There was something that didn't click right when this satellite was launched. I know what it is now.

NOAA's DSCOVR satellite launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Feb. 11, 2015. DSCOVR will provide NOAA space weather forecasters more reliable measurements of solar wind conditions, improving their ability to monitor potentially harmful solar activity.

Image Credit: NASA

February 11, 2015

A new mission (click here) to monitor solar activity is now making its way to an orbit one million miles from Earth. The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 6:03 p.m. EST Wednesday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
DSCOVR, a partnership among the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA and the U.S. Air Force, will provide NOAA space weather forecasters more reliable measurements of solar wind conditions, improving their ability to monitor potentially harmful solar activity.
NASA received funding from NOAA to refurbish the DSCOVR spacecraft and its solar wind instruments for this mission. The work was completed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, where a team developed the command and control portion of the spacecraft’s ground segment, and manages the launch and activation of the satellite....

What would it take to stop a drone war?

July 31, 2014
By Peter Kelly Detwiler

...The effects were bizarre (click here) and almost entirely unanticipated.  One effect was an electromagnetic pulse, but nobody knew it was going to be anywhere nearly as large it proved to be.  They had all this data and they didn’t understand very much of it, including the EMPs that had been observed and the effects produced…all kinds of electrical disturbances were seen over 1000 kilometers away in Oahu. The Air Force brought in a bunch of us…and asked us to explain it.  With the leadership of scientists from Los Alamos, we figured it out.  It was a fairly subtle piece of physics.  At that time we were worried it could be used as a precursor attack on the U.S. and suppress our retaliatory capability.  Since the effect wasn’t really understood before 1962, our military systems hadn’t protected against it up to that point....

The only way drones can be justified is if they are as fool proof as a human military. They can be stopped. Drones are the worst investment the USA military can make. When they fail due to electromagnetic pulse the war is lost. The advantage the new satellite will provide is silly. All that will do is provide a time frame to the loss of the war.

The satellite is funded by three branches of government, NOAA, NASA and the Air Force. Now, what interest does the Air Force have in the sun? 

NASA already has a lot of information about the sun. This satellite will probably measure 'the climate' of space. The reason space climate has to be measured is because the ambitions of the country is to put human beings on a mission to Mars. Such a crew would not be returning to Earth. The solar winds are dangerous to human beings. NASA would be interested in understanding the radiation, emissions of same from the sun and if there is a predictability to it. 

And NOAA is going to be responsible for Space Weather as well as Earth Weather. I hope they don't get the two confused.

As part of the Space Weather Prediction Center's (click here) rollout of our improved website, the content from Space Weather Now is being provided in a new way.

 

When is the spending for a computerized military going to be finished? It is the biggest waste of money this country has ever had. The F35 and now the US Air Force is worried about electromagnetic fields. Amazing. 

 

THEY CAN BE STOPPED. DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS. 

 

Best reason for peace yet.

There were three people murdered from the same family dressed in traditional clothing and this isn't obvious?

Ms. Deitle: “They do, (click here) and I think some of the states that have passed hate crime legislation are different than the federal statute. Probably the biggest difference that we have in the federal system is that our statute has a requirement that we need some type of force, some type of force or threat of force as part of the crime for the FBI to be able to investigate it. So for example, if you have an action which is forceful where somebody is trying to interfere or intimidate with the victims’ right to engage in a certain activity—like for example, trying to eat at a restaurant, trying to enter a movie theater—and that person is prohibited from doing so because of his race or religion or national origin, that could be considered a federal hate crime. So we’re a little bit more limited than a lot of the other state statutes which are similar.”

Mr. Hicks may have threatened a lot of people, maybe the entire neighborhood, but threats are not the issue here. He murdered three people that were overtly Muslim. The fact these people were Muslim IS evidence.

When Trayvon Martin was killed Mr. Zimmerman was following him as 'ONE OF THOSE, AGAIN.' One of those meant he was following a black man and the federal government states it wasn't a hate crime? Excuse me! 

Mr. Hicks stated he hated all religion. How convenient three Muslims wore their religion on their sleeve. 

This is a hate crime. Just because he didn't kill a Christian and Buddhist in equal opportunity doesn't mean these people weren't targeted. The three Muslims BECAME an object. They became an object of hate. There isn't anything cerebral about hate. 

These people were living their lives in peace. They didn't seek him out that day to rub his nose in hate, he decided when they came out of their home they were easy targets. Parking was a convenient excuse. What else is there to understand? Nothing.

I am grateful for the resolve of the father. He is a rock to the truth. He is magnificent.

All to familiar was the oppressive language of North Carolina law enforcement. As soon as the deaths occurred the law enforcement immediately came out and stated it was not hatred that caused the deaths of three wonderful young people. It is the voice of oppression that is well practiced in the USA south.  

While that oppressive voice is easily notable, what surprised me more than any police officer and/or sheriff was the US Attorney sounding off in the same oppressive tone and words.

Hicks is another Zimmerman. There are plenty throughout the country. They purchase guns and take way territorial rights from citizens to call that land their own. There is a social movement within the gun enthusiasts owners. They are their own law enforcement. "I (the male voice) am the sole protector of my family."

This is a hate crime. There needs to be truth gathering by everyone moved by this level of hate in this North Carolina community. Those gathering the information now are looking for methodology and law to suppress as much of the truth as possible.  

My deepest sympathies to the family who knew these young people so well. From what I can see of them now in the social media is incredible. We don't even know how much we miss them. It is obvious the three were nothing short of pure joy.
  

The coffin of one of three young Muslims who were shot in Chapel Hill, N.C., this week was carried to a funeral prayer service on Thursday in Raleigh, N.C. Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times.

February 12, 2015
By Jonathan M. Katz and Michael Paulson

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Neighbors (click here) knew Craig Stephen Hicks. He was the angry man on Summerwalk Circle, they said — irritated about noise, irascible about parking, hostile to religion. And armed.

Mr. Hicks was such a disruptive presence in the Finley Forest condominium complex that last year, residents held a meeting to talk about him.

None of them, of course, could have foreseen that he might be charged with murdering three people in a neighboring apartment on Tuesday: two sisters, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, and Yusor’s husband, Deah Shaddy Barakat — all of them Muslim. But some neighbors felt threatened by his behavior....

   

Do something on Valentine's Day

Come to the "Traverse City Winter Comedy Arts Festival." (click here)

Forget the flowers, they wilt in a week.

Forget the candy, it only messes up the diet started on January 1st. 

Do something ! 

This is that crazy festival that brings everyone out of hibernation in Michigan. It turns the main street also known as Front Street into a carnival. Literally, even with a ferris wheel that is taller than any building can guaranteed to freeze anyone's face at the top of the wheel.

Joining the celebrity list is Sinbad and Bill Maher is headlining. It is going to be one of the best comedy arts festival yet. Oh, by the way, it is it's fifth anniversary.

The new investigation in the UK of HSBC is not a reason to hold Ms. Lynch appointment.

February 12, 2015

...The UK's Treasury Committee (click here) is to examine allegations that HSBC's Swiss private bank helped clients evade tax.

Whistleblower Herve Falciani has said the UK government should have known about the scandal in 2010.
Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie said the committee was concerned about the allegations and had decided to take oral evidence from both HSBC and HMRC.
Meanwhile, the BBC understands the Treasury is preparing legislation to tighten the tax evasion laws....

This is a convenient excuse for the southern Senator David Vitter to attempt to taint Ms. Lynch's spotless record.

February 12, 2015

...Senators submitted dozens (click here) of additional questions to Lynch in writing about her differences with Attorney General Eric Holder, the immigration order, and a range of granular topics related to the Justice Department, which she responded to in a 220-page document earlier this week. 

Grassley said on Thursday he was unhappy with some of those responses, and wanted time to press her further. 

The Republicans pulled this last minute anxiety methology when Secretary McCarthy was nominated as well. Same exact methodology to instill fear of their power over any nominee.

"I know that there's a lot of pressure to answer these questions quickly but that doesn't excuse the incomplete answers," he said.

Louisiana Republican David Vitter said he had asked for Lynch's nomination to be held while he examined a 2012 agreement her office entered into with HSBC Holdings Plc. The agreement required the bank to pay more than $1 billion, but allowed it to avoid charges it failed to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal drug money from flowing through the bank and the U.S. financial system.
That settlement has received renewed attention after media reports of a second investigation into the bank's Swiss unit, which allegedly helped wealthy clients evade taxes in their home countries by hiding money in Switzerland.

The committee is expected to take up Lynch's nomination again at its next business meeting later this month. 

The issue with HSBC was a record setting fine. There was so much wrong with the case it would have probably put a real dent in their assets which ultimately could have caused a loss to consumers for the size of the actual fine. There is no other bank that were assessed one billion US. I don't think she was being nice to them. Seriously.

This new case is a new case. The international community is taking a look at the practice of banks and their offshoring habits because their customers have so much money in their banks they basically own the bank.  

The ability of banks to enforce the law they live within is becoming more and more difficult because there are few and few million-billionaires.

I am sure the attorney that follows Ms. Lynch after she is made Attorney General will give the case as much attention and careful consideration as Ms. Lynch would. She is needed in Washington, it is time for her to assume her place in the Obama cabinet. 

While we are on the subject of Pope Francis...

March 13, 2014
By Ed O'Keefe
 
Congressional leaders (click here) have invited Pope Francis to address a joint session of Congress during his expected visit to the United States next year....

Stay tuned.

December 11, 2015
Vatican City

Here is a translation of the Message that Pope Francis sent to the Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Peru, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal,...

...Together with my greetings to you (click here), Mr. President, and to all the organizers and participants in that Conference, I wish to express to you my closeness and encouragement, so that the work of these days will be carried out in an open and generous spirit. What you are going to debate affects the whole of humanity, in particular the poorest and future generations. More than that, it is a grave ethical and moral responsibility.
It is significant that the Conference is being held on the coasts adjacent to the Humbolt maritime current, which unites in a symbolic embrace the peoples of America, Oceania and Asia and which has a determinant role in the climate of the whole planet. The consequences of environmental changes, which are already felt in a dramatic way in many States, especially the insular ones of the Pacific, remind us of the gravity of negligence and inaction. The time to find global solutions is running out. We will only be able to find adequate solutions if we act together and in agreement. Hence, there is a clear, definitive and ineluctable ethical impetrative to act.
The effective struggle against global warming will only be possible with a responsible collective answer, that goes beyond particular interests and behavior and is developed free of political and economic pressures.... 

I have never heard a Pope address the actual oceanography of Earth. I feel respected that Pope Francis is interested enough in the urgency of our planet's plight that he actually came to understand Earth's dynamics. He is amazing. He loves Earth the way I love Earth. 

The heating of Earth is no minor matter to Pope Francis. He has decided for himself the degree Earth is pushed beyond it's physics. God's gift to us is being ignored and taken for granted; abused even. There are many more that live on this planet than simply those in the First World that can't seem to adjust to reality.

Review: The Humboldt Current: (click here) Nineteenth-Century Exploration and the Roots of American Environmentalism

...Rather, Humboldt's importance lies in having given expression to an important environmental ethos, for having given voice to a sensibility. What von Humboldt saw wherever he explored was "the chain of connection" between all things. As he himself put it: "In considering the study of physical phenomena. . . , we find its noblest and most important result to be a knowledge of the chain of connection, by which all natural forces are linked together, and made mutually dependent on each other."... 

He is mimicking the Pope while there is little the two have in common.

Scott Walker saw some of the most draconian cuts to state employees than ever before in Wisconsin history. It would be almost admirable if the cuts in the budget resulted as an economic benefit that increased jobs in other sectors of the Wisconsin economy. It didn't.

Wisconsin had the second lowest GDP growth in the region. It wasn't even close to the USA economy. The graph is from a Wisconsin study. (click here)

After listening to Walker in Great Britain it is fairly obvious the Republicans are worried about losing any segment of the Catholic vote they had before Pope Francis. His words are nearly identical to the controversy caused by the Pope when he spoke about evolution.

The Republicans are going to be hard pressed to mimic Pope Francis when it comes to the 1 percent. I haven't heard how they intend to raise the minimum wage or support health care for everyone. Did I miss something?

I believe the Republicans are adding words to their dictionary because they are concerned about losing Catholics as Pope Francis seeks change within his papacy. The Republicans have had no rush of conscience. It is still all based in greed and deception. They are the same ole', same ole' Republicans. 

February 12

This is Lincoln’s last portrait, purportedly taken on April 10, 1865—one week before his assassination. It’s also one of the few portraits that shows Lincoln grinning.

It’s Abraham Lincoln’s 206th birthday today, (click here) but you wouldn’t know it by watching the number of states that observe the day as a paid holiday....

...So on February 12, Lincoln’s real birthday, there are a handful of celebrations on a state level, along with a ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. There is also a wreath ceremony at Lincoln’s birthplace in Kentucky.

Lincoln really was born in a one-room log cabin, on Sinking Spring Farm near present-day Hodgenville, Kentucky. (The original cabin was destroyed by the time of Lincoln’s death in 1865.)
There were efforts right after Lincoln’s death to get this birthday recognized as a holiday, but there has never been a federal Lincoln-birthday holiday.

By 1890, Lincoln’s birthday was observed as a paid holiday in 10 states. According to one blog that tracks the holiday, in 1940 24 states and the District Of Columbia observed Lincoln’s Birthday.
Now, after the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was passed in 1971 and states moved toward considering the federal Washington-birthday holiday as Presidents Day, there are just a handful of states that honor Lincoln directly.

President Obama has been accused of micromanaging the US military.

Ever since Cory Gardner jumped in to the US Senate race he chose to leave his cronies behind and find mainstream America. He still is unable to answer questions that actually requires a solid understanding of the issue.

President Obama has come out with his request for authorization to war. He made his case. He didn't spoon feed Congress because he actually expects Congress to know what is happening in the world. I suppose their demand for fund raising doesn't leave much room for understanding what they are legislating. As that is the condition of Congress, they need to pass the legislation as written by the President. The only other valid path than authorization is complete withdrawal.

Putting the words, "We are to win," is not a strategy either. It is obvious Senator Garner needs to do his homework since he has no idea how to address the speech by the President. The Speaker doesn't either. 

The Middle East isn't as complicated as some would like to make it; but, it needs attention to detail and response from governing bodies to protect their sovereignty. 

The problem in enlisting commentary from the media or Congress is that they do not accept the FACT the USA military is muscle bound and that there are two wars whereby the deaths of innocent people have been astronomical. The USA military doesn't accept the fact they can't simply launch an aggressive campaign and kill people. That same aggression has closed the US Embassy in Yemen. Reflect on that awhile.

Figure it out yet?

The USA military destabilized the government in Yemen. Where has that happened before in recent history?

These are Third World countries with multiple ethnicities and their governments have a toe hold on power. What is the USA's military response? It arrives and starts annihilating people. What does anyone expect to happen? I suppose the average Yemeni takes it on the chin in their Lazy Boy to watch Monday Night Football, right?

These people will respond to USA violence. I guarantee you The West won't like what happens next. The question is what happens to the safety of Western nations when the USA military carries out this so called war on terror? The USA military is the problem. 

I tell you what. The USA military should be taking humanitarian aid to the people of Yemen, not USAID. Maybe then the people will forgive the USA and relate to generosity which is one of the pillars of Islam. The USA military doesn't FIRST live with the people, they only seek to kill the perceived enemy. The USA military has to regroup and stop crashing drones in Iran.

The Yemeni people only understand there are planes that come in the skies and people die. The first outcome the USA military has to accomplish is to know the people in any country accept their leadership to the point where a coup is not an answer sought as a remedy to people dropping in the street from drones.

And. Oh. By the way. Don't destroy mosques or close newspapers belonging to people who are still learning the impacts of communication over killing and blowing up infrastructure. 

AND THE SHI'ITES are not the enemy just because Iran removed the Shah when Iranians were dying in the streets from starvation. And then the USA doesn't communicate with Tehran for decades. 

The USA military needs to consider dropping humanitarian aid into these countries with messages that will mean something to them. We did that in Afghanistan and the people were fine with it. It was an attempt by the USA to COMMUNICATE it's purpose in coming into their country. Try enlisting the people toward a peaceful purpose when they understand who the military is seeking to carry out defense of our borders. The people and their well being has to be paramount to any Western defense strategy. This is not hand holding, it is about bringing First World defense to a Third World country to stabilize the region. Get them to understand completely why the alarming events occur and why their government is blameless and a good government on an international stage. 

Get it right, please. We are attempting to secure their country as well as ours. Their boots on the ground are even more important than our boots on their ground. Their military will protect the country, define it's borders with hopes to stabilize their day to day lives. The people need to listen to their leaders while carrying out pilgrimages and economics.

Yemen is a tough one. There was boy killed without reason because he called his father frequently during the day. There is a lot of pain over such attacks. The people of this region have to accept governance rather than surviving by the gun.  

March 21, 2015
By John Ingold

Congressman Cory Gardner, (click here) who has been hammered for his position on social issues ever since he jumped into the U.S. Senate race, dropped a political bombshell Friday with his revelation that he was wrong to have supported previous personhood efforts.
He said that after learning more about the measures, which would have had the impact of outlawing abortion, he realized the proposals also could ban certain forms of contraception, a prohibition he does not support.
"This was a bad idea driven by good intentions," he told The Denver Post. "I was not right. I can't support personhood now. I can't support personhood going forward. To do it again would be a mistake."...

Most of the people Scott Walker will seek to regulate through policy are better educated than he.

April 2, 2012
By Raymond Neupert

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) – Schools (click here) will begin this fall evaluating how well kindergarteners can read under a bill Governor Walker signed into law today.
The goal of the “Read to Lead” initiative is to ensure students can read at or above grade level by the time they reach the 3rd grade. The legislation will spend up to $800,000 on the reading assessment.
Walker returned to Franklin elementary school in Wausau to the sign the legislation in the same library where he read last May to third graders from the Dr. Seuss book “Oh! The Places You'll Go!”...

This is a bit off topic since we all know how intimately important Dr. Seuss is to the US Congress; but, the former chancellor of UNCW, Dr. Leutze was admired by all on campus. Why? Because he respected research. Research is conducted across any discipline that exists. He understood research because even though he was chancellor he conducted his own research. He was one of the most prolific chancellors within the UNC system. In many ways, it was he that was demanding of the university that drove it to being seventh in the world in marine biology and ninth in the USA for business. 

There are leaders and then there are people by which leading comes as second nature to the person they are. 

As a matter of fact, long before a water supply was of concern to the country due to global warming and drought, Dr. Leutze took the warnings of his scientists seriously and formed a committee to explore what global warming meant to North Carolina. I think the documentary regarding the initiative of this committee appeared on public television. Their findings and recommendations were implemented quite some time ago. North Carolina has done well considering the drought Georgia has experienced. The Leutze policies have sustained for decades, that is because he knows good research and is able to articulate it and document it to benefit the people of North Carolina. 

Maybe it seems like decades. The video came out in 2003 after their work was completed. 

Troubled waters [videorecording] : the illusion of abundance (click here) 
Narrator: James R. Leutze 

Dr. Leutze didn't believe in handing off important work to a hired hand, he conducted it himself. One has to know what one is talking about in order to narrate a documentary such as this. The author has to be able to formulate a premises before any research can be conducted and concluded. 

How well published is Scott Walker to date?

What is Russia going to do to stop the rebels to end their killing?

February 12, 2015
By Anna Sorokina

After a16-hour-long negotiation in Minsk, (click here) the capital of Belarus, the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement to bring peace to the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine.
The parties to the conflict have agreed to begin a ceasefire at 00:00 on February 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters after the meetings ended.
"[They] have managed to agree on the main things," Putin said. "First of all, it was agreed to cease fire at 00:00 on Feb. 15....

Russia can't simply sign a paper and walk away wishing it holds. Russia has to enforce the ceasefire. That means Russia troops take on the resolve to stop the rebels from killing anyone. If Russia cannot or will not enforce the ceasefire that is a constructive consent for others to be sure it holds.

If this is what the Mueller family is upset about, it is nothing to consider as a character flaw.

If she was in the presence of a IS commander, her life was in danger. That is all that is important. She loved her family and wanted to come home. Anything else is survival.

February 10, 2015

She may have been an unwilling bride of ISIS. (click here)
Kayla Jean Mueller, the Arizona aid worker whose death was confirmed Tuesday, was “given” to an Islamic State commander after she fell into their clutches, ABC News reported.
“ISIS didn't see her as a hostage or a bargaining chip,” a counter-terrorism official told the network.
Mueller had been spotted “in the company” of an ISIS leader who was being tracked by U.S. intelligence and some officials believed she was in a “forced marriage.”
In a handwritten letter that Mueller’s parents released Tuesday, the 26-year-old captive insisted she was being treated with “the utmost respect + kindness” and that she was “unharmed” and even put on a few pounds....

Let me get this out of the way. I am quite sure there are political agitators worried about an American woman carrying the fetus of an IS commander. I can only imagine what is being said. I am not interested in details.

These same people are the ones causing so much of the mess with immigration reform. These political hacks are on patrol for any child being born in a way that is not between white American people. If they had their way every child without roots back to the founding fathers are aliens that need to be deported. This is nonsense.

Open Note to Kayla Mueller's Family

I found this article on the net. It told me so much about Kayla. She measured herself against the potential she had to be an instrument of good in the world.

September 2, 2007

WILLIAMSON VALLEY - Prescott native Kayla Mueller (click here) has spent most of her 19 years in the same house and attended local schools.

However, the outside world is at her back door, and she is broadening her horizons by moving away from home for the first time to attend Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. An undeclared major, she said that she will consider anthropology, environmental science or international relations.

"I love cultures and language and learning about people's cultures," she said....

There are many young men and women that embrace the quality of life we enjoy in the USA and want to share it with the world so everyone can have a new benchmark to reach. I think Kayla was one of those young people that could not contain her love of her country and the potential she had in the world because she lived in the USA. She was a magnificent person and no one can take that away from her. I think for many who speak out against her life as being all that everyone ever believed of her; they find it difficult to come to understand her boundless generosity of spirit. She loved unconditionally and that is completely obvious.

I grieve a little differently for her. I was aware there were many NGOs sent to help the people of Syria. They were sent on missions of mercy to the humanitarian crisis. Little did any of the aid workers realize their capacity to administer some degree of comfort to the people would turn into a nightmare. I grieve the fact we as a world were not as insightful to their circumstances before they went forward selflessly to carry out compassion. I grieve for what I believed about her safety. Her loss because of what we believed to be true about the civil war and what appeared to be a safety margin because the soldiers had compassion for their people.

Now, add to that the fact Kayla was such a glorious person. She is precious in all aspects of her life. She is such a loss to this country I cannot imagine the USA ever making this mistake with their citizens ever again. The USA has to assess the dangers to such people differently. It has to acquire the authority to say "No." It has to say no to people leaving to carry out a mission of mercy. 

Kayla has taught the world a great lesson. She has made me and others measure humanitarian crisis and compassion to plight differently. She is far to important to ever have this happen again.

I realize it is early to her loss for her family. One of the ways to honor her is to build a fund to provide young people with skills to discern their safety as well as their compassion. There is a common thread among the people we have lost in Syria. They were kind, compassionate and a bit naive to the value of their life as viewed from ruthless people. 

Americans like to think they are survivors to any circumstances life has handed them, but, the fact of the matter is we have frailties. Kayla was never suppose to become a victim. Her life story will relate such a reality to others who have her interests. I hope the family finds a way to create a fund that will honor her name and portray her love of life.

There are no words that can diminish her life or her identity. For as wonderful as Kayla was, she had a family that contributed to her capacity to care.

My deepest sympathies.

I wish all that loved her peace. 

No other country outside the Middle East sees the war as a threat to their sovereign countries the way the USA does.

I need to mention the fact the USA is not alone in the Middle East with the countries that are our allies. Recently, Russia has been involved with Egypt. (click here) That looks as though that will become a longer termed relationship than it has been in the past.

Additionally, China has been a friend of Pakistan for decades. (click here)

There is no major power in the world that is not concerned about the outcomes in the Middle East. It is not just the USA, but, it is just the USA Congress interested in ratcheting up the war profile in any country. It is my guess the Egyptian President has become more resolute about intervening with any threats coming out of Libya due to the involvement of Russia.

I find it very curious that no other country in the world is interested in anything else except assisting these countries in defending themselves. But, then communist countries don't really have the continual political dogma as the Republicans in the USA do, but, it isn't just communists is it? The NATO allies are not interested in escalating war so much as ending it.

The USA has had enough of illegal wars and dead service men and women! 

Iraq was an illegal and immoral war. So, was Vietnam. The war mongers in the USA need to get their heads around that! 

There is a profound difference between other major nations in the world and the USA; it's military budget.

Zuckerberg chooses hard shell rather than friends as neighbors.

February 11, 2015

By John Gapper

...So what is the term (click here) for sullying profits from legal enterprise with tax evasion and shenanigans? Money staining, perhaps.

That question came to mind this week when reading about the 30,000 clients of HSBC’s Swiss private bank in the mid-2000s. Some were apparently avoiding domestic taxes; others were behaving lawfully but very oddly, emerging from its branch in Geneva holding cases of used banknotes. The activity was not black but nor was it entirely white: there were various shades of grey....

...Spare a thought for the billionaire, whose life is in some respects more challenging than ours. The property story of the week, amid those in Le Monde and The Guardian about HSBC, and a New York Times series about foreigners buying apartments on Central Park, was how Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, came to acquire all of the property around his house....

When the few hold all the money in the world do banks have a choice in the way it's services are used?

Even China is taking up offshoring tax evasion. There is growing international acceptance of these practices.

February 10, 2015
By Toh Han Shih

The mainland (click here) has stepped up its participation in the G20's fight against international tax avoidance by passing a law cracking down on the indirect sale of assets outside the country to avoid paying taxes.
The law would affect investment companies, analysts said, adding it would also have a significant impact on Hong Kong, a major hub for cross-border deals involving the mainland.
To strengthen global cooperation against tax avoidance, a law on tax on gains from the indirect sale of assets by offshore companies took effect last Tuesday, the State Administration of Taxation said on Friday.
"This announcement is the latest policy of the taxation administration's proactive participation in the G20 base erosion and profit shifting action plan [against tax avoidance]," it said.
Liu Jinghua, a Beijing-based tax partner at Baker & McKenzie, an international law firm, said the new rules "clearly indicate China will focus more on cross-border anti-avoidance enforcement"....

There was not one person killed in an argument over a parking spot, it was three people, all Muslims.

February 11, 2015
By Mark Berman, Sarah Kaplan and Kevin Sullivan

Police said that they had arrested Craig Stephen Hicks, (click here) 46, and charged him with the shootings. Hicks turned himself in “without incident” to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office in nearby Pittsboro after the shooting, Chatham County Sgt. Kevin Carey said Wednesday.
The shooting deaths of three Muslims prompted concerns that the violence was motivated by their religion, and leading Muslim civil rights advocates called for police to address that possible explanation. But the Chapel Hill Police Department said Wednesday that it appeared, at least initially, that the shooting centered on a parking argument.
“Our preliminary investigation indicates that the crime was motivated by an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking,” the department said in a statement. “Hicks is cooperating with investigators and more information may be released at a later time.”
The father of the two women killed disputed the idea that it was simply an argument involving parking, saying Wednesday that one of his daughters had previously told her family about Hicks having a problem with the way she looked....

This is not the average frustration over a parking spot. I don't see a rash problem with violence over parking spots in the country.

There needs to be an investigation to the reason such intense hatred existed over a parking spot. The family of the victims aren't comfortable with the dismissal of hate crimes. The political environment in NC is horrible. It is victimizing. It is very difficult to believe a man simply "lost it" because of a parking spot. There are three, not one, dead. There is more here and the US Attorney needs to investigate the crime rather than dismiss it.

If the family believes the government is dismissing any hate crime, it needs to gather any witness information from people that had contact with any of the three victims and their reporting of problems with Mr. Hicks. If there was an understanding by those surrounding these three people there was hate fueling the conflict over a parking spot, they need to come forward. 

The tone of law enforcement right now doesn't sound like they are looking to charge Mr. Hicks with murder. If the three victims are as responsible for the conflict, Mr. Hicks will be charged with three counts of aggravated manslaughter. 

North Carolina has the Castle Doctrine.

§ 14-51.3.  Use of force in defense of person; relieffrom criminal or civil liability. (click here)

(a)        A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that the conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other's imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat in any place he or she has the lawful right to be if either of the following applies:

(1)        He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another.

(2)        Under the circumstances permitted pursuant to G.S. 14-51.2.

(b)        A person who uses force as permitted by this section is justified in using such force and is immune from civil or criminal liability for the use of such force, unless the person against whom force was used is a law enforcement officer or bail bondsman who was lawfully acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer or bail bondsman identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a law enforcement officer or bail bondsman in the lawful performance of his or her official duties.  (2011-268, s. 1.)

The USA is needed less and less in the Middle East. There has been participation by many countries to bring the region up to speed regarding those within their own countries and faith seeking to destroy civilization and kill those that resist.

Egypt has previously attacks Libya and continues to secure it's borders.

February 11, 2015
Egyptian sources (click here) say the country’s military killed a Hamas commander during an airstrike in the Sinai peninsula, Sky News Arabic on Wednesday.... 

The countries of the Middle East don't want the USA there, except, for what expertise and intelligence they can add to the arsenal of these countries. There is no room for American GIs in a battle. American soldiers are out of place there.

Egypt is the first country to receive attacks from the Gaddafi munitions.

February 5, 2015
Yochanan Visser 

...First, four bombings (click here) were carried out in Cairo on Friday January 23th. Six people were killed, and more than 100 were injured in these explosions. In one case, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near a police station killing 5 and injuring 51. The blast also severely damaged a 19th-century Islamic art museum.
Last Friday, an Army helicopter was shot down with surface-to-air missiles. These missiles are smuggled into Egypt from the arsenals of Muammar Qaddafi in Libya. The attack was carried out by the Al-Qaeda off-shoot Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis that declared its allegiance to the Islamic State and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in December 2014. After the group aligned with Islamic State, it changed its name in Wilayat Sinai (Sinai Province) to underline that Sinai is now part of the Islamic State....

There are on going talks in Algiers that are facing an escalation in violence that could jeopardize those peace agreements. If the USA were to enter the battlefield as before in Iraq, these talks would implode and the region would return to higher levels of violence.

January 23, 2015

Algiers — Algeria, (click here) leading mediator in the Inter-Malian dialogue, represented by Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra, and the UN through the voice of its representative in Mali, Hamdi Mongi, chief of Minusma, stressed Thursday in a joint communiqué that the "extremely worrying" developments in the north of Mali "may undermine the underway peace process in Algiers."
"Ramtane Lamamra, Foreign Minister of Algeria, leading mediator and Hamdi Mongi, Special Representative of United Nations Secretary General (UN) in Mali and Chief of Minusma, conducted with different parties, consultations on the extremely worrying developments having marked these days in the locality of Tabankort well as the climate of tension and insecurity in the region," the joint communiqué said.
"These consultations led to the conclusion that these developments are likely to jeopardize the ongoing peace process in Algiers," the two sides said, recalling the obligations of all parties under international humanitarian law, in particular with regard to protection of civilians in armed conflict....

The real challenge to the region is destroying munitions and machinery in Libya. It is the Gaddafi left overs that are adding to violence. It is nearly the primary disruptive problem. When looking across the reporting it is many times Libyan equipment and munitions that are escalating the killing and violence.

The Libyan threat isn't really from a specific military moving across the region, but, more salesmen of the equipment that empowers civil war and otherwise. Currently, the Libyan government appears to be powerless to end the raiding of military stores. I don't know why that is, except, for the diverse ethnicity in the region of north Africa, especially, Mali. Every ethnic group seems interested in arming and that is probably due to IS to some extent. But, this violence has been building since the attack of east Libya by Gaddafi. There is very little faith in governance.

Aren't they getting hungry? One would think these peoples would be complaining about empty bellies and not empty munition boxes. If the governments were providing valuable humanitarian aid perhaps some of this violence would be reined in, but, with heightened fears it is difficult to remove the guns from their hands.

There is no lost ground by offering humanitarian aid. Living people with full bellies are easier to deal with than those convinced the government is trying to starve them. 

"They're right."

Clint Eastwood prides himself on being authentic. I appreciate his answers. It is difficult to be an oppositional voice when the facts are clear, but, it is nearly impossible for these men to bring the truth to any forum when the facts are less transparent. I sincerely thank Mr. Eastwood for his responsible answers.

The film is not a documentary. That should be said first. But, to attempt to suppress truth telling is a mistake. When half-truths and propaganda gains ground in the USA the world becomes more dangerous. The allies we have in the Middle East are involved because we are not lying to them. We are friend and they in turn are our friends.

The USA needs a Muslim Appreciation Day. I couldn't be more serious.

There is a "Cinco de Mayo," right?

This is one family. Devasting. It is a hate crime. I don't accept anything short of that. 

The North Carolina legislature is lined with Islamophobes. That is their propaganda they use and their media (FOX) uses. Bill O'Reilly can begin to worry about stealing Ramadan from the Muslim Community along with his Christmas vigilance. The North Carolina legislature needs to pass a measure indicating an appropriate day as "Muslim Appreciation Day."

February 11, 2015
By Doug Stanglin

An ongoing dispute (click here) over an apartment parking space may have led to the shooting deaths of three Muslim college students in North Carolina, but investigators are trying to determine if the killings could also have been hate-motivated, police said Wednesday.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, who turned himself in to the Chatham County Sheriff's Office, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings Tuesday afternoon at an apartment building in Chapel Hill....

It is hate legislation and translates into same in segments of society. The entire legislation is based in fear and hate. It has no basis in reality.

August 27, 2013
By Omar Sacirby
 
(RNS) North Carolina (click here) became the seventh state to prohibit its judges from considering Islamic law after Gov. Pat McCrory allowed the bill to become law without formally signing it.
McCory, a Republican, called the law “unnecessary,” but declined to veto it. The bill became law on Sunday (Aug. 25).
The state joins Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Tennessee.
Supporters hailed the bill as an important safeguard that protects the American legal system from foreign laws that are incompatible with the U.S. Constitution, while critics argued that the bill’s only purpose is to whip-up anti Muslim hatred because the Constitution already overrides foreign laws.
“The intent behind this law is bigoted and it is intended to alienate the Muslim community,” said Jibril Hough, a spokesman for the Islamic Center of Charlotte.
The North Carolina ban is limited to family law; bans in other states are broader, applying to commercial law, contract law and other types of laws....