Can you imagine a light hearted filmmaker in jail for making Iranians smile and laugh. That is a national shame for Iran.

Sydney Film Festival 

"Tehran Taxi" is a very healthy dose of fun. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Jafar Panahi loves his country. There is everything right about this film. 

June 8, 2015

The celebrated Iranian director Jafar Panahi (click here) (The White Balloon, The Circle) has now made three films in secret since he was banned from filmmaking for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic". Despite the threat of a six-year jail term, he dramatises his own life in Tehran Taxi.

Panahi plays a jaunty taxi driver who takes passengers around Tehran – often refusing their money and recognised by some who wonder why a famous filmmaker is driving a cab with a camera on the dashboard.

His colourful fares include a couple arguing about the value of recent hangings for extortion, a badly injured man who is desperate to make a will leaving everything to his wife who would otherwise have no legal right to their possessions, and a barred lawyer who continues to work for political prisoners, including a girl arrested for attending a volleyball game.

There is also a know-it-all schoolgirl, supposedly Panahi's 10-year-old niece, who is making a video for her class. As she shoots, she lists all of the official requirements for a "screenable" film in Iran: women must wear headscarves, men must have Iranian names if they are heroes, no mention of politics and no "sordid realism" among others....

"The bombing isn't doing everything that needs to be done."

And neither is the Iraqi military.

Why should the USA military enter a country without any national defense? I find it really interesting how Daesh manages to rearm itself while the Iraqi military runs away.

Zalmay Khalilzad is Counselor at CSIS and President and CEO of Khalilzad Associates, an international advisory firm.  Under President George W. Bush, Khalilzad served as US Ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the United Nations. Ambassador Khalilzad was born and raised in Afghanistan, and studied at the American University of Beirut, where he received his BA and MA.  Later he received his PhD from the University of Chicago.

From 1979-1984, Khalilzad was Assistant Professor of Political Science at Columbia University.  Khalilzad served on the State Department's Policy Planning Staff and as Special Advisor to the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs from 1985-1989.  He was Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning from 1990 to 1992.  In November 2003, President Bush appointed Khalilzad Ambassador to Afghanistan, a position he held until 2005, when he became US Ambassador to Iraq.  In 2007, he was confirmed unanimously to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations, a post he held until January 2009.

Iraq is a disaster. Why should the American people invest any more time, treasure and American blood on a completely failed state?

President Obama continues to be generous in actually believing Iraq is worth the effort.

The American people have been through this type of disaster time and again. Our experience with our military inevitably fails. There is a strong history to support that INCLUDING Iraq. 

In Vietnam, the day the Americans left Saigon, the President of South Vietnam called the leaders of North Vietnam to surrender. He did that as the North Vietnamese rolled their tanks into the compound where he was. I am trying to recall who's tanks they were and I want to say it was Chinese tanks. It could have been Russian tanks, but, I think it was China who supplied the tanks to the North Vietnamese. 

China was as tired of the killing as the American people were. If the President of the United States that took office after the implication that Richard Nixon was involved in illegal activity regarding the security of the Democratic Headquarters didn't pull the American troops out of Vietnam; I am fairly confident China would not have tolerated the killing much longer. The Americans would have faced far more than Chinese tanks driven by North Vietnamese soldiers.

Yep. The American tanks were busy being ambulance before all the troops were pulled out of the country. 

There is nothing wrong with a prosecutor asking police to end drug dealing on a specific city corner.

The prosecutor never told Baltimore police to kill any suspect that manifests. A judge denied a gag order requested by the prosecutor.

Anonymous Baltimore Cops to CNN: (click here) Public Asked for ‘Softer’ Police Force, They Got It

This is pure speculation, but, what is the chance Baltimore police are conducting what can be defined as a job action? A job slow down, if you will.  

June 10, 2015

By Gary Maddox

(Reuters) - Baltimore prosecutors (click here) had asked police to focus drug enforcement efforts on the corner where Freddie Gray was chased by officers before he allegedly suffered a fatal injury in police custody, the Baltimore Sun reported on Wednesday.

The request from State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby came about three weeks before Gray, a 25-year-old black man, was arrested on April 12, according to a court filing by defense attorneys for six officers Mosby has charged in Gray's death.

Mosby's request means she should be removed from the high-profile case, the Sun quoted the motion in Baltimore City Circuit Court as saying.

"This is a case where the witness and the prosecutor are the same," it said.

Gray died on April 19 from an injured spine a week after being chased from a west Baltimore street corner by three officers who found a knife on him. His death sparked widespread protests and rioting that prompted a curfew and the calling in of National Guard troops....

USA is headed for another government shutdown.

Minority Leader Harry Reid is heralding the call now for Republican cooperation.

June 10, 2015
By Steve Tetreault

WASHINGTON — With Democrats and Republicans (click here) embroiled in a new but deepening dispute over spending, Sen. Harry Reid warned Wednesday the government is headed for another shutdown.

Funding to keep the doors open doesn’t run out until the end of September. But Reid, the Democratic leader from Nevada, said Congress appears on a stalemate path over key money bills that shows little promise to get solved before the fall.
Reid blamed Republicans, saying they are not willing to negotiate new levels of spending for domestic and defense programs in order to avoid deep automatic cuts mandated by the 2011 “sequestration” budget law. The sequester was designed to reduce spending by $1.2 trillion over nine years.

“It appears to me what the Republicans are doing that we’re headed for another shutdown,” Reid said in a Senate speech. “They did it once. They’re going to do it again.

“They don’t want to do anything now,” Reid said. “They want to wait until the end of the fiscal year ends and then close up the government.
“It appears that’s where we are headed,” Reid said....

Rate fixing in Libor started in 2005.

June 9, 2015
By Gavin Finch and Liam Vaughan

The British Bankers’ Association’s (click here) director of Libor overlooked repeated warnings that the rate was being manipulated by banks to suit derivatives positions as far back as 2005 because he didn’t “recognize” what he was being told.

The BBA’s John Ewan was told that summer by Credit Suisse Group AG and HSBC Holdings Plc that some banks were setting the rate to boost the profitability of trading bets rather than reporting actual borrowing costs, according to e-mails shown to a London jury by a defense lawyer Monday.

The e-mails came to light on the start of the third week of the trial of former UBS Group AG and Citigroup Inc. trader Thomas Hayes, who is accused of eight counts of conspiracy to manipulate the London interbank offered rate.

“Certain nameless contributors might be setting their rates with an eye on their derivatives book,” Ewan wrote in a note following a meeting with HSBC bankers in the summer of 2005.

The messages were shown to the jury by lawyers for Hayes, who has said that knowledge of Libor manipulation was widespread. The 35-year-old Hayes worked at Zurich-based UBS from 2006 through 2010, when he moved to Citigroup....

June 5, 2015
By David R. Baker
 
The head of the California Department of Conservation, (click here) Mark Nechodom, abruptly resigned Thursday following an outcry over oil companies injecting their wastewater into Central Valley aquifers that were supposed to be protected by law.
Nechodom, who had led the department for three years, announced his resignation in a brief letter to John Laird, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. The Conservation Department is part of the resources agency.
“I have appreciated being part of this team and helping to guide it through a difficult time,” Nechodom wrote.

ADVERTISING

Nechodom did not give a reason for his departure. But a division of the Conservation Department that regulates oil-field operations has come under intense criticism for letting oil companies inject wastewater into aquifers that could have been used for drinking or irrigation.

The USA is not building a new military base in Iraq. It is expanding it's support for training. This time the base is in Iraq.

Release No: NR-225-15
June 10, 2015

Statement from the Department of Defense on Additional U.S. Personnel to Deploy to Iraq (click here)

The commander in chief has authorized Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to deploy to Iraq up to 450 additional U.S. personnel in a non-combat role, to expand our advise and assist mission at Taqaddum Air Base in support of the Government of Iraq.

The intent of this increase will be to provide personnel to assist with planning, integration and support of Iraqi Security Forces and tribal forces as they fight to retake the Ramadi and Fallujah corridor. U.S. forces will provide operational advice and planning support the Iraqi Security Forces, to include the 8th Iraqi Army Division and other security forces associated with the Government of Iraq.

This mission will also enable tribal outreach as part of the plan Prime Minister Al-Abadi led the Council of Ministers in passing on May 19 to accelerate the training and equipping of local tribes in coordination with Anbar authorities.
 
This decision does not represent a change in mission, but rather adds another location for DoD to conduct similar activities in more areas in Iraq. U.S. forces continue to perform an advisory, training, and support role and are not conducting offensive ground combat operations. The additional site will result in an increase in DoD force levels to up to 3,550 personnel.

Ultimately, these Iraqi forces will enable Iraq to better defend its citizens and retake its territory from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). This effort is in keeping with our overarching strategy to work with partners on the ground to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL. 

At the height of the so called passive mission by the USA in Vietnam there were 5000 personnel in that country. After the assassination of President Kennedy; President Johnson began a draft to carry out a full scale war. We know the history. This is the same exact content that began Vietnam.

Al Taqaddum Airbase (click here) is located in central Iraq approximately 74 kilometers West of Baghdad. The airfield is served by two runways 13,000 and 12,000 feet long. According to the "Gulf War Air Power Survey, there were 24 hardened aircraft shelters Al Taqaddum. At the each end of the main runway are hardened aircraft shelters knowns as "trapezoids" or "Yugos" which were build by Yugoslavian contractors some time prior to 1985. Al Taqaddum is one of the few Iraqi air bases not located inside the "No-Fly Zone." 

The idea renewing a war in Iraq would make the USA safer is nonsense. The threat of Daesh to The West is from within the borders of the country. If the entire of Daesh were annihilated tomorrow that would not change anything within the borders of The West. Training isn't going to change a darn thing.

July 27, 1964
 
It is announced that the United States (click here) will send an additional 5,000 U.S. troops to Vietnam, bringing the total number of U.S. forces in Vietnam to 21,000. Military spokesmen and Washington officials insisted that this did not represent any change in policy, and that new troops would only intensify existing U.S. efforts. However, the situation changed in August 1964 when North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked U.S. destroyers off the coast of North Vietnam. What became known as the Tonkin Gulf incident led to the passage of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which passed unanimously in the House and 88 to 2 in the Senate.... 

Just like Vietnam, Iraq is a political movement. Iraq, today, doesn't exist. President Johnson was convinced the USA would wipe out any North Vietnam influence in Southern Vietnam. Over a million citizens dead and over 50 thousand American soldiers later, it was a political icon for three separate presidents, including Richard Nixon.

The country known as Iraq has shifting borders. The country doesn't exist except in the ideology of the USA military. 

Republicans are dead serious about their very strange politics.

Mr. Jeb Bush hasn't got a clue. Does he know where Iraq is? Most Americans don't.

That reality is important. The Bushs seem to think all they have to do as president of the USA is to hand off any problem to the correct cabinet secretary. There is a huge difference between understanding a problem and delegating as the ONLY responsibility of POTUS.

Republicans frequently state a governor has administration experience. They believe governors make better presidents because they know how to delegate. That is not the most important aspect of POTUS. The president has to understand why she or he is delegating other than, "Oh, this looks like war, let the DOD handle it." 

The reality of a governor having administrative experience and being the better candidate for president has to bring to mind the run of Governor Perry and the fact he could not remember the departments he would eliminate from his cabinet as president. That is scary. That is not a joke either. It is not meant to be a joke. 

The statement by Jeb Bush regarding Russia as a country in Europe is really bizarre. Where does that come from? There is no way Russia is going to be a part of Europe. Not in my lifetime. Even geographically Russia is in Asia. 

Bush also made the statement if we don't carry out this agenda of making Russia a part of Europe, then Russia would turn to China. ??????????? Russia and China are already aligned.  This article below is from the Heritage Foundation so there is no excuse of his statements.

On July 16, (click here) the presidents of Russia and China signed a Treaty for Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation in Moscow.¹ This treaty is the first such agreement between these two Eurasian powers since Mao Tse-tung signed a treaty with Joseph Stalin of the U.S.S.R. in 1950, four months before the outbreak of the Korean War. That treaty had been driven by anti-Western sentiments.

I'll tell you where I think this is coming from. Russia during the time H.W. Bush was in the presidency imploded financially. That caused the break up of the Soviet Union. When Jeb Bush sees Russia as a European country, it actually is a dreamscape whereby either Russia implodes again financially and/or surrenders in a war. I think the entire dreamscape is Jeb's way of identifying his strength with his father. Never once does he think such a dynamic will ever happen. I think it is strange.

That statement about Russia is at least is knowledgeable as "You can see Russia from my house." "When Putin raises his head it is Alaska he first sees." It's bizarre how some of these folks think. 

I think Jeb Bush has many deficits to qualify as a nomination for president. He and his family as well as those in his camp think all they need is money. I sincerely hope that is not the case. The President of the United States of America is not figure head appointment by Wall Street.

When the results of the American investigation of Iraq's WMD came out and there was absolutely no reason to invade that country and Saddam Hussein was actually telling the UN the truth, there was this reaction by the White House and Republicans worth noting. Even in the face of the truth otherwise, Bush was believed to acted honestly in defense of the USA. He was completely supported in his decision for invasion and was never demanded to resign his office. I think the reason why there was no demand for his resignation is because Cheney would then move into the presidency and he was more dangerous than Bush. 

The events of the White House is not a comic strip. There is no forgiving thousands of dead American soldiers as well as the UK and the others in their sacrifice. Bush was dead wrong and it was varnished over by the media and the Republican Party. It wasn't as though the UN wasn't on the ground looking for WMD and a reason to invade. There was complete transparency by Iraq during that time. 

When a Bush states there is reason to think in a certain way about any country, that is completely out of line. 

When Jeb Bush stated Russia should be a European country, that is definitely inflammatory and quite possibly stated to build tensions between the USA and Russia while President Obama is in office. Wouldn't it be great if the burgeoning war with Russia was at Bush's doorstep on January 20, 2017? Don't laugh at statements by these folks. There is motivation behind them. They make up their own rules and those rules are backed by lies. 

The circumstances surrounding the prison break in New York is interesting, but, I do not believe this is going to end well for the escapees. They should turn themselves in to a police department to end the danger to them. 

I have to wonder if the FBI has any interest in this problem?

This search reminds me of the one conducted for Christopher Dorner. it didn't end until he was found. Do these convicts have the same potential as Dorner? Who knows? They were clever enough to make the prison break. It is anyone's guess to their capacity otherwise.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Cpl. David Eric Casebolt a member of the McKinney resigned to save the police department more adverse publicity?

There are problems for the police department because of the actions of it's police officer.  The police department is taking a really bad approach to this incident. The people need an apology from the McKinney police department. 

There is a problem with this community. The incident should not have happened in the first place and the conduct of the police was to escalate the incident. This was a public swimming pool. I didn't know 'the public' only means Caucasian people? Where did that definition come from?  

The video shows an 'us and them' relationship between the African American young people and the rest of the people, including the police. The African American young people are coming to the rescue of another African American girl. There aren't any Caucasian people ending the conflict, including that of the officer. 

Retaliation by anonymous persons need to be investigated. It has nothing to do with the incident in McKinney, Texas.  

Mr. Casebolt drew a gun on unarmed young people while he escalated the incident. It is not anyone's problem besides Mr. Casebolt. He could killed someone that day. This is not a minor occurrence. It happened and it is valid.  

Where is the investigation in this incident? Nealy finished, only begun? How long will it take the McKinney police department to conclude the investigation?

The United States of America is not at war in Iraq. Perhaps the Speaker of the House hasn't stopped playing politics long enough to realize that. We aren't going back there.

In my opinion President Obama doesn't need a strategy. The USA is currently involved in supporting a coalition of countries no differently than we support NATO. 

"Training, advising and assisting" is not a declaration of war. Iraq is not the 51st state regardless of the disappointment to the Republicans.

August 12, 2014

The United States (click here) will be finalizing an agreement to increase its military presence in Australia in an attempt to bolster its ties with allies in the Asia-Pacific, where China has been flexing its muscles, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The negotiations will conclude an agreement made between Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott and U.S. President Barack Obama in June....

Is the United States of America at war in Australia?

Having soldiers deployed in Afghanistan isn't enough for the Republican House Speaker? 

April 8, 2015
By Sudarsan Raghavan

KABUL — One U.S. soldier (click here) was killed and at least two were wounded by an Afghan in military uniform when a firefight erupted Wednesday after a U.S. Embassy delegation’s visit in eastern Afghanistan, according to U.S. and Afghan officials.
American soldiers subsequently killed the assailant in a shootout. Officials said one Afghan soldier was killed and two were wounded in the assault.
The attack highlighted the dangers faced by the approximately 10,000 U.S. troops left in Afghanistan after America’s longest war was officially declared over at the end of last year. Those troops, earlier expected to number half as many by the end of this year, will remain in place after President Obama agreed last month to delay their planned exit amid concerns that a resurgent Taliban could escalate its offensives this year....

There are currently 2358 dead American soldiers since 2001. Fourteen years of deaths and for what? That is only the dead military from Afghanistan. Not enough blood flowing from Americans veins, huh, John?

Personal expression is an important American right. I've never heard of a dress code for Muslims alone in the USA.

March 6, 2012
By Cassandra Strand

All Muslim females (click here) whether a kindergartener or a woman finishing a doctorate in college are allowed to wear hijab in school.  It is protected under the constitutional right to freedom of religion.  Any school that violates this right can come under federal lawsuit.  Organizations like the Americans Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) make sure that religious rights in schools are respected as well as make sure that schools do not endorse any religions....

Unless there is a private religious school where a dress code is enforced, there is no doubt a Muslim girl or woman has the right of personal expression of which religion is a part.

The visual component to difference does have extremely effective reaction. In the USA we are seeing incredible discrimination by police officers with African American men. It is obvious there is still racism in the USA. It manifests in some really hideous ways. The recent incident of young black people being harassed by police at a public pool. There were comments made against youth. So, to say the USA is innocent of discrimination would not be accurate.

The discrimination in the USA regarding minority women is abuse. They aren't necessarily dead at the end of a verbal exchange with officers, but, they are abused.

"We fear what we don't understand."  

The discrimination Muslims receive goes beyond understanding. There have been all kinds of attempts to diminish and negate some of the hate speech regarding Muslims in the USA. I can't really speak for Europe. I know Europe believes an outward expression reveals the 'real truth' about a person. It could I suppose.

But, the hate we experience in the USA is more than outward expressions of self. There is a fear that drives many people in the USA. It calls to mind the demonstrations against a Mosque in Lower Manhattan and recent demonstrations in Texas where two men were killed in reaction to cartoon drawing. 

There is something oddly permanent about discrimination in these cases. There is some kind of social reward and I think it aligns with politics. Politics provides access to power. So, if there is a population of people that hate ethnic differences, their numbers can be converted to election results. In this case hate equates to real power regardless of any potential for such a government position resulting in institutional hate.

There is a threat within a political paradigm to bring about institutional hate. Democracies have all kinds of opportunity and one of them is the potential to such problems. 

I think it is an error to believe a young person is subverting democracy in some way by wearing religious clothing. Often those young people express their parents' influence. I'd be more worried about a young Muslim woman wearing Western culture clothing in defiance of her parents. Government can't step in there either unless there is physical or emotional abuse. 

I think the quandary of Muslims to understand the hate they receive is a waste of time. I strongly believe they need to be a part of the American fabric as all others have become. Being visual in the community is a part of tolerance and can lead to far greater understanding than confrontation can achieve. 

Confrontation can have a violent result. Confrontation often is perceived as aggression. But, if there were Muslim women and men wearing their traditional dress while they are grocery shopping that would present a problem for people with fear in their understanding. I think it is the fear that is driving much of the hate. 

Women with India heritage often wear their traditional clothing in public in the USA. The reaction by Western women is usually to say how beautiful they look. There is no fear registered in those interactions. So, it is my understanding the politics of fear actually works and strongly impacts the Muslim community within Western culture.

Fear is a part of a politic that directly relates to national security; ie: the willingness to war. War as perceived by many Americans to mean killing what one is fearful of.

There have been a few Muslims that find fear an effective reason to kill as well. It is not only a one way street. The American expression that would relate to that is; "One bad apple can ruin the rest." I believe that is true. The idea a caliphate could actually result in the year 2016 is delirium. It won't be tolerated and the worst of American and Western aggression has not yet been realized. In that understanding that restraint to the worst case scenario actually does exist and shows a far better picture of other nations that appear to hate.

American policy under President Obama is to act aggressively in war where necessary. President Obama resists defining the USA as a hegemonic power. The USA is not interested in genocide, if anything it is the opposite. So, how does that understanding translate to understanding and acceptance in Western society? It has to be removed from the politics and currently the media of the right wing finds hate a useful tool.

Europe is a world unto itself. To Europe outward expression of a person's character is important. They value art expressions of inward feelings. To that understanding, there has been real aggression by those lost to alienation from Islam. There have been killings by the vicious agenda of some alienated Muslims. These artists are sometimes put under security guards in an understanding the hate will result in death. So, I don't stand in judgement of Europe, but, only defend them in their own understanding of their world.

Can the greater global community contribute to the end of hate in Western culture? I have to say yes, but, there are limits to their influence because of the governments and societies involved. The USA is not going to stop the KKK from organizing and marching in a parade and it is not going to stop hideously stupid people using cartoon drawing as a political tool. That is part of the cultural contract in the USA. 

I think global Muslim citizens have a role in promoting understanding and defusing hate. The idea a political movement involves hate means there is also an opposite. I think it is up to the Muslim communities to pursue that opposite and find a way to express it. I don't know the path that can take, but, it will be welcome in the USA on it's own terms.

An editorial in The Arab News expresses concern for Muslim perception.

June 4, 2015
Sabria S. Jawhar

If I were a betting woman (click here) I’d say the future looks pretty grim for Muslims. I’m no pessimist, but the evidence is a bit overwhelming. In the western world we are witnessing the progressive institutionalization of religious and cultural discrimination against Muslims, and swept along way are other faiths in which individuals that happen to practice their religion by wearing certain clothing and jewelry.

We are not helping ourselves by continuing to kill each other in Iraq and Syria in an effort by some alleged Muslims who seem to think that murder is a righteous path to establishing a caliphate. Many of us living in Muslim countries and in the West sit idle because we mistakenly believe that wanton mass murder has nothing to do with us.

Western societies react to this barbarism in typical knee-jerk fashion. For all of their hyperventilating love to rescue the Muslim woman from the clutches of evil men, Muslimahs (women) are usually the first targets of discrimination. France, a country I once loved for its love of culture, language and beauty, but now I fear, set the tone some years ago by banning the hijab in schools and government buildings and then the niqab on French streets. It implements draconian hate speech laws that target the Muslim community, and ignores hate crimes committed by others....

Four Shi'ite children also citizens of Saudi Arabia need justice in their deaths states the Saudi Foreign Minister.

June 10, 2015
By Arab News 

JEDDAH: The Foreign Ministry (click here) has summoned the Iranian ambassador to express its concern over the deaths of four Shiite Saudi children in his country, and to urge Tehran to speed up its investigation.

Osama Nugali, head of media at the Saudi Foreign Ministry, said there was “deep sorrow” in government at the news that four young Saudis had died and 28 others got sick from what appears to be a poisonous chemical they had inhaled while in their rooms in Mashhad on Sunday.

“The Saudi Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to the Kingdom and expressed its deep concern at the incident, and its hope that the Iranian authorities speed up the investigation and disclose the circumstances involved,” he said.

Nugali said that shortly after the incident occurred, the charge d’affaires and officials at the consulate in Mashhad went to the hotel to check on the Saudis and provide support, including, medical care....

New study addresses income inequality.

June 10, 2015

By Ana Swanson

...High hourly wages (click here) are necessary to afford decent housing in Washington, D.C. ($28.04), California ($26.65), New York ($25.67), New Jersey ($25.17), Massachusetts ($24.64), and other states.

In Missouri, where average rents are significantly lower, you'd still need to earn $14.62 an hour, well above the state's minimum wage of $7.65. 

This data comes from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, an advocacy group for affordable housing, which has published an extensive report comparing the cost of renting with wages in each state.

The group defines housing affordability as paying less than 30 percent of your income to housing, a common standard for the industry, and it assumes a "fair market rent" as defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development....

PDF of report (click here)

From the report:

There is not one state in the U.S. where a minimum wage worker working full time can afford a one-bedroom apartment at the fair market rent. In 13 states and DC the fair housing wage is over $20.00.

There needs to be a follow up study to better define where exactly the working poor finds shelter. The above graph is from a different study. It is appropriate to place it here.

How does any country expect 20% of it's population to move out of impoverishment? Twenty percent of Americans earn less than three percent of the GDP. That is a lot of people. It is nearly impossible in the USA to raise those people out of hopelessness. To ask twenty percent of Americans to do better is not realistic. This is the USA. The place where immigrants come to find a better life.

The criticism of the poor is no longer political capital. There have to be answers.

Women have options when illness could threaten their capacity to become pregnant at a later date.

June 10, 2015
By Laura Donnelly

In a world first, (click here) a woman has given birth after surgeons implanted ovarian tissue that had been removed when she was a child.
The girl was coming up for her fourteenth birthday when she was diagnosed with acute anaemia, needing powerful, ovary-damaging treatment.Before the therapy, her right ovary was removed and frozen in fragments in the hope that it could be used if she ever wanted to become a mother.
A decade later, surgeons in Belgium thawed some of the fragments and reimplanted them. A healthy son was born last November.Several babies have been born from tissue taken from adult women, but this is the first success with tissue removed before puberty, doctors reported in the journal Human Reproduction.
"This is an important breakthrough in the field because children are the patients who are most likely to benefit from the procedure in the future," said Isabelle Demeestere at Erasmus Hospital at Brussels Free University, whose team carried out the transplant....

Why is Donald Rumsfeld giving interviews while Jeb is in Europe trying to make the argument for turning Russia into a European country?

Either Jeb Bush is confused with the identity of Ukraine or he is setting the stage for a nuclear holocaust. I kinda would like to know what happened here. I just think it is really, really odd Rumsfeld and Bush 3.0 are on the same wavelength still yet again. Now, Jeb when in office he can say he already made the argument for nuclear holocaust in June of 2015 before he announced he was entering into the nominating race for the presidency.

June 9, 2015
By Stephanie Condon

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (click here) told the British newspaper the Times that it was "unrealistic" to expect a democracy to emerge in Iraq following the United States' 2003 invasion.

"I'm not one who thinks that our particular template of democracy is appropriate for other countries at every moment of their histories," Rumsfeld said. "The idea that we could fashion a democracy in Iraq seemed to me unrealistic. I was concerned about it when I first heard those words."
In 2003, weeks after the invasion, Rumsfeld dismissed concerns about chaos in the Middle Eastern country.

"It's untidy, and freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things," he told reporters at the time. "They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things, and that's what's going to happen here."

The Bush administration argued ahead of the Iraq war that Iraqis would embrace democracy....

Rotating First Lady.

Interesting.

For a Bachelor President, I like it. I don't think it is sexist.

There were resolutions at the G7.

The Iraq that is suppose to be the sovereign country is nothing less than mission creep.  The UK announced yesterday it is sending 250 more soldiers to train Iraqis. 

This is "The Daily Mail." I think it was the Guardian that stated 250 soldiers. Perhaps a clarification is needed.

Britain is to send a further 125 troops (click here) back to Baghdad to help train Iraqi soldiers in the fight against the Islamic State terror group, the Prime Minister has announced.

David Cameron confirmed that the bulk of the personnel will train local forces in detecting and dealing with roadside bombs and booby-trap explosives used by ISIS in a speech at the G7 summit in Germany.

While Britain’s mission in Iraq has so far been largely focused on the Kurdish capital Irbil, the new troops will be stationed at a number of bases around the country, including Baghdad....

At no point in time should the USA continue to build their numbers of troops in a country with shifting borders. The Bush Iraq is not a sustainable country. I have said and I still say, the USA military was the private militia of Baghdad that fought the inevitable border shift to three sustainable provinces.

And why would those provinces be sustainable? Because they have a much larger sovereign country willing to be a partner to their stability. The Kurds are the only people and region that needs The West to provide military and humanitarian aid. The rest of Iraq is self-sufficient when allied with their neighbors.  

The only reason Iraq's borders haven't completely shifted is because the USA political theme is anti-Iran. So, it is inconceivable for Americans to realize Iran has a legitimate right to enforce the borders it shares with Iraq in which ever way that manifests.

There is a real dynamic in the Middle East related to the Shi'ites. They have been pushed to the periphery of land. The Iranian Revolution brought the land called Iran back to the people. But, there are many other settlements of Shia throughout the Middle East. There are also small populations of other minority ethnicity. The problem is land and sovereign stability of countries in the Middle East. 

The fact Assad was unable to maintain sovereign borders while the war in Iraq raged on should not be a surprise. The growing Shi'ite influence in Iraq was a direct threat to Sunnis. Assad didn't have a chance. He tried every way he knew to maintain control of Syria, including chemical weapons. We all know what happened there. Now, there are occasional reports of Daesh doing the same thing. 

Syria is primarily Sunni. With the rise of the Shia in Iraq it caused instability and then the Ba'athists found influence in Syria and the region was off to the races. 

Iran has a diaspora throughout the Middle East. They are powerful in their own right, but, they do not have control of land masses outside of Iran. They go by names like Hezbollah. They have been classified as terrorist groups because they were always fighting to maintain their existence. Even George W. Bush tried very hard to rid Iraq of the influence of the Shi'ites. They were human rights violations and a sincere attempt at genocide.

But, as to the Shi'ties and Iran there has to be a peace developed that will bring about a civilized society in any country where the Shia find home. Iran has to lead to peace and not further war. This mess in Syria is never going to settle into a country with a single leader and that leader is Assad. There is too much anger and turbulence in the region to expect anything less than a power sharing government being mentored by the United Nations.  

Iran and it's holy men have lead a diffuse nation of Shia before the Iranian Revolution. They have lead a diffuse nation after the Iranian Revolution. Iran has a responsibility to the Shi'ite Diaspora to provide leadership that will bring them peace and prosperity. The war for a place/land in the Middle East is over. Unfortunately, the Shia Diaspora is still unsettled.  

Iran should provide a place for any Shia Diaspora to call home. In that is an understanding the diaspora has to live according to the laws of the country where they find themselves. In Iraq that diaspora has a strong presence and needs to develop their own leadership among their people. The Iraqi Shia need to participate in a central government for as long as it exists. But, the Shia province in Southern Iraq should be considered a sovereign presence within the traditional borders of Iraq. In that Iraq and Iran provides a land where others can call home. 

Iran has to teach the rest of the world outside that of Shia they are a people that will survive and sustain in their land. Iran and Shia will be on Earth forever. There is no threat that anyone can point to as consequential to the lives of the Shia. Iran needs to lead in peace and not aggression. It is one thing to develop a military that defends a country's borders, it is quite another thing to believe a country could take the entire land of the Middle East for itself. The USA under Bush tired and failed completely. Such ideas are that of fools and sets no priority for human life.

The Iranian leadership is capable of providing a stable land where Shia will live forever. The leadership can provide a clear understanding any violence by any Shia group in the Middle East has to end and peace is to replace fear. 

The USA has never brought about a stable government in Iraq and never will. It has nothing to do with the Shi'ites. It is impossible for the USA and The West to provide stability. The people have to provide their own stability. I know for a fact the Shi'ites are capable of a sovereign land. The USA and The West needs to mind it's own business and resolve to protect it's own countries.

Some day, the time will come when there is no more instability and the countries of the Middle East will cherish peace as it's only sovereign. But, there are too many conflicting problems today. Someday, but, I may never see it in my lifetime. Iran has a path to lead in the United Nations to bring about more stability, it should explore that and offer leadership to achieve it.

Former Governor Lincoln Chafee reminds me of the late Senator Robert Byrd.

From 2007 to 2009, (click here) Chafee was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. During this time, he served on the boards of NARAL Pro-Choice America, American University of Beirut, The Foundation for Effective Government (Ukraine), Slater Mill National Historic Landmark, and the Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests.

He is the author of Against the Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President (2008).

Only 23 of 100 U.S. Senators saw the folly of allowing Bush/Cheney to invade Iraq. I am very proud to be one of the 23. 

 

I remember the Gang of 14. It was a relief the country there were cooler heads in the Congress. He understands governance.

 

Rated 75% by APHA, indicating a pro-public health record. (click here)

Chafee scores 75% by APHA on health issue. 

The American Public Health Association (APHA) is the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world, representing more than 50,000 members from over 50 occupations of public health. APHA is concerned with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental health, including federal and state funding for health programs, pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and infectious diseases, a smoke-free society, and professional education in public health.

 

This site recorded his position on issues from previous elections. The information shows a more complicated legislator with his decisions made within a good margin of governance. Basically, what I mean by that is he doesn't practice politics from his seat of government, he governs.

 

How did I ever guess. 

 

March 25, 2015 3:14 pm

Robert Byrd Testimonial (click here)

Governor Chafee should develop a page at his current website indicting policy positions as events have unfolded since he served in office. His previous positions have proven to becomes law more often than not. There isn't much on his wish list from when he was in office. He is moved by the basic needs of life in the USA. He is charitable and cares about those most vulnerable, namely the poor and disabled. He has conscience. A conscience has been lacking in the years of Bush and the Republican extremism since Bush.

I wish him luck. He can be formidable. A man who actually gets out of his chair and researches the issues before him to make an educated vote. That can be very hard to come by.