What can I say? The entire country was robbed of our democracy by the legislature passing simple document to authorize forces to wage a war.

Bin Laden should have been dead at Tora Bora. The soldiers and intelligence had his voice on their radios. They should have been allowed to kill him. 

When Don Rumsfeld sent in Daisy Cutters into the mountains it wasn't intended to kill anyone. It was to raise the doubt as to whether or not bin Laden was dead.

The reason the US House went on leave for two full months until after the November elections is because they ran away from responsibility. They were no more interested in rocking the vote than if the moon was made of green cheese. 

The US House didn't want to even speak the word AUMF. They didn't want to talk about immigration reform. They don't want to talk about women and sexual assault or domestic violence or contraception. 

They don't want to talk about guns. 

All they wanted to do is sneak into town, pass a continuing resolution and authorize Obama's counter-terrorism strategy and then sneak back out of town. No one liners. No gotcha moments. No speeches on the House floor. Just put their tail between their legs and leave. 

The United States of America is in the worst constitutional condition I have witnessed in my lifetime and dare I say the history of the country.

Secretary of Homeland Security and former Department of Defense (“DoD”) General Counsel Jeh Johnson said in a speech in late 2012, war should “be regarded as a finite, extraordinary and unnatural state of affairs” that “violates the natural order of things.”13 In Johnson’s words: “Peace must be regarded as the norm toward which the human race continually strives."

We should make that as an amendment to the USA Constitution. Unless the AUMF is repealed this country is never going to stop engaging in war.

The administration of George W. Bush destroyed this country, not 9/11. One attack on the USA would never do what "W" has done to us.

Now, we know why the US Senate didn't care about the nomination of Secretary Johnson, he speaks and spells the word Peace. That is just no in the Senate's purview these days, except for Senator Sanders.

The primary mission of the Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT) (click here) is to forge partnerships with non-state actors, multilateral organizations, and foreign governments to advance the counterterrorism objectives and national security of the United States. Working with our U.S. Government counterterrorism team, CT takes a leading role in developing coordinated strategies to defeat terrorists abroad and in securing the cooperation of international partners.

See I thought The State Department being the pivotal government department with all these nations, considering this is a matter of military action, was something knew.

No.

The Bureau of Counterterrorism is in the State Department.

We are not only going to war endlessly with the AUMF, we are even planning future wars.

...Department designation of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (“FTOs”), (click here)  the proposal would have Congress enact a new blanket framework statute authorizing the use of military force against as-yet-undetermined future terrorist organizations, and delegate to the Executive Branch the authority to designate those organizations against which such force may be used if and when the relevant criteria are met. If press reports are accurate, the Hoover paper is but one of a number of competing proposals that have been circulated in favor of a “new”—or, at least, expanded—AUMF.12...  

The AUMF is the Counterterrorism DOCTRINE for the USA. So, when President Obama states this is not a war, but, is counterterrorism, that is because the AUMF enforces his actions.    

The article appears in Wikipedia. Evidently, the agreement that draws the lines for land was a secret. It was drafted previous to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire during WWI.

I don't think IS is actually of any religious order or has the consent of god to undo what The West and Russia has done here, but, if the land divisions don't work without a dictator, then it needs to be rethought.

There is a reason why these sort of land arrangements were used and why the land continues to be coveted by other countries.

The United Kingdom is only 94,058 square miles. That is more or less the size of Oregon. The current population of the UK is 64.1 million. Now, it is fairly easy to imagine if the people of the UK demanded forty acres and a mule, it just wouldn't work out. To compare Oregon's population is only 3.899 million people. It is amazing the UK even has farmland, yet alone expect to feed everyone within that country.

So, what do small countries like the UK and France or Spain or Italy do when it comes to feeding it's people and creating an economy? They look outside their borders. 

British Petroleum is operated from London. It's origins begin in Iran in 1909. When the Brits go to war to protect their interests, that is a very different meaning than when "W" says it. The Brits literally receive their national treasury income from holdings of many types outside of their sovereign borders. When the USA goes to war it is for cronies of Wall Street like Halliburtion and Bell Helicopter.

With that sort of explained to an understanding of a country's survival, the UK and France were very interested in taking colonies in North Africa. 

At the time of WWI Canada was still a British province. All the Central Powers fell, except, for Germany. But, Russia and the USA were on the same side of the fight as they were also in WWII.

So, still today there are certain resentments regarding the occupation of lands. With BP these days, they more or less hold leases to their product sources. Countries are better defined and their borders more secure. They don't simply disappear off the map like they used to with any war. 

But, this is the grudge IS carries today toward every other nation, peoples or religion on this green Earth. 

They won't continue to succeed. They are loyalists to a vacuum. They are pretty terrible folks. There isn't anything from turning guns on each other, except, their allegiance to Bagdadi. He doesn't have anything to offer them, except, what they steal and then provide as bounty to his warriors. The Greeks and Romans did that. They bought their loyalty from their people and their armies. Tribute and Dole. Tribute is the money received and Dole is the monies handed out. Eventually, the Dole runs dry and the rest is history.

1916 Sykes - Picot Agreement

This is a map of the 1916 Sykes - Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom, France and Russia.

Link to map (click here)

One can discern Turkey and then work down the map to find Syria, Iraq and Iran.

This is what the Islamic State holds as proof the land is not as it is suppose to be according to God's law.

Little did any one know AUMF was really an acronym for "All You Mother Fuckers" are not going to die.

You have to admire the USA in finding a way to turn a democracy into a dictatorship. 

I do not believe the AUMF (Authorization for Use of Military Force), is even constitutional. But, no one is challenging it in it's complete context.

The US Supreme Court rarely comments on war. They did in the case of the Iraq invasion because several powers were considered legal within the AUMF. Cheney considered torture to be legal under the AUMF. 

The Drone War. The use of the drones are stated to be garnered from the AUMF.

The AUMF is completely dependent on the people in the Executive Branch to the deployment of forces. As soon as the next president is inaugurated in 2017, we could be at war that very day. That is some kind of agenda.

ARTICLE 1, SECTION 8

The Congress shall have Power:

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; 

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; 

To provide and maintain a Navy; 

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; 

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.... 

ARTICLE 1, SECTION 9
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

ARTICLE II, SECTION 2
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States....

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur.... 

But, the USA's monster is not the Islamic State, but, the AUMF.

"In Raqqa the Islamic State is fending off daily attacks by the Assad regime....

...the largest government force left in Syria is under siege. It is that military base where the Syrian soldiers were massacred and beheaded. This video is 42 and a half minutes of validating a city with traffic incorporated with military vehicles in the mix. There is an interesting dialogue that exists by those making the video; they believe they are part of the Syrians that the Islamic State has no regard. He considers himself bless to have survived so far, but, constantly comments on the fear of death. I believe the filmmakers are sincere and took great risk to bring this message to us.

One thing I found extraordinary is the definition when it comes to whom are infidels and how they are killed in the name of a pure religion. Who is their holy man? Hezbollah relies on Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Whom is the holy man of the Islamic State? Baghdadi is not a cleric.

It is my opinion, the Islamic State is not an Islamic State that even Syrians approve of, but, the people know they are among people that will kill them without a thought. So, while Raqqa is considered the capital of the Islaimic State, the citizens of Syria do not consider to be the same.

As a matter of fact I read an article today stating another 70 thousand people crossed from Syria into Turkey. The Islamic State militia as little to no standing with the people of Syria. It is my estimation, this is basically and Islamic Disneyland whereby foreigners find a meaning for their ideology and want to live in the Levant. It would seem to me they expect Allah to provide their ideology. The Islamic State is a pipe dream, a dangerous pipe dream, but, if feet are votes the Syrian people have left their land behind to be alive. If this was the ideology of the country of Syria, then why the refugees?

On thing that is not clear to me, is if Turkey has reduced the water supply to Syria and Iraq for whatever reason they did; how can any major destruction of the Iraq dam actually cause enough flooding to destroy Baghdad? The Euphrates at Raqqa is about 3 feet deep. Turkey is not withholding water, but, is experiencing a drought. The Islamic State does not have good information, just, hate.

August 4, 2014
...“These drought problems [in Konya] (click here) are realities we cannot ignore. This is why we have to reconsider some of the ‘crazy [construction] projects,’” said Bozoğlu....

Oh, by the way, one fellow states he will fly the Islamic State flag over the White House. Given the current security there, that may occur without firing a shot.

There was a time not long ago when Syria was primarily viewed as civilized.

President Assad followed his father in ruling Syria and anyone can debate whether that was good or bad, but, I doubt many would debate it is better than what is occurring today.

This is a picture of President Assad speaking in Raqqa, Syria.

December 7, 2011
By Dorian Jones

...Most recently, (click here) Syrian security forces have been blamed for October's assassination of a leading Kurdish figure, Mishaal al-Tammo, after he allied himself with the Syrian opposition.

But despite the history of hostility, the Syrian regime is now actively courting the Kurdish minority as an ally. Basma Kodmani, spokeswoman for the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), says the government's policy is meeting with some success.

"The regime has tried different options to convince the Kurds to stay behind the regime," Kodmani says. "First, 'We will give you back Syrian nationality,' which they have lost. Then promises of some form of autonomy within Syria -- perhaps other promises that we don't quite know of. We suspect that the regime is willing even to endanger the unity of the national territory. But it has neither convinced all the Kurds, nor has it moved all of them into the opposition. We still have a split within the Kurds, definitely."...

This is the same sort of dialogue noted by Gaddfi when he was facing wrath from the people before and after the Benghazi attack. Gaddfi attempted to mitigate the anger of the people, but, they would not be squelched. 

Today, it is believed President Assad is alive and well and in Damascus. I don't think he is in the country. When there were problems with the chemical weapons and the USA approached the idea of firing missiles he and his family went to Qatar. It may be that is where he is today. But, there is sincere doubt, as far as I am concerned, as to whether he still has a military.

I find it amusing when USA Commentators on the political right want to state President Obama's foreign policy is in question, when Congress ruled not to fire missiles into Syria. But, any excuse to blame President Obama is a good excuse for American Republicans.

The de-evolution of IS/IS/L

First the title of the group was "The Islamic State in Iraq, Syria and the Levant." 

Hence the acronym ISISL or ISIL.

When the first American bombs started dropping in Iraq to advance the Kurds to free those trapped, the name changed to "The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria." 


Acronym ISIS.

Then when they realized most would be pushed back into Syria they changed their name again to "The Islamic State." 

Acronym IS.

It depends on whom one hears talking about this group and it's proper name. If the generals and President Obama talk about the group it is ISIL. These men believe the group should be measured by it's ambitions and not it's current name.

Now, if someone would ask my opinion, as I am just a woman without the comprehension of difficult subjects, I was say the group accurately is called The Islamic State. It was the most recent rendition of the name, but, also because I sincerely believe there has been some devolution of it's ambitions.

Everyone expected things to go a little "W"rong in Iraq after the USA left, but, no one expected this. For the most part I fully expected Iraq to be more or less a satellite of Iran. Iraq is majority Shi'ite and while democracy is noble, that isn't what the people practice. I mean give me a break, these folks pray five times a day. Does anyone actually expect democracy to be first on their minds? No.

These people have their holy men and they are happy. They like the social order that religion brings. No one is ever going to change that. But, I digress. 

When the Islamic State first came to light it was fairly obvious what occurred. The Baathists were removed from any status in Iraq, the Shi'ites were the majority in the country and basically protected themselves from other factions in Iraq, including the Kurds and the military was at the very least confused to their role in a country becoming more sectarian and never expected what came across the border from Syria. Evidently, the world didn't expect what came across the border from Syria.

We will see how Iraq II unwinds.

IS/IS/L emulates Hamas??????

January 16, 2009

The Hamas “dead baby” strategy - (click here) to cause as many civilian casualties as possible by firing its deadly rockets from schools and densely populated areas - is producing understandable outrage around the world. What is not understandable is why the outrage is directed against Israel, which is a victim of this strategy, rather than against Hamas, which is its perpetrator. Hamas knew exactly what it was doing when it fired more than 6,000 rockets at Israeli kindergartens, elementary schools and playgrounds from behind its own children. It was playing Russian roulette with the lives of Israeli children in order to provoke a defensive response from Israel....

According to Alan Dershowitz, the Islamic State follows the methods of Hamas. They target children's schools and neighborhoods and kills them.

That is an exaggeration. The two groups have nothing to do with each other. The Islamic State has a very different methodology within Syria than Hamas does with Israel.

As a matter of fact the "dead baby" strategy is no longer possible since Israel is now protected by the most sophisticated interceptors in the world. If anything is true, it is Israel that is now emulating the "dead baby" strategy. 

The last attack into Palestine took the lives of many innocent children. Below is only five out of twenty-give under the age of 18.

The Gaza Ministry of Health has estimated that 1,951 people died and 10,193 have been injured since Israel launched its offensive on Gaza on July 8. 

August 13, 2014

5. Ahmed Musa Khalf Habib, 16, male 
16. Mohamed Ibrahim Fayeq Al Masri, 14, male 
20. Dina Mahdi Mohamed Hamd, 16, female 
23. Mohamed Iyad Salem Arif, 13, male 
25. Mohamed Fajr Mustafa Jamal Malka, 2, male (click here)

There was one unidentified, but, all the Israeli dead were either 18 or older. There were 66 Israeli lives snuffed out during that conflict.

It's Sunday Night

"Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum (click here)

Call you up in the middle of the night
like a firefly without a light
you were there like a blowtorch burning
i was a key that could use a little turning
so tired that i couldn't even sleep
so many secrets i couldn't keep
promised myself i wouldn't weep
one more promise i couldn't keep

it seems no one can help me now
i'm in too deep
there's no way out
this time i have really lead myself astray

runaway train, never goin' back
wrong way on a one-way track
seems like i should be getting somewhere
somehow i'm neither here nor there

can you help me remember how to smile?
make it somehow all seem worthwhile
how on earth did i get so jaded?
life's mysteries seem so faded
i can go where noone else can go
i know what no one else knows
here i am just drownin' in the rain
with a ticket for a runaway train

and everything seems cut and dry
day and night
earth and sky
somehow i just don't believe it

runaway train, never goin' back
wrong way on a one-way track
seems like i should be getting somewhere
somehow i'm neither here nor there

bought a ticket for a runaway train
like a madman laughing at the rain
little out of touch, little insane
it's just easier than dealing with the pain

runaway train, never goin' back
wrong way on a one-way track
seems like i should be getting somewhere
somehow i'm neither here nor there

runaway train, never comin' back
runaway train, tearin' up the track
runaway train, burnin' in my veins
i run away but it always seems the same

Hannah Graham could be anywhere. I-64 runs right by Charlottesville.

She is too smart a young lady to be trapped into being kidnapped. Somebody probably drugged her without her knowing it. Or. A large enough man could have simply grabbed her. 

What were Hannah's interests. What would a friend say to her to offer her a ride to wherever she wants to go? In other words if a perfect stranger walked up to her and began a conversation what would that conversation be like?

"Hey, I noticed you were alone in the mall, are you okay? Can I drive you somewhere?" Then what would cause her to relinquish trust in the person that was about to kidnap her? What are her special places, interests or hangouts? What could a perfect stranger have said to her to allow him/her to get that close?

Morgan’s skeletonized body was found at Anchorage Farm, Albemarle County on 1/26/10. The person(s) responsible remain at large, presumably still in the Charlottesville area. 

I am assuming authorities already checked the Anchorage Farm and it's radius in Albemarle County by now. The Lexington Police believe they may have seen Morgan's murderer within the past four days.

I am assuming the FBI has been asked about this already.

It's settled.

September 21, 2014
By Jim Michaels

Afghanistan's (click here) two presidential contenders signed an unprecedented power-sharing agreement on Sunday, ending a drawn-out political standoff and setting the stage for a U.S. troop commitment past this year.

"I am very happy today that both of my brothers, Dr. Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, in an Afghan agreement for the benefit of this country, for the progress and development of this country, that they agreed on the structure affirming the new government of Afghanistan," President Hamid Karzai, in power since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban, said after the signing.

The agreement names Ghani Ahmadzai, who is believed to have received the most votes, as president. His challenger, Abdullah, a former foreign minister, has been named chief executive....

...Under the agreement, the president would be responsible for setting strategic policy and the chief executive would be in charge of implementation,... 

The balance sounds right.

Mike Morrell has pieced together the very next threat to civilization and it is set on destroying Wall Street. Any Objections?

This entire "I know who is going to down buildings with planes before even the President of the United States knows," is wearing thin. There are more groups of so called terrorists in Syria than Carter has little liver pills and quite frankly I don't believe Syria's military exists anymore. If they do then they are more stupid than the American people when it comes to war. There is no sense to being part of Assad's army. There are options that are less dangerous.

September 18, 2014

The battlefield in Syria's civil war (click here) is carved up among several large groups ostensibly trying to oust President Bashar Assad, but spending a great deal of time instead fighting each other for territorial gains.

That focus on their immediate surroundings has thus far, according to most U.S. officials, helped to mitigate the threat posed by groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to the U.S. homeland.

There has been significant and mounting concern that Western recruits drawn into the war -- who have proven all but impossible to monitor on Syrian soil -- could use their passports to sneak back into the U.S. or Europe and stage attacks.

Now, however, a previously unheard of subgroup within the complicated jihadist web that is the Syrian opposition is lending new urgency to that concern by combining the threat of Western imports with the threat of advanced bomb-making....

"Good Night, Moon"

The waning crescent

4.4% lit/full

27.5 days old

Now, this is not fairy dust, it is pure star duct.

September 18, 2014
By Amina Kahn
Sometimes (click here) big surprises come wrapped in tiny galactic packages. That’s the strange find from a team of astronomers who discovered an enormous supermassive black hole in a very unlikely place: at the center of an ultracompact dwarf galaxy.

If I were Putin I'd be doing the same thing.

I'd be pulling in all the welcome mats, protecting the borders and calling in all the favors from friends. 

But, I am not him. I am an American who thought he would be the man for Russia's new century. If his friends are sincerely his friends, they would be advising him to end this silly back and forth over Ukraine and simply honor the treaties and allow the economies to balance.

Russia has been too much of a friend to The West in fighting the same enemies and coming to the rescue when it was needed. It signed treaties to save this planet and tried it's best to keep it's people from succumbing to terrible disasters. An entire species of wildcat owes it's thanks to the people who decided saving it fit into the plan for the nation's future and that of it's children.

Ukraine is not worth this. It is not worth isolationism to protect an old culture. The old culture is not going anywhere. It will stand the test of any new generation or any new economic development. Ukraine is not turning against Russia, it is opening the door to new opportunity. 

No one is attempting to dismantle the strides that Russia has gained. It is happening due to objection of the return of the old regime that sees confrontation and war as a reasonable outcome.


Old friends sometimes have differences and it takes longer to heal, but, it should never destroy what has sustained, but, for the reasons it has sustained. 

I wish Russia well with it's new economic alliance. The rest of the world will be waiting to be a part of open and fair trade when Russia is ready for it's leap of faith.