It's working.

...The map above shows the concentration of stratospheric ozone over the Arctic—63 to 90 degrees North—on April 1, 2014. Ozone is typically measured in Dobson Units, the number of molecules required to create a layer of pure ozone 0.01 millimeters thick at a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius and an air pressure of 1 atmosphere (the pressure at the surface of the Earth). Reaching 470 Dobson Units, April 1 marked the highest average concentration of ozone over the region so far this year. The average amount of ozone in Earth’s atmosphere is 300 Dobson Units, equivalent to a layer 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) thick—the height of 2 pennies stacked together....

The CIA updates show the number of fighters in Syria have doubled and perhaps tripled.

September 10, 2014
By Charles M. Blow

...But I implore the president and the nation to proceed with caution. (click here)

We can kill anti-American fighters and even their leaders, but we can’t kill anti-American sentiment. To some degree, every time we commit our forces in the Middle East we run the risk of further inflaming that sentiment.

For every action, there is a reaction. And there are also consequences, some of them unintended....

There is only one reason for such a large SURGE of fighters in Syria and that is the USA 'is back.'

It all makes sense, the USA is a permanent nuclear nation with incredible war resources. Most other countries cannot return fire once the USA has decided they are the target. So, what will it take to destroy the Americans and their war machine? What will it take indeed?

The fighters in Syria are not stupid people, they know their disadvantage and they will continue to grow a force to retaliate and destroy. This entire military venture is wayward and it is wayward from every angle. 

The war mongers on the Senate and House floors are only fueling the fire for a greater war and they know otherwise; they should not do it. "W" was famous for his ranting about war with descriptors that would increase the hostilities. The same is happening today by "W"'s surrogates.

Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, has been locked in a campaign to stem child marriages following local and international furor about such practices in the Gulf Kingdom. Officials last year spoke of a plan to enact laws to curb child marriages.

The West would challenge leaders of these countries to bring their people to a more modern idea of marriage. The point is the USA is not the Middle East and the Middle East is not the USA. Americans have a lot to learn about these people and what they accept as their rights and how they govern the land.

This is the story told to me by a 14-year-old Yazidi girl (click here) I’ll call “Narin", currently staying in northern Iraqi Kurdistan. I am a Kurdish journalist with a journalism degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia who covers northern Iraq as a freelancer for several international news outlets. I heard about Narin’s tale through a Yazidi friend who knew her. Aside from translating from Kurdish and excerpting her story in collaboration with Washington Post editors, the only things I changed are all the names, at Narin’s request, to protect her and other victims from reprisal; many of her relatives are still in captivity.

Girl and Women cultures in the Middle East are not dictated by Western values. And all the drones and bombs are not going to change that. Genocide is a separate issue, but, when it comes to females there is a lot The West simply doesn't understand.

All to frequently when the USA brings their war machines to wag some kind of noble battle, it is the money and not the morality that find cooperation. 

The bodies of newly trained Iraqi soldiers on a remote road outside the town of Mandali Sunday. The gunmen who killed them, in the deadliest ambush of the insurgency, were reportedly disguised as policemen.

October 25, 2004
By Edward Wong

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 24 - In the deadliest ambush of the insurgency, (click here) guerrillas dressed as policemen killed about 50 freshly trained Iraqi soldiers in remote eastern Iraq as the unarmed soldiers were heading home on leave Saturday evening, Iraqi officials said Sunday.

The soldiers were taken from three minibuses at a fake checkpoint about 95 miles northeast of Baghdad, near the Iranian border in restive Diyala Province, police officials said. They were told or forced to lie down on the ground in rows, then killed mostly with bullets to their heads.

The ambush, extraordinarily ambitious in scope and violence, showed a high level of organization, and the insurgents probably had inside information on the travel plans of the soldiers, who were members of the nascent Iraqi National Guard, officials said....

This ambush was an obvious insider attack. The guerrillas knew exactly where they were when they decided to teach The West a lesson. That is what this is. There were no guerrillas dead. This was to teach the USA and the UK there war was leading nowhere and for the next five years that was more and more the truth. The dramatic awareness of this truth happened when Iraq's borders were lost and it's sovereign government was worthless. 

Ten years after this ambush the resolve to defeat has a higher resolve than ever before. These efforts the USA is about to embark on is a purposeless as the training of these Iraqis by Jordan.

The USA is throwing good money after bad. It is hideous to believe this is now different that there is a Democratic President and Secretary of State. 

There is no direct threat to the USA Homeland except for it's war mongering media.

Humanitarian aid is vital to the region. The people need food and water.

DAMASCUS, 9 September 2010 (IRIN) - A top UN official (click here) warns that Syria's drought is affecting food security and has pushed 2-3 million people into “extreme poverty”. 

During a mission to Syria which ended on 7 September, Olivier de Schutter, UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said 1.3 million people had been affected by the four-year drought, 800,000 of whom had had their livelihoods devastated. 

“The situation is really bad,” said Selly Muzammil, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Syria. 

In June the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Syria said the drought had ended but that inconsistent rainfall was causing crop failures. Other UN agencies say the drought is ongoing....

Outlying tribes and religious groups are at danger for not only famine, but, loss of any water source.

...The drought is also threatening food security. Whilst the government says it is self-sufficient in wheat - the primary strategic crop in Syria - production has not matched demand. 

This year’s yield was 3.3 million tons, compared to demand for 3.8 million tons, according to government figures. Wheat has been imported. 

“Syria has enough to stocks for the shortage at the moment. The problem is that poor families have had several years of bad crops so their resilience capacity is low. Many families now don't have access to credit, for example,” said Mario Zappacosta, an economist from FAO's trade and markets division. 

The biggest challenge Syria is facing is altered weather conditions such as inconsistent rainfall, according to officials at the Ministry of Agriculture. Adversely affecting farmers, it is not clear whether the changes are natural fluctuations in the climate or permanent changes due to global warming....

When The West first became aware of a new religious group taking over land ruthlessly the activities were focused along the Tigris River/Euphrates River, hence the control of the dam near Mosul. They were no more interested in destroying that dam than to realize their own demise.

2 July 2014
By John Vidal

The outcome of the Iraq and Syrian conflicts (click here) may rest on who controls the region’s dwindling water supplies, say security analysts in London and Baghdad.

Rivers, canals, dams, sewage and desalination plants are now all military targets in the semi-arid region that regularly experiences extreme water shortages, says Michael Stephen, deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute thinktank in Qatar, speaking from Baghdad.

“Control of water supplies gives strategic control over both cities and countryside. We are seeing a battle for control of water. Water is now the major strategic objective of all groups in Iraq. It’s life or death. If you control water in Iraq you have a grip on Baghdad, and you can cause major problems. Water is essential in this conflict,” he said.

Isis Islamic rebels now control most of the key upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates, the two great rivers that flow from Turkey in the north to the Gulf in the south and on which all Iraq and much of Syria depends for food, water and industry....

This is exactly the circumstances the USA Military has been warning about for years now. While the American people are still waiting to realize that warning as reality, it has been starring them right in the face.

Nusra Front releases hostages in border concern.

September 12, 2014

..."We're all very happy to be safe and alive," he told the Israeli channel. (click here)

The same day the Fijians were taken captive, two groups of Filipino peacekeepers were trapped at separate UN encampments, surrounded by rebel fighters who demanded they surrender. They refused, and both groups of Philippine troops eventually escaped -- one busting out with the help of Irish colleagues, and the other by slipping away under the cover of darkness.

At UN headquarters, the Fijians' release was greeted with relief and renewed indignation.

Fiji's UN Mission tweeted a photo of diplomats celebrating with their thumbs up, reading: "Free at last! Thumbs up from the Fiji Permanent Mission in New York to our 45 brave Fijian UNDOF peacekeepers."

Jordan's UN Ambassador Dina Kawar said the idea of peacekeepers being taken hostage "is just impossible to accept because it will happen more and more, and that will make countries hesitant about sending their armies, so we were very happy."

The UN mission in the Golan Heights was established in 1974, a year after the Arab-Israeli war. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, and Syria has demanded the return of the land in past peace talks....

This had been Nusra's long standing complaint, in that they are not terrorists. This dramatic event is the way they find attention on a global stage.

..."We've been informed that we will be released soon, and we are all very happy to be going home," he says, adding that all the soldiers are alive and well.

"I would like to assure you that we have not been harmed in any way," he says, adding that they have been treated well by the Nusra Front.

In the video, the two men speaking in Arabic describe their version of events leading up to the Fijians' capture. They say they had given assurances the soldiers would not be harmed, and were honoring that promise.

The men say they wanted a prisoner exchange and humanitarian aid delivered to besieged parts of Syria, but denied reports they had asked for the Nusra Front to be removed from the UN terrorist list.

The Fijians said the group had also demanded to be taken off the UN terrorist list and wanted compensation for three of its fighters it says were killed in a shootout with UN officers....

It is not just anthropogenic emissions now; Earth is in a negative feedback loop.

September 9, 2014
Carbon dioxide accumulation (click here) in the atmosphere reached a record high last year and grew at the fastest rate in 30 years, the United Nations' climate agency reported Tuesday.

The World Meteorological Organization's latest Greenhouse Gas Bulletin "injected even greater urgency into the need for concerted international action against accelerating and potentially devastating climate change," the U.N. agency said....

There are fires returning large quantities to CO2 to the troposphere. The droughts also remove green vegetation that would normally absorb CO2 in large measure and there are warmer oceans which are degrading coral reefs. 

September 9, 2014
All is not well with the nation's birds. (click here) The most comprehensive study ever of birds in America is out today, and it says many populations are in steep decline, even as others are doing well....

Habitat and food sources are disappearing. Many of these birds are common to our communities, including the nation's bird, The Bald Eagle. They is a growing threat to their loss and quite possibly extinction.

I hope this decision can be appealed.

LIVE: OSCAR PISTORIUS TRIAL VERDICT (CLICK HERE)

September 11, 2014
Lisa Davies

Watch Judge Thokozile Masipa deliver her verdict in the murder trial of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius over the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Ukraine's ceasefire looks promising.

September 11, 2014

Kiev: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (click here) has pledged greater autonomy for the separatist east but says that would not compromise Kiev's control.

He has also said that 70 per cent of Russian forces had left the east, greatly improving security in the region and enhancing chances of a fragile truce.

The pro-Western leader's comments on Wednesday were soon followed by a European Union decision to extend by another day a heated debate on unleashing new sanctions aimed at punishing Russia over what the West says is Moscow's military aggression in Ukraine.

Mr Poroshenko said Friday's ceasefire - the first backed by both Kiev and Moscow since the conflict erupted five months ago - had dramatically improved security in the country's war-ravaged industrial rustbelt.

"According to the latest information I received from our intelligence headquarters, 70 per cent of Russia's forces have been removed," the presidency website quoted Mr Poroshenko as telling a cabinet meeting.

"This gives us hope that there are good prospects for the peace initiative."...

The Harris nuclear facility in New Hill North Carolina is in Wake County. Wake County has the highest cancer rate in the state.

WAKE COUNTY (WTVD) --

Firefighters (click here) were called to the Duke Energy's Harris Nuclear Power Plant early Wednesday morning after a fire in a chemical room.

Around 5 a.m., emergency crews arrived at the plant after an employee said an industrial dryer was on fire.

Officials told ABC11 that the machine is in one of their commercial property buildings that is outside of the "power block." However, the dryer was near cleaning supplies and chemicals. 

The blaze was quickly extinguished, but to make sure, firefighters had to pull insulation from the machine. Fans were also brought in to ventilate the building....

North Carolina is guilty of hoarding. If not nuclear rods, then coal ash. When one looks at the state from a health and responsible government perspective North Carolina is nothing but a disaster waiting to happen.

August 8, 2008

One of the most lethal patches of ground in North America (click here) is located in the backwoods of North Carolina, where Shearon Harris nuclear plant is housed and owned by Progress Energy. The plant contains the largest radioactive waste storage pools in the country. It is not just a nuclear-power-generating station, but also a repository for highly radioactive spent fuel rods from two other nuclear plants. The spent fuel rods are transported by rail and stored in four densely packed pools filled with circulating cold water to keep the waste from heating. The Department of Homeland Security has marked Shearon Harris as one of the most vulnerable terrorist targets in the nation....

There is a commercial laundry on the property near the nuclear facility? Why? Employees at the facility have to wear badges to record their exposure. I guarantee you employees outside the nuclear facility don't.

March 18, 2011

...The ABC11 I-Team (click here) consulted Paul Turinsky, a nuclear physics professor at NC State, to learn more about the cooling facility and the spent fuel rods inside them.

"They're a pool," Turinsky said. "They look like a very deep swimming pool. Those pools have 20-30 feet of water above those assemblies, and that water has to be cooled."

But keeping them cooled has caused great concern among critics. Last year the investigative journalism group, Project Sensored, ranked safety issues at Shearon Harris the fourth most under reported story of the year because of the potential for fires in the spent fuel pools.

The local nuclear watchdog group NC Warn is just as concerned about terrorism.

"There's just no way to know if someone were trying to drain the water out of those pools either from the ground or an attack by air," said Jim Warren, NC Warn.

Progress Energy spokesperson Julia Milstead said, "It would be highly unlikely that any water would drain out of them."

The pools are kept in a secure building....

Wake County and Mecklenberg County (click here) are nearly tied in the state projections of cancer demographics in North Carolina. East carry 8 percent of the total cases of cancer in North Carolina which means 16% of the states cancer occurrences. No other county even comes close to the high incidence in these two counties.

Mecklenberg County is where Charlotte is located and the place where Governor McCrory was Mayor. It might explain why the Governor is so insensitive to any health related concerns in the state.

McGuire Nuclear Station on Lake Norman is just over 15 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina.

The only other nuclear energy facility in North Carolina is in Brunswick County. Brunswick County has a projected cancer rate of 1010 cases. But, Brunswick County has a population of approximately 108,000 people while Mecklenberg and Wake counties have approximately 1 million citizens.

I'd be curious as to the demographic of the patients which is not online. How many cancer cases in all these areas occurred from life long residents/years of exposure to environmental impacts. It would be an interesting study that every hospital can examine from their demographic records.

I guarantee there are going to be higher incidence of cancer near a nuclear power facility than any other type. The reason, more than likely, the higher percentage of the local population is effected by cancer in Brunswick County is due to the greater exposure to water than the other two. More than likely if a complete study of the country were conducted North Carolina would be among the highest in proximal distance to nuclear power plants and cancer rates. The state is just negligent about it's citizens. If the people within the states are policing their own wellness there would be even higher rates in North Carolina. 

Above Map (click here)

The police investigations across the USA are turning up no results. That is a problem.

September 10, 1014

Newly discovered (click here) witnesses to the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of Missouri teen Michael Brown are corroborating other witnesses' comments that Brown was taking a conciliatory stance when a police officer fired at him, according to new reports.

Two contractors standing about 50 feet from the shooting scene in Ferguson, Mo., and captured on cell phone video told CNN that they heard one gunshot and another then saw Brown, 18, staggering and saying, "OK, OK, OK." Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson kept shooting and Brown's hands were up, the witnesses said....

There is no results in Albuquerque. When do police finally get charged with murder?

September 10, 2014
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Less than three weeks (click here) before Michael Brown's fatal shooting in Ferguson, Mo., opened a national debate on the use of deadly force by police, city and federal authorities here set forth a plan to transform a local law enforcement agency with a stunningly violent reputation.

In some ways, the experience could serve as a lesson for Ferguson.

Since 2009, according to city records, Albuquerque Police Department officers have been involved in 47 shootings, 32 of which resulted in deaths — a body count that Police Chief Gorden Eden said has called attention to a "systemic failure in our ability to track employee misconduct.''

Civil lawsuits have cost the city millions of dollars. More than that, a Justice Department review of at least 20 of those civilian killings concluded earlier this year that a "majority ... were unconstitutional.''

Though municipal officials have acknowledged deep-rooted, institutional problems, Eden bluntly warned that a fix will not be easy....

The accounting of 'justifiable homicide by police isn't even complete. This study represents a small percentage of those citizens killed by police and of those dead there are disproportion of African Americans.

August 15, 2014
The report, (click here) compiled by the FBI, recorded 'justifiable' police killings between 2005 and 2012. While the database is incomplete — only 750 out of 117,000 local police organizations contributed to it — the undercounted figures show that two black people are killed by a white officer every week.

Of the so called justifiable homicides how many were armed?

...Of the documented cases, nearly a fifth — 18% — of blacks killed were younger than 21 years old. Only 8.7% of whites included in the report were under 21....

I believe President Obama is a great president, without a doubt in my mind.

I am quite sure the President and his Secretary of State is working very hard to bring about a unified region of the world and a good resolve. They are good leaders. They believe in their abilities, but, let's face it; President Obama and his administration has been dealt a lousy reality from day one in the Executive Branch of the USA.

The American people have been down this road before. We have been leaders for the different ethnic and religious groups across Iraq by one method or another. They are people without a dictator today. I am proud of that outcome and grudge them no ill fate in the future. I want the people of this region of the world to have their land, beliefs and happiness. 

This entire mess that exists between Iraq and Syria was not of the making of President Obama or his administration. This reality as it exists today for these people was provided by a zealot called John McCain. I don't believe the President needs permission under any article of the Constitution. What I do believe is that John McCain should head up the training of the Free Syrian Army all by himself with his choice of "Guns for Hire" as it existed in Iraq with Blackwater.

We don't belong in Iraq.

We never did.

National Audubon is a recognized authority and is now stating the climate crisis is real.

The USA is a circus because of it's media.

CNN: "The country is in danger."

Not.

McConnell: "The President is uncomfortable as Commander and Chief."

Interpretation: "Since President Obama is not killing at least 500 people a day he is a weak leader."

Did everyone hear about this incredible story about the First Amendment Right in Massachusetts? I betcha no one paid attention.

...Sutter dropped all charges and required only that the defendants pay $4,000 in restitution. The Globe piece is accompanied by a photo of Sutter waving around a McKibben article, apparently from the antediluvian magazine Rolling... 

This is what happened.

Global-warmist fanatics Ken Ward and Jay O'Hara "faced up to two years in jail for attaching a 200-pound anchor to their keel to block the path of [a] coal ship in May 2013," the Boston Globe reports. The ship was to deliver fuel to the Brayton Point power plant in Somerset, Mass. Their small craft, the Henry David T., carries a banner with the hashtag #coalisstupid....

This was their defense.

...At their trial, scheduled to begin yesterday, they had planned to invoke a "necessity defense." That is, they sought to avoid culpability by blaming global warming. They "would have called a number of high-profile witnesses, including NASA climate scientist Jim Hansen and environmental activist and author Bill McKibben."...

In other words, there is overwhelming evidence to indicate the climate crisis is real and dangerous to human life. There is also overwhelming evidence it is being caused by the burning of fossil fuels. So, what is a person, one lowly human being going to do to end this danger to his life?

Not every aspect of life in anyone's days of living it legislated. It is assumed people think and they act upon what they know. It is also assumed by USA law, including self-defense when confronting danger, people are able to act rationally to end danger to their lives.

To put this in a POPULOUS understanding, the coal ship was danger, the opposition to the burning of the coal on the coal ship was self-defense. By entering a plea of "necessity defense" the prosecution was forced to disprove the dangers of the climate crisis in order to successfully prosecute the defendants. 

Since it is not possible to defeat the proof of the climate crisis and it's reliance on fossil fuel to cause the danger to human life, the prosecutor simply invoked a financial penalty. The state ran up costs to only have the defendants carry out a successful defense so the costs the state incurred had to be repaid. The act of obstruction and the defense were not usual incursions with the law so the state acted correctly and then realized this was an act of survival. That is no different than when people use their guns in self defense and are charged with a crime only to have the prosecution drop the charges when realizing a citizen is acting in self-defense.

This is the Rolling Stone article (click here).

Why not go through with the prosecution anyway?

Because it would then be 'malicious' prosecution and there can be prison penalties for that.

Someone in the USA Congress finally 'gets it.' And he is a Republican.

President Obama is actually going to give Congress a pass before the election and relying on his Presidential powers to conduct war. Well isn't that interesting. But, of course, immigration is not approachable by Presidential powers. What has happened to my country?

MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) – The United States (click here) is not in a position to police the world when it comes to fighting the Islamic State (IS) group in the Middle East and requires allies to step up their actions, Congressman Walter Jones said, responding to Obama’s August campaign against the IS in Iraq.

“I want the allies, whether they be in Europe or the Middle East, to start stepping up instead of America stepping up,” Jones said in interview with RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

“We are what’s called a debtor nation. We cannot pay our bills without raising the debt ceiling so we can borrow money from foreign governments. I would like to see the rich dropping bombs.” Jones, a strong opponent of the Iraq War and American military action without congressional approval, said that “We cannot police the world.”

“I want to do everything possible to defend this country against ISIL or any other jihadist group,” said Jones. “We think we can always dictate to other counties... We cannot. Let’s defend our own country.”

Jones and Representative Jim McGovern were the lead sponsors of a July resolution which called on the President to seek authorization from Congress prior to the further deployment or maintenance of US combat forces in Iraq.

While members of Congress were on recess, Barack Obama authorized approximately 150 airstrikes in Iraq. Obama briefed members of Congress on his strategy for dealing with the Islamic State on Tuesday and will deliver a speech to the American people on Wednesday.

Jones is a representative of North Carolina and sits on the House Armed Services Committee.

From the Arab News: 232.08 carat white diamond found in South African mine.

• Finds “exceptional” 232.08-carat white diamond at Cullinan (click here)
• Four analysts say stone could fetch between $10 million—$16 million
• Shares rise as much as 7 percent

From the Gulf News:

Dubai: Residents in Emaar communities (click here) are planning to launch a social media campaign to voice their anger after vans of a popular local ice cream company were banned from entering their communities.

For six years, UAE-based Desert Chill has been delivering ice cream in Emirates Living and Arabian Ranches in purpose-built vans. But last week, developer Emaar shut the door on them, saying they are reviewing the list of vendors who would be allowed in their communities.

Desert Chill said the ban came unexpectedly and is a big blow to their business. “The news has come suddenly and without warning after six years of serving the communities and without any incident or issue. We are in communication with Emaar to try and rectify the situation but as of now we have not been successful,” reads a message on Desert Chill’s Facebook page....

The Jordan Times:

September 9, 2014

AMMAN — Iraqi Ambassador (click here) to Jordan Jawad Hadi Abbas recently returned to Amman after nearly six weeks since he was called home following a conference held by Iraqi opposition figures in Amman. 

Minister plenipotentiary of the Iraqi embassy Tahseen Alwan told The Jordan Times over the phone on Tuesday that Abbas returned early this month to resume his diplomatic duties. 

The ambassador was recalled by the former government of Nouri Al Maliki on July 19 for urgent consultations days after a gathering was held in Jordan for Iraqi figures representing Sunni and tribal leaders and businessmen, who launched their first unified coalition calling on the international community to boycott the Maliki government.

But Alwan refused to say there was a diplomatic spat between Amman and Baghdad over the conference, stressing that the ambassador was on a holiday. 

“There is no political stance against Jordan,” he said, adding the two neighbouring countries have always enjoyed good ties. 

But the Iraqi News Agency said at the time that recalling the ambassador came as a response to Amman’s allowing the opposition’s gathering....

The Daily Star (Lebanon - the country with the invasion by Israel against goat farmers):

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama (click here) told congressional leaders Tuesday that he had the authority he needed to take action to destroy the militant group ISIS, signaling again that the White House would not ask Congress to vote to approve his plan.

Obama met with top Democratic and Republican leaders ahead of a speech Wednesday evening to lay out his plan to fight the group, also known as ISIL.

“The president told the leaders that he has the authority he needs to take action against ISIL in accordance with the mission he will lay out in his address tomorrow night,” the White House said in a statement.

“He reiterated his belief that the nation is stronger and our efforts more effective when the president and Congress work together to combat a national security threat like ISIL.”...

It must be comforting in the Middle East to conduct business as usual while the USA sustains the costs and deaths of military personnel to keep the peace within their borders. To hell with what is happening to the USA's sense of well being, it is paramount no other nation feels they have problems.

So the USA is entering another war while the Mideast continues to scrutinize Gitmo. Real good. But, that is not an election issue. Of course not.

MIAMI: At about 155 pounds, (click here) the Syrian prisoner is gaunt for a man over 6 feet tall. He is pale and weak, so lethargic at times that one of his lawyers said he had to lie on the floor when he met with her one day this summer at the prison on the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The hunger strike that 43-year-old Abu Wa’el Dhiab started 18 months ago to protest his indefinite confinement without charge was supposed to be over by now. He was told in the spring he would be resettled in Uruguay, along with five other Guantanamo prisoners. But as the months have dragged on and the transfer put on hold, his standoff with military officials has only deteriorated, at times turning violent.

“Everyone who has seen him recently is alarmed,” said Alka Pradhan, one of his attorneys.

The prisoner has been engaged in a tense struggle with guards in recent months, according to documents filed in federal court in Washington, where Dhiab, who has been fed through a nasal tube to prevent starvation, is challenging some of the tactics used by the military to deal with prisoners on hunger strike....

The USA is on the job in the Middle East. There is absolutely no implications for USA national security, but, what the heck we are so welcome to conduct war there it serves the purpose for the Republican political machine. The GOP is so lucky to have the Middle East as a place for their agenda. 

So all the American polls regarding a return to war in Iraq is favorable.

NO KIDDING.

And of course the media won't take responsibility at all for those polls, right? They favor Republican outcomes this election, but, the media is not responsible at all for those polls.

DENIAL.

The polls before the aired beheadings and the culture of fear instilled throughout the nation is not the fault of an inflammatory media. 

Right. The USA media drives war. There is no reason for the USA to enter Syria or return to Iraq at all. Gee, "W"'s Iraq is falling apart. What a shame.

Ms. Palmer needs to leave the relationship and if the confrontation is explained away it will occur while the partners work at strengthening their relationship while apart.

Ms. Palmer stayed. Many women and abused men are looking at her and listening to her rational and finding a reason to stay as well. Ms. Palmer is wrong. People have to know she is wrong. Her attack is on tape and now the couple faces a loss of income. I wouldn't simply state Americans have the right to criticize institutions that look the other way as policy. The is wrong and the institutions have to change their policies.

The victim has to come to terms with her sincere status, too. Currently, Ms. Palmer is in complete denial and what worries me more is the fact Mr. Rice might expect his fans and others will explain away the confrontation and he may return to the NFL. If that is what is buoying the couples relationship, what happens to Ms. Palmer when that doesn't occur? 

What brings me to that concern? One of her statements is "We still love all the fans in Raven's Land." It makes no sense. He is suspended indefinitely. She is in denial and pandering to those that would have power as fans. It was the fans that brought the NFL to it's knees, why would they seek to continue their relationship with what was once their hero?

When Ms. Palmer is found to have sustained an injury that caused her to become unconscious and the event is on tape; she is taking responsibility for her attack. She aggravated it. Anyone assessing the circumstances would state that the criminal charges against Mr. Rice would carry an aggravated descriptor. That doesn't mean she is at fault. It means she aggravated his attack, but, it was his attack. 

She is taking responsibility for his behavior. That is profound denial. What she doesn't realize is her behavior is in response to his part of the relationship. They were verbally tussling before and after they entered the elevator. That is all part of it. It is not a healthy relationship and love won't heal them. If they sincerely want this marriage they need to work at it outside the relationship in order to honestly look at it safely without fear of the violence occurring. The relationship triggers these events. It is not healthy. If she received a concussion or head injury by an accident would she want to repeat it?

Separation by a couple is very threatening, especially in violent relationships because THE CONTROL and the receipt of THE CONTROL is gone. If a couple is sincerely in longing for a strong marriage, separation is nothing if they are truly partners. Separation cures and increases the longing for healing. It then encourages different behavior, if they are capable of it, to prevent any of the reasons that caused them to reach a point of intolerance of each other.

Senator Byrd saw the depth of the arrogance of the USA. There just isn't anyone that can take his place.

"I weep for my country." 

The problem with the US Congress is that is no longer operates on morality so much as it does a violent and vicious partisan agenda. Senator Byrd's speech on the house floor should have been heeded and not disregarded. Senator Byrd had wisdom. That is something that grossly lacks in today's Congress.

Walk, trot and cantor just isn't the same in the heat.

The horses need to be well hydrated when this type of intense activity is demanded of them. The dark color on the 2 year old's back and face is sweat.

Cleaning up John McCain's revolt against Assad.

It is unthinkable the USA would fund any rebels in Syria. The Free Syrian Army sold US munitions to ISIS. There are no rebel groups not somehow affiliated with IS/IS/L in Syria. The ONLY funding the US Congress should be supporting is humanitarian aid.

There is no group coming forward as an alternate authority to Assad that actually has control of the rebel forces. No one authority speaks for the rebels. 

If the USA sends more munitions into Syria it will be in violation of the Small Arms Convention.

Just because Russia is in violation of the Small Arms Treaty in Ukraine gives no meaning to the USA following such an example in Syria. Any arming of rebels in Syria will only result in nation building AGAIN. In the face of the fact Assad has been cooperative with UN Resolutions to date, especially that of chemical weapons, it is wrong to continue to fuel this civil war.

The US Congress is trying to save face while they confront completely failed foreign policy that has not only fueled war that kills innocent people, but, also establishes unsustainable nation building. They are playing USA politics with foreign lives for the sake of coming elections. They won't face facts, they will continue to kill overseas to maintain their electable status.

Russia's Putin is also attempting to save face by engaging in faux peace talks with Ukraine while the rebels are continuing to be armed. Putin's politics are deadly for both people and the regions economic stability.

In both cases, it is not the politics that should survive, but, the people, the stability of the region and sustainable economics.

The USA is wrong. Russia is wrong. AND. Israel is wrong. When are these nations going to face the truth rather than their own idea of the truth?