Bennan is heading up the CIA now, right?

By Kimberly Dvorak
Created: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 08:51:00 PST
Updated: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 02:07:57 PST

This week Elise Jordan, (click here) wife of famed journalist Michael Hastings, who recently died under suspicious circumstances, corroborated this reporter's sources that CIA Director, John Brennan was Hastings next exposé project. 

Last month a source provided San Diego 6 News with an alarming email hacked from super secret CIA contractor Stratfor’s President Fred Burton. The email was posted on WikiLeaks and alleged that then Obama counter-terrorism Czar Brennan, was in charge of the government's continued crackdown or witch-hunt on investigative journalists....

I don't know what goes on in the Oval Office and the decision making of President Obama, but, he needs to be asking better questions. The old ways don't really apply to The New World. The world is not flat and yet the USA intelligence services is still treating it as if it is and pliable to their demands.

What seemed absolutely necessary in 2001 has become a burden to the country and the global community. I don't blame President Obama for all the tensions regarding NSA spying or international overreach, but, I do believe he needs to examine the SCOPE of the intelligence services and seek short falls in their ability. The lack of pertinent intelligence about East Libya is more than worrisome.

By Ryan Gorman 
 PUBLISHED: 20:28 EST, 27 October 2013 
UPDATED: 20:28 EST, 27 October 2013

 The former deputy director of the CIA(click here) blasted Edward Snowden during an interview aired Sunday night – calling him a traitor and saying his actions have put Americans at greater risk.
Michael Morell, formely the number two spy at the agency, called Mr Snowden’s actions the most serious leak of intelligence in US history – actions that have done far greater harm than good.
His comments echo similar remarks made earlier this month by the head of British intelligence agency MI5....

I appreciate Mr. Morell's service, but, he retired form the CIA. I am quite sure he was plenty exhausted of the yoyo he was on in maintaining a CIA Director.

His criticism lacks some degree of credibility because Mr. Snowden didn't leak information that wasn't already provided to Wall Street. That is where the venom of the criticism of Mr. Snowden losses it's traction. Mr. Snowden worked for the country at one time and then was hired by Carlyle. It was when he was at Carlyle he became disgusted in the degree of information and access he had with a Wall Street company. Everyone sort of ignores all that.

See, he expected the USA to have a lot of information, but, then to realize the degree that information was floating around in the private sector was absolutely astounding. Now he might have disagreed with the USA having all that information through the operations of the NSA, but, he didn't leak information until he realized it wasn't simply the government that had that degree of invasion of American's private lives.

Mr. Snowden is of no consequence to the gross mishandling of intelligence by the CIA and quite possibly the FBI. Interpol needs to step back and reassess their focus as well.

The intelligence services are still chasing al Qaeda when there is so much more going on. They are still fighting the war of Bush/Cheney and not including the changing global community and the rapid assent to power of persons hardly known to the USA. Now, how much of that was brought on by The Sequester is anyone's guess, but, I don't believe it is The Sequester alone functioning within the intelligence community of The West.

The CIA, FBI and European intelligence needs to sincerely reassess their focus to end the surprises now a regular occurrence all over the world. The question is often asked, "Are we safer after September 11th." Well, we sure as hell won't be if we continue to chase an enemy whereby most of the members are dead. To do so simply spawns the next generation of Islamic militants. I do believe our nation's resources are somewhat misdirected.

It seems as though there was plenty for Gaddfi to be upset about, yes?

Where is this in the 60 minutes episode? A better question is where is this in the reporting in the USA media? A major split in a country and the hell if I was ever told about it.

No, wait, let me tell you. This would have changed the dialogue about hating the Obama Administration's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Right? 

Ibrahim Saeed Jdharan, the head of the political bureau of the Cyrenaica province, speaks during a news conference to announce the formation of a government for Cyrenaica, in Ajdabiya, on Oct. 24.

By Ghaith Shennib and Ayman al-Warfalli, Reuters

LIBYA - Leaders of an autonomy movement in Libya's oil-rich east unilaterally declared a regional government on Sunday, in a challenge to the weak central government as new violence erupted in the restive region.

The announcement is a symbolic blow to efforts by the Tripoli government to reopen eastern oil ports and fields blocked since summer by militias and tribes demanding a greater share of power and oil wealth.

It has no practical meaning but is sure to worsen ties between the east and Tripoli which has rejected the self-rule notion. Officials were not immediately available for comment.

Lawlessness has blighted large areas of the OPEC producer since the 2011 war that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The government has been unable to rein in militia groups, armed tribes and radical Islamists....

I hope Tripoli handles things a bit better than Gadaffi did. At least the rebels are wearing suits and seeking order now. That is an improvement. Basically, they are really angry over the anarchy according to this report.

...Zeidan (picture to the right) said last week the blocked Hariga port in the far east would reopen on Sunday or Monday but an oil source told Reuters talks between the government and local officials to resume exports were continuing.

Jathran and many others in the east accuse Prime Minister Ali Zeidan as well as Islamists in the General National Congress of corruption and failing to provide security since Gaddafi's downfall.

The self-rule announcement came as more violence erupted in the regional capital Benghazi, where an attack on the U.S. mission in September 2012 killed the U.S. ambassador.

A soldier was killed and another was wounded when a mine hidden in a trash bag exploded near an army checkpoint in Benghazi late on Saturday, a security source said.

In Benghazi's biggest prison, a group of inmates overwhelmed a guard early on Sunday and started a fire. A security source said 15 prisoners were wounded during clashes with guards trying to restore order. One guard was wounded when gunmen opened fire from outside.

The 'government' recognized by The West and the UN is assumed to be the government of the people, that isn't really clear to me. There has been a lot of violence in Tripoli and Western Libya for that matter, but, there is no clear indication the government focused more on having it's oil port function will survive the revolution. It may have been nothing more than a figure head government in the interim.

But, what astounds me is the ignorance of The West to the profound unrest in Benghazi. The West, and that includes more than the USA, completely ignored what worried Gaddafi enough to bring tanks to bear on Benghazi attempting to end the lives of the people there. The attack on Benghazi was an opportunity for the USA to completely disarm Libya. I mean let's face it, Gaddafi was still somewhat a threat to Europe across the Mediterranean. So, there was no surprise when the chance to completely disarm Libya opened The West pounced on it.

But, the lack of intelligence about Libya is very telling. The West realized the people of East Libya were under an attack they could not survive. It was correct to stop that attack, but, to then think East Libya was as innocent as any virgin on her wedding night was a sincere misjudgement by any and all intelligence services including Interpol. Obviously, there was a movement in East Libya long before Gaddafi fired his first shot, yet The West had no clue.

So the attack on the USA diplomatic mission in Benghazi should have been predictable except for the lack of intelligence. Predictable more so than related in the 60 Minutes video. The intelligence about Libya was formulated according to the existing leadership, not the people. 

And one other thing. I am sincerely impressed how the USA Press Corp redirected the violence at LAX from gun control to armed guards. That was a very interesting move. Self-defeating, but, interesting. 

...and all was right with the world.

The Italians supplanted the Ottoman Turks in the area around Tripoli in 1911 and did not relinquish their hold until 1943 when defeated in World War II. Libya then passed to UN administration and achieved independence in 1951. Following a 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar al-QADHAFI assumed leadership and began to espouse his political system at home, which was a combination of socialism and Islam. During the 1970s, QADHAFI used oil revenues to promote his ideology outside Libya, supporting subversive and terrorist activities that included the downing of two airliners - one over Scotland, another in Northern Africa - and a discotheque bombing in Berlin. UN sanctions in 1992 isolated QADHAFI politically and economically following the attacks; sanctions were lifted in 2003 following Libyan acceptance of responsibility for the bombings and agreement to claimant compensation. QADHAFI also agreed to end Libya's program to develop weapons of mass destruction, and he made significant strides in normalizing relations with Western nations. Unrest that began in several Middle Eastern and North African countries in late 2010 erupted in Libyan cities in early 2011. QADHAFI's brutal crackdown on protesters spawned a civil war that triggered UN authorization of air and naval intervention by the international community. After months of seesaw fighting between government and opposition forces, the QADHAFI regime was toppled in mid-2011 and replaced by a transitional government. Libya in 2012 formed a new parliament and elected a new prime minister.

I am so tired of the "Hunt for the real Hillary."

What the USA intelligence knew about Libya became a non-sequitur when Gadaffi was killed. There is no doubt there was danger in Libya after the revolution had passed. But, diplomats frequently attempt to face down danger to bring about an outcome benevolent to The West.

By Ayman Warfalli and Ghaith Shennib

BENGHAZI/TRIPOLI, Libya 
Sun Nov 3, 2013 4:59pm EST
 

(Reuters) - Leaders of an autonomy movement (click here) in Libya's oil-rich east unilaterally declared a regional government on Sunday, in a challenge to the weak central government as new violence erupted in the restive region.

The announcement is a symbolic blow to efforts by the Tripoli government to reopen eastern oil ports and fields blocked since summer by militias and tribes demanding a greater share of power and oil wealth.

It has no practical implications but is sure to worsen ties between the east and Tripoli which has rejected the self-rule notion. Officials were not immediately available for comment.

Lawlessness has blighted large areas of the OPEC producer since the 2011 war that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The government has been unable to rein in militia groups, armed tribes and radical Islamists.

This is especially true for eastern Libya, known as Cyrenaica, where tribes, activists and militias have been pushing for a federal system sharing power with the west and southern Fezzan...

This doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know.

The flags were reported by CNN the day the USA lost it's ambassador. He was warned by those observing the success of the rebel/al Qaeda movement. He reported back to the State Department the information he was provided with and still continued his mission. When he wasn't provided a military detail to support the mission it should have been abandoned, but, it wasn't. If Ambassador Stevens believed his life was in peril he was under no obligation to die. Even after being warned and told what the outcome in Benghazi would be he stated in his last moments he was surprised. That is a denial no one should ever seek to admire or repeat.

Health care. There is no going back.

...Thomas Roy Reid III (click here) grew up in Michigan and went to Princeton before joining the Navy, later starting a freelance writing career in Japan that would lead to work at the Washington Post and a stint as the paper's London bureau chief. He never expected to become a voice shaming a society that doesn't provide universal, affordable health care, even to the most needy.

"I got into it because my other books were flops," Reid joked. "Actually, we had experiences overseas while raising our family in which my wife and I realized there was a much, much better way for advanced nations to provide health care to everyone."...

...After only four days in London, a daughter got an ear infection and was treated quickly and efficiently at a "casualty center," the equivalent of a UK emergency room. When he tried to pay, he soon found out that the cost was nothing.

"Back home, it would have been $500 minimum," Reid said. "That's when my wife and I knew there was a better system."

Reid's book, documentary and lectures explain how four different health care systems work around the world, and how the United States' system has a little, but not necessarily the best, of each.

"Other advanced countries have universal care at a reasonable cost," Reid said. "They actually spend less and often have better outcomes. And that's what our country can provide.

"I know we can do it."

Every other First World nations started somewhere to provide universal health coverage.

...When you graph it out, (click here) clusters appear. Rich, East-Asian countries like Korea and Japan have 80+ life expectancies with below-average spending. Western Europe clogs the middle, with Sweden and Switzerland enjoying the longest lives (Sweden relies on public insurance, while Switzerland relies heavily on private insurance). The U.S., however, barely fits on the map....

How do you feel about our system? How would you assess the U.S. health care system? (Click here)

The U.S. has a system [that] does have a poor cost-benefit ratio. I mean, 40 million people lack insurance; another 30 [million] or so are underinsured. The people who are insured do have to worry whether they are able to pay the bills. People become bankrupt because they cannot pay the medical bills, and there are vast differences in the quality of care depending on how much you are prepared and able to pay. I think the system is not working well.

This is what anarchy breeds, death.

In this photo released by UNICEF, a health worker administers polio vaccine to a child as part of a UNICEF-supported vaccination campaign at the Abou Dhar Al Ghifari Primary Health Care Center in Damascus, Syria.

Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013.
Omar Sanadiki,AP Photo/UNICEF 

A Syrian government minister said Sunday that foreign fighters who have come to the country to wage jihad are responsible for the outbreak of polio in the rebel-controlled north.

Last week, the United Nations health agency confirmed 10 polio cases in northeast Syria, the first confirmed outbreak of the disease in the country in 14 years, raising a risk of it spreading across the region. The confirmed cases are among babies and toddlers, all under 2, who were "under-immunized," according to the World Health Organization. The agency is awaiting lab results on another 12 cases showing polio symptoms. 

Minister of Social Affairs Kindah al-Shammat told The Associated Press on Sunday that jihadis from Pakistan were to blame.

"The virus originates in Pakistan and has been brought to Syria by the jihadists who come from Pakistan" the minister said. She offered no evidence and did not elaborate on the claim. Pakistan is one of three countries where polio remains endemic....

Does it matter where the polio virus came from, it came from somewhere and not the people have not only faced chemical weapons, but, now diseases they are ill prepared to fight. 

How is it that the anarchists calling themselves rebels and/or jihadists and/or al Qaeda can state they are dedicated to saving Islam or any other aspect of ancient writings when they allow this level of disease and degradation of lives to the very people they claim as ones they bring charity. This is not charity and the jihadists of al Qaeda are not saviors of the faith, they bring violence without end, disruption of authority and demise of the people. 

"5 Broken Cameras" was an Oscar nominated film. Something to be proud of. A peaceful resistence movement.

By Maan
November 3, 2013

Iyad Burnat, (click here) star of the Oscar-nominated film 5 Broken Cameras, was among those shot by Israeli forces during the weekly protest in his village of Bilin on Friday.

Israeli forces opened fire on a demonstration against the separation wall four in Bilin on Friday afternoon, injuring four individuals including Iyad Burnat and two other members of his family. Dozens of others suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation.

Iyad was struck by two rubber-coated steel bullets in the thigh.

In a Facebook post on Friday evening, Burnat said that he was “fine.”

He added in a separate post on Saturday that “the bullet that does not kill us makes us stronger.”...

This is an outrage. The Palestinians in Bil'in are chronically under siege and they are ignored by their own Palestinian government. 

What is the sense in any peace talks if the people on the ground do not consent to it. They don't ask much, simply a place on Earth to call home. The people of Bil'in have done nothing wrong except to demonstrate and make their presence known to not be forgotten. 

The Palestinian people have no reassurances and haven't for some time that they will indeed have homes, a way of life and a future for their children.

If an Oscar nominated film can't get the attention of the world and the Obama Administration to bring about justice for these people, then what will? Nothing? The future of these people are hopelessly lost to violence forever? 

Unless the people consent and are reassured about their future, the killing won't stop. The peaceful protests will continue, the people will be viewed as a problem and they will die trying to save their homeland.

More martyrs? Is that what the Israel-Palestine talks will result in? This assault on the decency of the Palestinians to demonstrate and not send suicide bombers to visit Israel has to be recognized, rewarded and the PEOPLE NEED TO BE HEARD, NOT IGNORED! 

The villages along the artificial lines of Israel and Palestine don't understand why they are dying with only peaceful demonstrations conducted.

Bassem Abu Rahma - A Friend To Us All (click here)

On April 17th we mark one year to loosing Bassem, who we also knew as Pheel.

Although he is greatly missed at the village and during every demonstration, his spirit keeps on living with each and every one of us.

For this anniversary we decided to share the short film made in his memory. The film was ready within days, just in time to be screened at the International Conference on Popular Resistance which was held in Bil’in, 22nd-24th of April 2009. Thanks goes to Shai Carmeli-Pollak for the sensitive and wonderful work he has put into it.

In loving memory of Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahma (Pheel)
19.12.1977 - 17.4.2009

By ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: September 6, 2011

...While the boundary largely separates the Israelis from the Palestinians, (click here) about 1.5 million Palestinian Arabs are citizens of Israel, and more than 500,000 Israeli Jews now live east of the Green Line.
But for the Palestinians, the old line already serves as a virtual border, though one without a state on the other side. 

Here in Bartaa, a northern Arab village that straddles the Green Line in the area known as Wadi Ara, one encounters a quirky reality where the Green Line is alternately ignored and enforced — a paradox that, by extension, can be applied to the entire land. 

Bartaa’s market spreads across a narrow valley that is dissected by crossroads. It is a riot of noise and color, with stores displaying gaudy evening gowns and plastic toys strung above the sidewalks. Only a well-informed traveler would know that the eastern half of the market sits in the West Bank, and the western half in Israel. 

The Green Line runs, unmarked, right through the market, an imaginary wall separating two parts of a village that has long been inhabited by one extended family, the Kabha clan. 

With Israel’s conquest of the West Bank in 1967, the hostile frontier evaporated and the two parts of Bartaa were reunited, the western part being part of Israel and the eastern part falling under Israeli military rule. Then, when Israel constructed the West Bank security barrier, which it said was essential to prevent suicide bombers, it looped the fence east of Bartaa, deeper into the West Bank territory. Although Palestinians see the barrier as a land grab, in this particular case, the villagers accepted it as the lesser of two evils, to prevent them from being redivided... 

Mutually agreed swaps of land may be something the authorities believe is possible, but, the people have no clue and feel threatened in losing their lives and identities, including land their ancestors have farmed and lived on for centuries, if not millenia. 

Challenges in Defining an Israeli-Palestinian Border (click here)

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed peace talks in Washington in July for the first time in three years. While the talks are initially expected to focus on procedural issues, they are already beginning to take on a last-ditch quality. Below, explore some of the contentious issues that negotiators have faced in drawing borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state.

The negotiations regarding land in Palestine will not benefit the Palestinian people.

By Noam Sheizaf
Published March 30, 2013
...Even if Israel (click here) were to agree to leave the West Bank, Green Park would not be evacuated. Even Palestinian negotiators agreed to have it annexed to Israel in exchange for equal territory elsewhere. Thus, the Palestinian people might one day be compensated for the land that was taken from Bil’in, but the people of the village – its owners – will not. This fact also highlights the paradox of the settlements: on one hand, Israel claims that settlements do not affect the final status agreement and can be evacuated at any time – a notion recently backed by U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to give up the demand for a settlement freeze – yet in every round of negotiations, the Israeli government presents new facts on the ground as fait accompli, and demands that the proposed solution be adjusted to accommodate them....

The Palestinians living in Bil'in don't accept that reality. They believe they are betrayed even by the Palestinian authority.

Like what? Space aliens in the South Atlantic? There is an abyssal plain there?

Over the course of nine nights, fishing boats shift positions while hugging the borders of the exclusive economic zones of Argentina and the Falkland Islands. (Map by NASA Earth Observatory, using VIIRS day-night band data from Suomi NPP.)

One might recall my statements about the abundance of squid and how they were overtaking the fisheries. Well, leave it to heroes in South America to make the most of it and remove the overwhelming number of squid destroying the fisheries. 

...Fisheries researchers (click here) and managers suggest that as much as 300,000 tons of Illex squid are harvested from the South Atlantic each year by unlicensed, unregulated fishing vessels. Managing the fishery and monitoring the presence of foreign fishing fleets is very difficult for navies and fisheries managers; the satellite views provide at least some sense of the activity in the area.

“These lights help reveal the full range, patterns, and night-to-night variability of these fishing activities in striking detail,” said Steve Miller, a Colorado State University scientist who works with VIIRS nighttime imagery. “It’s just another example of how much information exists in night lights measurements and how unique they are for coupling human activity with the natural environment in a way that conventional visible imagery cannot do.”

I suppose every nation in the area can seek to own the catch, but, at least there are some willing to work past the border issue and actually find a resolve to help the fisheries remove the over abundance of squid.

Who needs Wall Street?

Fresh-caught Illex argentinus squid packaged and ready for South American supermarkets. Source: Supplied

IT glows. It moves. (click here) And it's forming a 300km long spiral pattern in the South Atlantic . So what exactly is being captured by satellite cameras over the coast of Argentina? 

...Squids (click here) belong to a particularly successful group of mollusks called the cephalopods, which have been around for about 500 million years. Some ancestors of modern-day squids had shells, such as the ammonites, which ruled the waves 400-65 million years ago. Of those that are still around, one small group—the nautiluses—has an external shell. The other—which includes squids, cuttlefishes, and octopods—does not, although squids and cuttlefishes have an internal, backbone-like support made of chitin called a pen....

It's Sunday Night.

"Dancing In The Dark" by Bruce Springsteen (click here)

I get up in the evening
and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help

You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark
 
Message keeps getting clearer
radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man I ain't getting nowhere
I'm just living in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere
baby I just know that there is
 
You can't start a fire
you can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark

You sit around getting older
there's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders
come on baby this laugh's on me

Stay on the streets of this town
and they'll be carving you up alright
They say you gotta stay hungry
hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action
I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
come on now baby gimme just one look
 
You can't start a fire sitting 'round crying over a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Hey baby

Using modest amounts of wood at a large number of coal plants could be a relatively quick way to phase in renewable energy.

Wood is not a biofuel. Where is this coming from? There was a ruling by the EPA in 2009 indicating burning wood is not alternative energy.

Wood is less efficient than any other fuel on the market. It takes far more wood to produce one kilowatt of energy. 

By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: November 3, 2013 

...For companies like Minnesota Power, (click here) co-firing will be one of the leading options if the E.P.A., which recently proposed limits on carbon emissions for new plants, follows through on its plan to develop limits for old ones. Using modest amounts of wood at a large number of coal plants could be a relatively quick way to phase in renewable energy. And unlike wind or solar power electricity from a boiler, burning wood is easy to schedule and integrate into the grid. 

The E.P.A. is in the midst of “listening sessions” in 11 cities around the country, to gather ideas from the public about putting carbon limits on existing plants. Last week it held an eight-hour session in Denver.... 

The EPA needs to uphold the standard of CO2 at the smokestack. Wood produces CO2. Wood is best resolved to compost, quite frankly. The definition of biomass in regard to wood is very specific. There simply is no reason for any violation of this standard. Burning wood is not going to eliminate CO2 in the troposphere. In a natural progression of any forest, dead trees are consumed by detritivores and turned into the soil. The dead trees within any forest never return to the atmosphere anywhere. So, to believe burning wood is the best and prudent alternative is hideous.

The final rulemaking for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) was published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2010.

Can woody residues (click here) from a sawmill or paper mill be used as a feedstock for renewable fuels under the RFS2 program? A: For fuel to qualify under the RFS2 program, it must be derived from feedstocks that meet the definition of renewable biomass. Woody residues from saw mills and paper mills may meet the definition of renewable biomass in certain circumstances. If the woody residues are from planted trees from actively managed tree plantations on non-federal land cleared at any time prior to December 19, 2007, the residues are considered "tree residue" under RFS2 and therefore fall within the definition of "renewable biomass."

Try raising earthworms and you'll finally get it.

Wood is not a biofuel or an alternative energy. It is a fact that when the public allows such plants in their neighborhoods there is never enough wood to support the plant and all kinds of garbage is then burned, including rubber tires, etc. There ain't no way this form of energy is healthy from any avenue approached. 

There is no way a forest can support a wood burning plant. It will never equate to alternative based in the idea wood is a biomass source of energy. The MATH is not there. The equation never balances to zero emissions. 

Those that are trying to cut corners are best to abandon the effort. This isn't about politics. This is about protecting Earth's sustainability in order for people to live and work. This is about the future as much if not more than the present. This is about children and the world they inherit. It is stewardship required of a planet that will sustain life without threats of death due to tropospheric changes. It is about a sustainable climate, not profit, but the best way forward to prevent devastating effects in ways that will cause further destruction of a livable troposphere. This is not an option. It is imposed on the people because of the nature of the planet. It is nothing that can be mitigated. There is no wiggle room. 

The Farm Bill Conference has finally convened.

Unfortunately, there is a large consensus that "Country of Origin" labeling is being regarded as disposable. This is a labeling the American Consumer values, especially in the Organic Food Markets.

China and Mexico are complaining the Country of Origin Labeling is wrong and needs to be ended. 

The complaints about the labeling is NOT coming from Americans, but, from other nations having to live up to the standards of these demands. Well, too bad. The 'Country of Origin' Labeling should not be regarded as frivolous or unnecessary.

Country of Origin Labeling (click here) is a labeling law that requires retailers, such as full-line grocery stores, supermarkets, and club warehouse stores, notify their customers with information regarding the source of certain foods. Food products, (covered commodities) contained in the law include muscle cut and ground meats: beef, veal, pork, lamb, goat, and chicken; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts; and ginseng. Regulations for fish and shellfish covered commodities (7 CFR Part 60) became effective in 2005. The final rule for all covered commodities (7 CFR Part 60 and Part 65) went into effect on March 16, 2009. AMS is responsible for administration and enforcement of COOL.

The decision to eliminate Country of Origin Labeling is being done with complete disregard of the American consumer. There has been no public comment period to register the needs and demands of the people of this country.

Especially now, it appears more and more the burden for providing organic foods to consumers demanding it are up to the buyers for the individual markets. The organic food market will receive no help from the USA government.

Permits, Notifications, and Petitions (click here)
APHIS regulates the introduction (importation, interstate movement, or environmental release) of certain genetically engineered (GE) organisms. All regulated introductions of GE organisms must be authorized by APHIS under either its permitting or notification procedures. 
When a developer has collected enough evidence that a GE organism poses no more of a plant pest risk than an equivalent non-GE organism, the developer may petition APHIS to determine non-regulated status for the GE organism. If the petition is approved by APHIS, the GE organism may then be introduced into the United States without any further APHIS regulatory oversight.
Each section below contains guidance, resources, application information, and status.

Republicans are abandoning the Old Guard.

 Laurens County Republican Party (click here for Facebook site)

Published: Friday, November 1, 2013 3:34 PM EDT

The Laurens County Republican Party (click here) has become the fifth county party in South Carolina to censure U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.

The county’s executive committee passed a 29-point resolution Oct. 29 in favor of censuring Graham. Laurens County joins Chesterfield, Fairfield, Greenville and Orangeburg counties.

The motion to censure passed 7-4.

“This reflects the continued frustration of many in the party with officials who are elected as Republicans and then seem to forget the doctrine of the party when they assume office,” said a spokesperson for the Laurens County Republican Party....

It isn't as though Republicans in Laurens County are completely happy with the Democratic President.

From the Facebook Site: 

"I have been broadcasting for 31 years and writing for longer than that. I do not recall ever saying on radio or in print that a president is doing lasting damage to our country."

A few of the points in the censure are:

 Senator Graham’s attempt to reward those who break the laws of our country with amnesty.

They oppose Immigration Reform. Perhaps some of these counties need a strong 'in your face' Pro-Immigrate Movement.

 The continued support the senator offers in the arming of elements of Al Qaida, sworn enemies of the United States, in the Middle East.

The Syrian Crisis. There is no clear opposition and there won't be. It is noted the disintegration of central authority in the Mideast. The factions of militias are to protect their neighborhoods basically. They aren't interested in a central authority because of the problems they have caused before. The 'default' setting for these countries are 'tribal authority.' They reject and seek to destroy central authority. Central authority is a Western function of government. The militias come together when a threat is greater than one militia can handle; ie: Syria. 

Benghazi was the first brush with this default setting in the Mideast. At no point in time has the USA or any other major power run into such acceptance of a diffuse central government. What Ambassador Stevens ran into was the rise of the 'militia government.' He didn't recognize it because he was focused on influencing democracy to work for the people. He believed Benghazi was a place to instill the democratic principles. Little did he know the people had already reconciled themselves into local militias where they had control of their day to day lives. Benghazi could not have been prevented, except, if the USA was completely absent to the government structure there.

The USA government conveniently lives in denial of the truth of their imposition of values on the Mideast. It is that generational denial that caused the deaths in Benghazi. Al Qaeda grew out of the local understanding that a central government was a puppet to The West. The people of the Mideast have longed believed The West was the problem, so in that lies the current tribal movement in North Africa and Syria. Denial will kill. Absolutely. The West's politics have to be dispelled of it's dysfunction. I believe that is what Chancellor Merkel is awakening. To allow the USA live in denial of global discontent is very dangerous.

There is a sense of righteousness within the problems The West is experiencing in the Mideast. The West assumes it is always THE BEST way to go. A strong central government has brought about a higher standard of living, however, the people of a nation have to consent to it. The people of the Mideast don't consent to it. 

The only right The West has is to find allies and allow those allies to fight to change the quality of life of the people, ie: Afghanistan and Iraq. It doesn't work, it is not sincerely the will of the tribal authorities and that is the power the people recognize. The tribal authority is tied directly to their relationship with God. The West is never going to change that. Fighting for territory is innate to these tribal authorities. When the USA enters the fray they are simply another authority seeking territory for their own purposes. No one recognizes that as a legitimate definition of the governing of the Mideast? I mean for real, you all don't get it? 

That is what makes nucelar technology so dangerous. It is why non-proliferation is so important. The West and Soviets always assume sharing technology will result in strong allies with central authority forever. It is myth. The Soviets or as known today Russia are just as guilty as The West in living in denial of the diffuse authority in the Mideast. Creating 'Saddams' is the way The West has imposed it's demands for trade of oil. The 'Saddams' were the manifest of Wall Street through military proliferation by The West and the petroleum industry. Take or leave it, the facts of the matter are clear. 

North Africa and any rise of strong militias is a direct threat to Europe. To that end France maintains it's vigilance to the stability and/or any growing threat to Europe and acts to prevent and/or end that threat. Europe has a right to do that. Russia ran into that same threat when they went into Afghanistan, but, all the USA saw was a chance to undermine an expansion of Russia. Now that the USA has had enough of fighting the tribes Russia will resume their stance to prevent threats to it's borders and otherwise. It is the nature of the beast. Surely, everyone understands the importance of understanding that concept. No? 

The best route to a central government in the Mideast of any country is through the five pillars of Islam. Generosity and benevolence. When the central government PROVIDES a quality of life to the people, the people will seek that benevolence. Ask the Saudi King how he does it. Hasn't anyone noticed the most prospering Mideast nations have central authority that provides incredible favors to their people. Dubai stands because it doesn't seeks to destroy it's tribal identity to the people. Dubai is extremely generous to it's people. They are wealthy has hell and can take care of their people.

What happened in Iran was going to happen in Iran. Does everyone believe The Shah was actually viewed as the real leader of the people? Seriously?But, The West in it's denial of sincere authority in Iran ended up with hostages for 444 days. Hello?

How many examples has to be flown in the face of The West before they finally 'get it?' 

Nuclear proliferation in the Mideast is nothing more than a profound tragedy waiting to happen. Nuclear annihilation of ethnicities will occur if the technology is allowed to proliferate weapons. The hated is too deep and the alliances with God to profound to expect that inevitability to be denied. This is not about politics, it is about peace, non-proliferation and quality of life to people so they value their lives. The West has to love the people as much as The Saudi King and the Princes of Dubai love them. They will die for their God. They subscribe to that path. The West has to live with that reality and stop killing them. They have to be allowed to govern themselves into benevolence.

 His belief that government spying on American citizens without due process is an acceptable practice.

The Patriot Act and the overreach by the NSA.

 The disregard he showed for other Republicans in their attempt to prevent further erosion of our second amendment rights. 

Pro-gun rights without respect for life.

There is a mixed focus, some are extremist views while others are anti-war. Basically, these are the Libertarians.  

Did you set your clocks back?