picture Association of America in addition to much more modestly moneyed religious and small-government interest groups....

...The CPAC presidential tryouts continued in 2013 and 2014, with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul drawing some of the largest crowds and warmest receptions. But as CPAC's influence on the party has grown, some of the activists have complained that it's also become stale, said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union. This is his first year at the helm of CPAC....

The February 9, 2012 CPAC also sponsored a presentation after the speech by then Senate Minority Leader McConnell and Rep. Michele Bachman entitled, "The Failure of Multiculturalism: How the pursuit of dieversity is weakening the American Identity" presented by Peter Brimelow, the founder and head of VDARE,com.

February 9, 2012
By Alex Pareene

...But! While the Birchers (click here) and the open homosexualists are no longer welcome, there is still room for multiple outspoken white nationalists!

The National Review’s John Derbyshire, a stock “pervert Tory” character from a Martin Amis novel sprung to life and given a sinecure at the National Review, is hosting a panel on “multiculturalism” (boo hiss) featuring two of America’s most detestable sacks of shit: Peter Brimelow, founder of white supremacist site VDARE, and Robert Vandervoort, the director of some sort of “don’t make me press one for English” nativist group and a white nationalist from way back.

CPAC organizers are like, we didn’t specifically organize this panel ourselves so whatever, but they are not canceling the panel, because the conservative movement has always quietly set a place at the table for their white supremacist allies when they get together for Thanksgiving. And after everyone says grace (and sings “God Bless America” and the national anthem and does the Pledge of Allegiance) comes the ceremonial declaration that liberals are the real racists, for inventing welfare....

The country would like a change of direction by the Republicans when it comes to hate groups. Maybe this year might actually be the year.

bin Laden was sheltered and faciliated in Pakistan.

I think the USA was a bit naive about the leaders in Pakistan. Musharraf was known to have a relationship with bin Laden. Musharraf was also in place when Kahn was known to have sold nuclear technology to North Korea and others. 

I always thought Musharraf knew where bin Laden was and speculated several times "Where is he Mushy, in the (Pakistan) palace basement?" But, to think others are involved and what about the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Who was involved in that besides two al Qaeda operatives?

February 29, 2016

Islamadad: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (click here) received money from al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden to contest elections against Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party in 1990, a new book has claimed.


The book titled 'Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-i-Aman' by Shamama Khalid, the wife of former ISI operative Khalid Khawaja, claims that Sharif's pledge of introducing an Islamic system attracted Khawaja as well as Osama.

"Chief of PML-N Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif received funding from Osama bin Laden, founder of al-Qaida, to contest elections against Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party (PPP) after the end of Zia regime," the book states.
But even though Osama funded Sharif heavily, the latter backtracked from all his promises after coming into power, the Dawn reported on Monday....

When does this disaster of a country become clean of the corruption? The UN Security Council has some work to do to be sure Muslim countries are safe from such problems. I would think the USA should consider Pakistan an open threat yet today.

We should have gone through Pakistan on the way to Afghanistan. But, what did Rumsfeld do? Issue millions upon millions for jet flight space.

It can't be stated too much. Pakistan took the money from the USA and purchased weapons from China. China took that money and built 100 new nuclear warheads.

...The book also carries a note from former Inter-Services Intelligence director general, retired Lt-Gen Hamid Gul, which claims that Khawaja was very close to Sharif for some time.

According to the book, Palestinian Sunni Abdullah Azzam, who is also known as the 'father of global jihad' and Osama's mentor, introduced Khaweja to the al Qaeda head honcho...

If President Obama hadn't authorized that strike to remove bin Laden, the lousy no good would still be there. Russia and China should not be so blind to realize the danger in their own backdoor that American soldiers still die for to secure an unsecured country. The only way Afghanistan and Pakistan is ever going to be secured is to isolate them with strong border provisions of all the surrounding countries, including Iran. The countries surrounding Pakistan and Afghanistan have relationships with Russia and China.

Iran has borders with both Pakistan and Afghanistan. That should be more than interesting. Did they ever get that super-drone fixed?

Isolate and investigate.