It's been too long and very one sided.

Palestine has magnificent leaders. They know that. The Palestinian people know that.

My heart aches for what is happening in the Middle East, but, there have been many deaths in Palestine while they have held onto a promise of peace.

Hamas has been demonized long enough. The people of Gaza has suffered a great deal and the man once responsible for striving to a peace to remove settlements from Gaza never wanted this. He never wanted the continued conflict and the continued deaths of innocent people. It is time the world pay attention to this one sided conflict that always has dead Palestinian citizens.

I am as concerned as the Palestinian leaders for the rage of the people. But, there is a reason why that rage exists. Granted it is very scary. It can get out of control. But, the people of Palestine have to be taken seriously. They are brave people dedicated to their homeland. They have suffered long enough.

I am grateful there is a 72 hour ceasefire. I hold hope dear the ceasefire will be extended and the hopes of the Palestinian people will take shape and borders will be clear, stable and far more than a promise.

The world has held Israel in high esteem and rightfully so. The world has provided for a permanent homeland for Hebrew children. It is time Palestinian children have the same promise of life and happiness. They deserve a homeland no different than Israeli children. They deserve to have permanent borders to insure their future.

A Two State Solution is the only way forward and every Israeli leader that have come before recognized that. It is time to embrace unconditionally the Palestinian people, provide for their access to develop an economy and TRUST them. It is time to trust them.

The civilized world has provided for safety for Israel, but, they have not embraced a two state solution to an end the children of Palestine deserve. There cannot be a single country with two nations of people. The Palestinians will disappear. 

The United Nations has spoken loudly over and over, when a people are diluted of culture, genetics, religious devotion it is a threat to the very people themselves. 

This is over. Palestinians have to have a nation to themselves to propagate their culture, develop an economy with promise for their children.  The indignity of digging tunnels and plotting war against another race of people is over. The final days when this is over will be difficult for some and it may not be neat and orderly, but, the Palestinian people will have a nation where they have dignity and respect.

It is time and it is time to have faith in those engaged in proving their need for a homeland. I trust them. The world needs to trust them and hear them.

The Ryan Plan is extreme.

By Reihan Salam

...While I can’t speak (click here) to what Ryan does in his off hours, I can say that he does believe in the safety net, as he made clear in an address to the conservative American Enterprise Institute on Thursday. There are conservatives who accept the existence of a social safety net begrudgingly, as a concession to political reality that nevertheless offends their libertarian convictions. These are the guys who damn Franklin Delano Roosevelt while adjusting their monocles. And then there are those who, like Ryan, believe that a safety net in good working order is crucial to a healthy economy. Where Ryan parts company from most liberals is in his understanding of what it means for the safety net to be in good working order....

Very true. Rep. Ryan does believe in a social safety net which is a new reality for someone so focused on the national budget.

Rep. Ryan has an interesting approach in consolidating resources to fund a catapult into the future for those Poor and in the Lower Middle Class. I don't dislike the 'idea' (can't say it is new), however, it is extreme in it's approach.

If Rep. Ryan is serious about this 'new consolidation' of resources THE ONLY REASONABLE way of deploying such a plan is to make it a 'trial model' in some areas of the country. Even in such a Trial Model, it would have to be the option of the Social Worker and the recipient of social support to venture into this attempt to change the way a social safety net is employed.

Realizing the USA working class is grossly underpaid with health care needs underfunded in many states it is not prudent to trash the entire current social safety net. But, there is nothing to say for Trial Model for Rep. Ryan's idea which would need autonomous funding. Rep. Ryan needs to bring his idea to the Congress rewritten to bring about a Trial Model which would take additional funding. As the Trial Model is employed the pitfalls can be realized and modified or perhaps even abandoned if it proves to be a failure. It is the only way such a program should be instituted.

When the Welfare to Work Program was instituted in a mass deployment there were problem and there continues to be many problems, including children unsupervised while their only parent works or face long bus rides home. Perhaps, Rep. Ryan's best approach is to FIRST carry out a survey of America's Social Workers with first hand knowledge of the Welfare to Work Program to ask for their input to it's successes and it's failure to be sure the failures are not repeated in his Trial Model Program.

Rep. Ryan still is attempting to by-pass the professionals that have wanted to speak with him since 2012. They have ideas and he should be more receptive. 

October 14, 2012
By Greg Kaufmann

...Subsidized jobs (click here) have been widely hailed by both Democratic and Republican governors — like Haley Barbour and Scott Walker — and the Recovery Act created 260,000 such jobs for low-income adults before Republicans in Congress killed the program. This kind of investment is particularly key in metro areas like Milwaukee, where just 52 percent of African American males in their prime working years were employed in 2010, compared to 85 percent in 1970.

The third proposal that would benefit working adults is to raise the minimum wage to $8.00 an hour. That hardly seems extreme, given that it would be $10.55 an hour if it were adjusted for inflation in the same way that, say, individual campaign contribution limits are....

There is no one more than I that would love to see social programs that work to return dignity, prosperity and wealth to every American. But, sadly, this so called 'NEW' program by Rep. Ryan is simply a recycled variety of his failed run for Vice President in 2012. 

Honestly. Perhaps the graph below is finally large enough for Rep. Ryan to notice it. Or better yet, the ELECTORATE of Rep. Ryan's district.

October 10, 2010
By James P. Leute

JANESVILLE — The troubling news (click here) is that one child out of every five in Rock County is living in poverty.

The worse news is that the county's 2009 child-poverty rate—the second-highest in Wisconsin—does not reflect this year's continuing economic fallout.

As part of its American Community Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 20.2 percent of Rock County kids under 18 were living below the poverty level. Rock County's rate is second only to Milwaukee County, where the child-poverty rate was nearly 30 percent.

The number of local children living in poverty has increased in recent years, but at nowhere near the level between 2008 and 2009.

"We're certainly seeing it," said Ann Forbeck, the Janesville School District's homeless education coordinator. "We've had a lot more requests for assistance such as clothing and school supplies, plus we've had more people asking for bus tokens so they can get to school."

More students are coming to class hungry, without a good night's sleep and distracted by the overall stress of poverty, she said....

The Christians from Iraq are not alone in finding refugee status in Kurdistan.

Amid threats by the Islamic State in Mosul, many Christians have fled to the shelter of the Kurdistan Region. Photo: Rudaw

July 21, 2014
By RUDAW

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (click here) – For around 100 Christian refugees forced into making an Assyrian church in Tel Kaif their home, there was no question of staying behind in Mosul after an ultimatum by the city’s new Islamic State (IS) rulers.

"They stormed into our home in the middle of the night and ordered us to leave with only our clothes,” said one homeless Christian at the Mashriq Assyrian Church in Tel Kaif, where many from the faith have fled since the fall of Mosul last month. 

“They said, ‘if you convert to Islam you can stay in your home, otherwise get out of here,’” recounted an elderly Christian man, one of the 105 people being cared for by church priests who said they are expecting more refugees to arrive.

“They took everything: the television, computer, money, gold. I had a chicken I wanted to take for food, but even that they did not let me take,” the elder toldRudaw in a weak, trembling voice.

All of the Christians -- who include Chaldeans and Assyrians or Kurds and Arabs – told similar tales of first being ordered to either convert to Islam or pay a special tax, and then being warned to convert or die....

The Christians have embraced areas of the world not necessarily popular, but, in need of attention to leaders opposed to violence.

Pope Francis has already attempted to bring about understanding between Israel and Palestine. It should be no surprise to violent areas of the world they are disenfranchised by a majority of people.

July 21, 2014

Days (click here) before the recent Israel/Hamas conflict erupted, the Presbyterian Church USA withdrew $21 million worth in investments from Israel because, as spokesman Heath Rada put it, the Israeli government’s actions “harm the Palestinian people.”

Soon after, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and was asked if he was “troubled” by the Presbyterian Church’s move. Netanyahu responded:

It should trouble all people of conscience and morality because it’s so disgraceful....

Peace loving people are tired of taking it on the chin. The violence is horrible. Children suffer. This has to stop. War within the Middle East only makes it worse and inhibits forward movement of people to a status of comfort with optimism of the future. War removes the promise of the future.

I think that is significant.

July 25, 2014
By Jonathan Capehart
...“In the aftermath of this tragic event, (click here) Justice Department officials have been in touch with Mr. Garner’s family members,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement today. “We are closely monitoring the city’s investigation into the incident.”

This is the first time Mayor de Blasio is facing a death during an arrest by NYPD. He is very much a civil rights mayor. My first instinct is that the NY Mayor would carry out a through investigation, but, with the repeated problems of innocent black men being killed in NYC the Attorney General is focused on what is wrong within the NYPD that politics can't seem to end.

The perils of being a Democratic President. Just count on it. Par for the course.

By Steve Holland

Friday, July 25, 2014

(Reuters) - A top White House adviser (click here) said on Friday Republicans might try to impeach President Barack Obama over his go-it-alone immigration strategy, as Obama prepared to talk about the U.S. border crisis with Central American presidents.

Dan Pfeiffer, one of Obama's longest-serving advisers, told reporters that the executive actions Obama will approve at the end of the summer aimed at tackling illegal immigration will likely generate ire from Republicans who have blocked comprehensive immigration legislation....

I apologize to the First Lady and President Obama and his lovely girls; no American thought the Republicans would stoop so low. I am very grateful to President Obama and Vice President Biden for their leadership and steadfast values in returning the USA to it's former luster.

Hamas did not kill Palestinians, Israel has though.

Intensive efforts (click here) underway to bring about ceasefire (rejected by Israel)

Palestinian officials file complaint against Israel to International Criminal Court.

IDF confirms death of Sgt. previously declared missing.

Six Palestinian killed in West Bank.

Hamas is basically the military arm of the Gazan people. There is still no proof there was one Israeli killed due to the existence of the tunnels, except perhaps very recently.

While the Palestinian tunnels are obviously a violation of Israel sovereign land, there is no evidence they ever caused death. My best guest is they were used for supplies and probably movement of munitions into Gaza. I find it curious Israel knew about these tunnels and never stopped the Gazans from using them. It is almost as though Israel laid in wait for enough of a munition build up to occur to sort of justify a military operation. Could that be the case? Could it be allowing Hamas and Palestinians to use the tunnels served Israel's purpose of dismantling Gaza and justify further settlements as a defense of Israel. Perhaps, huh?

According to US State Department personnel there was no formal ceasefire proposed. So, the 'idea' Israel has voted to reject it is propaganda.


I wish the talking heads of Israel would not lie to the people of the USA through their media.

According to a former Israeli Ambassador hundreds of Palestinian citizens surrendered to Israel claiming Hamas was using them as human shields. It would seem as though the facts are skewed. Go figure.

This is reported by "The Times of Israel."

July 24, 2014
By Adiv Sterman
In total,150 Palestinians (click here) were arrested, but only 70 of them who were suspected of carrying out terror attacks were transferred under tight security to IDF Intelligence and Shin Bet facilities for interrogation, an IDF spokeswoman told The Times of Israel, adding to 28 operatives already captured. The remaining detainees were later released, Army Radio reported.

This information seems to invalidate any 'idea' the people of Gaza are forced into being human shields. I mean, there are Hamas members leaving Gaza and surrendering to Israel. Israel is even discriminating who stays and who goes. So, the idea Palestinians are leaving Gaza by the hundreds is inaccurate and in fact even the ones that do and are members of Hamas are SENT BACK.

Oh, one other thing.

Hamas, ISIS and al Qaeda do not equate. I think many Americans know that, so to say they are the same is really telling the tale of 'taking advantage of ignorance.' At least that is my opinion.

Mali is a troubled area to say the least. Is the crash more than weather? I seriously doubt it.

July 25, 2014
By Hannah Strange and Andrew Marszel

-Wreckage found near city of Gao, close to Burkina Faso border (click here)
-French president says no hypothesis ruled out as to crash cause
-Air traffic lost track of plane over Mali 50 minutes after takeoff
-Plane had rerouted due to heavy rains shortly before contact lost
-Flight AH5017 had 116 on board at time, including 51 French
-All six crew members were Spanish employees of plane owner Swiftair

GAO, Mali (AP) — Black-robed Islamic extremists (click here) armed with AK-47 automatic rifles invaded Gao in wooden boats Sunday to launch a surprise attack on the most populous city in northern Mali, two weeks after French and Malian troops ousted the jihadists.

Gunfire echoed for hours across the city of mud-walled buildings. The combat started at about 2 p.m. in downtown Gao and the fighting was continuing as night fell. Later the sound of gunfire was replaced by the clattering of French military helicopters overhead.

The attack in Gao shows the Islamic fighters, many of them well-armed and with combat experience, are determined and daring and it foreshadows a protracted campaign by France and other nations to restore government control in this vast Saharan nation in northwest Africa.

The Islamic radicals fought against the Malian army throughout the afternoon and were seen roaming the narrow streets blanketed in sand and on rooftops in the center of Gao, which had a population of 90,000 before the conflict caused thousands to flee....

We've seen this before in other areas of the world in order to demoralize the people. It is kind of a no brainer to seek control of people when their god is offensive to those with guns.

13 February 2014 – Some 90 per cent (click here) of the 11th century archaeological site of Gao Saneye in northern Mali was pillaged by Islamic extremists during their seizure of the region in 2012, traditional musical instruments and costumes were destroyed, and a World Heritage site mosque needs urgent repairs, United Nations cultural officials reported today.

The report on the damage to cultural heritage in the town of Gao, addressing both sites and the cultural practices of local people, follows a UN assessment last year of Timbuktu, another major heritage site in northern Mali, which found that damage there was more extensive than first estimated, including the destruction of parts of the 15th century Djingareyber Mosque, one of three madrassas comprising the University of Timbuktu.

“Concerning Gao's heritage, we must address the trauma experienced by the local population following violent attempts by the armed extremists to destroy their cultural identity and practices, including traditional music,” UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) country Director Lazare Eloundou Assomo said after visiting the city with Malian and international experts.

“Urgent measures are required to safeguard the Tomb of Askia World Heritage site before the next rainy season in June.”

The dramatic 17-metre-high pyramidal structure, built in 1495 by Askia Mohamed, Emperor of Songhai, which flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries through its control of trans-Sahara trade in salt and gold, is a fine example of the monumental mud-building traditions of the West African Sahel....

The French have been very active in containing the extremists. I would expect the French to enter Mali again if the investigators find any evidence of attack on the airline. The downing is tragic, but, illustrates the world is dangerous in the year 2014 for many reasons.

January 28, 2014

SEVARE, Mali –  Residents of the northern Malian city of Gao (click here) are celebrating the arrival of French and Malian forces.

The French-led mission entered Gao over the weekend and took control of the airport and a major bridge and patrolled the town....

Afghanistan Taliban Muslims destroying Bamiyan Buddha Statues

The Great NewsMax is reporting CNN has a poll stating 33 percent want President Obama impeached.

In the poll, (click here) 33 percent of Americans say Obama should be impeached and removed from office while 65 percent said that he should not face impeachment.

That's news?

That is NOT news. That is reporting that the Republican Base are still the idiots they have always been.

Russia is creating it's own problems for the purpose of confrontation in Ukraine.

What is Russia inspecting? The UN has inspectors at the crash site. Russia is shelling across the Ukraine border. For some reason Ukraine is not suppose to retaliate when attacks are incoming?

There is no inspectors necessary for so called criminal activity. Russia has been shelling Ukraine for absolutely no good reason and now Ukraine has returned the favor. What crimes?

I am quite sure when Russia stops being this stupid the Ukraine will return the favor as well.

Russia has to stop shelling Ukraine. Questions? I think there are international treaties and conventions in force and can be referred to by Russia's Foreign Minister.

Ukrainian shells land in Russia again, border staff evacuated

July 25, 2014
ITAR-TASS

...A team of Russian investigators (click here) inspecting the area near Primiussky came under mortar fire from the Ukrainian territory, said Vladimir Markin, the spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee said.

"During the inspection, the investigators who were wearing clothes with insignia and inscriptions came under intensive mortar fire," he said.

Markin added that the attack on the Russian team was targeted but poor training of Ukrainian servicemen and prompt evacuation of the investigators helped to prevent casualties.

Preliminary reports say that an underage girl was slightly wounded in the accident, he added.

And what is it with this "50 people" thing? Small towns are under fire? Or, what?

ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 25./ITAR-TASS/. About 45 Ukrainian shells hit a village in the Rostov Region, southern Russia, damaging houses and electric wires, a spokesman for the border guard service said on Friday.

At least 50 local residents were evacuated from the village of Primiussky, the spokesman said adding that no one was injured....

I have to go to a lot of trouble now to get a map and keep up with all the 50 people thing.

The Bloodshed 50 people somehow was bankrolled into over a thousand and now there is another 50 people. It all adds up and is rather confusing. So when Russia's propaganda comes out the people of Russia will be scratching there head as to what 50 dead people started the whole mess. At least if I keep up with all the '50 people' I can help out by stating all the 50 people thing is bullshit.

These are citizens, not human shields. Human shields is a convenient term to permit the mass murders of Palestinians.

I thought Israel was overwrought with worry about tunnels. Are the bombs closing the tunnels?

I really don't see the justification for Israeli's occupation of Gaza, yet alone the attacks killing so many citizens. The tunnels have two ends. Israel can't find the end of the tunnels in Israel? I find that hard to believe. Israel doesn't want to close the tunnels immediately at their end in Israel? If not what are their plans to use them to go to Gaza as well?

So far those speaking about the attacks into Gaza are creating their own problems. Israel was safe even with rockets from Gaza. The problem as stated is the tunnels. The tunnels have two ends at least. There is a chance a tunnel leaving Gaza could be branched and have many routes. There are no reasons for the deaths of Palestinians in large number that is justified by the words of Israel. I am still waiting to hear how the people of Gaza were such a profound problem to Israel they had to again die for their homeland.

July 25, 2014
By Kamna Arora

Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip Thursday (click here) killed a top militant commander, two of his sons and a pregnant woman among others, taking the Palestinian toll to 828, as the 18-day conflict spread to the West Bank where largest anti-Israel protests in years turned violent. 

A spokesman for the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qidra, confirmed the figures adding that over 5,240 people had also been injured in Israeli attacks since July 8....

To my dear friends at Moral Mondays

I was recently at a public presentation by Governor McCrory. It is amazing to arrive early and watch his entourage set up his podium. He comes equipped with platform, podium and TWO FERNS. It is quite a show. The governor addresses the public standing between TWO FERNS compliments of tax payer money. I thought that might be interesting.