META data is a joke. The USA had teenagers on their way to Syria until they were discovered by their parents and Europe intervened. Those teenagers didn't wake up one morning saying, "Gee, it would be fun to go to Syria and live with extremists that could kill us, but, we'll be right with Allah." The GIRLS were enticed into the wolf's den over a period of time, but, hey we have META data to prove that the wolf did exactly that.

There are plenty more instances whereby intelligence agencies were relying on META data and completely missed what was actually occurring.

If the USA took the money spent for their computer prowling and put agents on the streets, the country would be safer than with META data invasion. 

META data and Fort Hood. That was real helpful there. For god sake, the government can't even save their soldiers, but, hey we have META data to prove Hasan was induced to killing his own peers by another American who was radicalized by the USA government.

I have a great suggestion, give the entire computer complex coveted by Clapper to him as a retirement gift. Rather than a Rolex. He can play with himself all he wants.

What may be fueling terrorist attacks.

I do not stand in judgement of anyone or any culture or any country or law. There is a reality Europe needs to examine. 

Nicolas Henin, center, former French hostage and journalist, waves as he walks with his family moments after his arrival by helicopter from Evreux to the military airbase in Villacoublay, near Paris, April 20, 2014.

August 22, 2014
By Cory Adwar

A French journalist (click here) who became close with American journalist James Foley while the two were held hostage by ISIS in Syria spoke to the BBC Thursday about the kind of friend Foley was under the extreme circumstances of their captivity.
Nicolas Henin was held for ten months before his April release, thanks to the French government's negotiations with the radical Islamist group....

I am sure there are articles somewhere that indicates the type of negotiations and what the final result was for France. One has to stop and realize the larger number of hostages were taken about one year before there were demands for their release. That was done because once the hostages were held for ransom the aid workers and journalists would not be coming to Syria anymore. Fear. Knowledge the chances of being captured and held for ransom or worse would stop people from entering Syria. 

In that reality is the fact some hostages were killed and some were not. It is common knowledge the ransom for each hostage was a large amount of money. The families could not afford to pay ransom. The countries would have to supply the monies and/or possibly the NGO. That large amount of money was calculated when the hostages were taken a year before the ransoms were demanded. These acts are sabotage. The kidnappings are illegal and the monies paid were sabotage to the countries that paid them. Why sabotage, because the monies depleted the sources and made the kidnappers wealthy.

There may be a way of knowing if the monies paid for ransom to the criminals called the Islamic State then paid for weapons, travel and salary (if there is such a thing among these criminals).

Who paid for the weapons that killed innocent citizens in Paris? Who paid for the weapons the Belgians are rooting out of their society?

If the free world and civilized people are to defeat the Islamic State criminals when will their life line of financing stop? 

What bothers me more than anything is the fact these criminals/Ba'athists have contemplated their course. They planned for the hostages, which means the money was also planned for in use to further their violence. Now, at some point in time the Ba'athists/criminals of the Islamic State knew the money would stop. They knew they were going to kill in Paris. It was a priority. It was to end the publications of the free world. They knew they would populate violent sympathizers in Belgian. What else do they know that the free world has yet to realize?

Europe has to come to a very clear reality in that their methods in handling international criminals is ineffective. These people know no compassion. They maintained their hostages as chattle/possessions/assets to the Islamic State. There was no compassion so much as practical management of them to maintain their lives for future financial gain. 

These criminals are well seasoned soldiers that will kill in a moments notice. The organizers of the Islamic State are primarily Ba'athists from Iraq. They have waited and waited and planned and started a civil war in Syria to carry out their plans. These Ba'athists know they have no place 'to be' in this world. They knew their lives were worthless with the invasion of the USA Coalition and they were ostracized within any Western decisions in nation building. Let's just say they are ruthless killers and nothing will stop them.

The USA never pays ransom to kidnappers. There have been times when dealing with Iran's judicial system the bail money for American prisoners have been paid, but, that is a sovereign nation and not a band of criminals. Iran's government has been willing in the past to look at the charges against Americans and reverse lower court decisions. That is because it is a sovereign state. But, the rule is when dealing with kidnappers there is no money exchanged.

Europe's democracies are magnificent and out class the USA in many ways. We rely on European countries to contribute to the international dialogue that brings all countries together in values and laws. But, when it comes to national security the nations of Europe have to decide what works and what doesn't.

Today, the Belgians are most correct. They have to find the criminals before the crimes are committed. I am not worried about that round up of human beings. I know the Europeans well enough they will handle everyone with care and will hold them responsible for plans if the evidence is clear. But, to get to the point where the evidence is clear that may mean arresting people before the worst happens.

The USA can somewhat passively watch the events occurring in Europe because there is an ocean that provides a natural barrier to those in Syria. However, we all learned how easy it has been to kill with airliners, too. So, The West is cautious. I think Europe needs to decide if they are cautious enough in their compassion for others. It is not right to have France pay for the hostages twice, once with negotiations and the second time with French blood.

Kindly be careful, it hurts when these events take place in Europe. It hurts a lot.

January 15, 2015
By Michael Birnbaum

PARIS — Belgian counterterrorism police (click here) conducted raids across their nation on Thursday, killing two suspected Islamist militants and disrupting an alleged plot to launch an attack that would have been the second instance of homegrown Islamist violence in Europe in just eight days, officials said.
The dramatic police strikes coincided with heightened alerts across Europe in the wake of the deadly attacks in Paris last week by men claiming ties to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. European counterterrorism officials have been warning that their top security threat is the risk of attacks by their own citizens, radicalized by the conflict in Syria. . The Belgian and French events, which did not appear to be directly tied to each other, underscored the dangers facing the continent....

The US Senate and House are on retreat today so there is no coverage to report. However, Director Richard Cordray is having a good talk on C-Span.

Does the US Press Corp want to report the progress the USA military is making in Africa?

What goes on in the White House Press Room? These actions by the USA military not enough adrenalin for the Press Corp? Maybe it is cortisol levels (click here) need to be checked? Maybe? Never know how one has sincerely abused their bodies when in such a demanding job.

Col. Rob Sciandra, a physician assistant with the 5th squadron, 4th cavalry regiment assists with first aid training with Malawi Defense Force. With regionally aligned forces from 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, Kansas, USA. US Army Africa trained more than 4000 troops in Chad, Guinea and Malawi in March. (US Army Africa photo)

By Mindy Anderson, US Army Africa Public Affairs

VICENZA, Italy – With support (click here) from regionally aligned forces from 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, Kan., U.S. Army Africa trained more than 4,000 troops in Chad, Guinea, and Malawi in March.
This USARAF training continues to provide different African nations with help in securing their own borders, thereby helping them secure the region, and protecting U.S. interests.
“Second Bde., 1st Inf. Div. did an incredible amount of work in their preparation and training,” said Maj. Lee Torres from USARAF SCD. “They lived in austere environments and worked with our African Partners to improve the level of training and preparation for a UN deployment. They leveraged their experiences and improved bi-lateral relationships with their interaction with the host nations.”
Sgt. Maj. John Dudas from USARAF Operations and Plans concurred...

The American Tax Dollar hard at work.

VICENZA, Italy – Recently, (click here) U.S. Army Africa’s Col. Frances Hardison and Capt. Christian Smith traveled to Dar Es Salaam and Arusha, Tanzania to plan a gender integration seminar co-hosted by the Tanzanian Peoples Defense Forces.
The event is tentatively scheduled for May. During planning, Hardison and Smith discussed the proposed events and activities with the TPDF’s highest ranking female. Hardison is the director of USARAF’s G-1, Personnel.
“I met with Brig. Gen. Sara Rwambali, director of TPFD Social Affairs, and she is very excited to co-host the Gender Mainstreaming Seminar with USARAF in Tanzania in 2015,” said Hardison.
The concept brief to Rwambali and Virginia Blazer, deputy chief of mission, U.S. Embassy Tanzania, detailed the goals of the seminar.
According to Smith, a previous gender integration event has laid the ground work for the May seminar....

The USA has it's own problem with institutionalized hate.

There should be intolerance of any trace of hate within the government, but, there isn't. The link between racial intolerance and the government is the media. (click here).

FOX News (appears within the film loops) is the gravity center of reliable racism for the Republican Party, but, the truth is racists are given legitimacy when other topics are the focus. It is a known fact racism is still alive and well within the Republican Party. The hate within the party's electorate is validated though so called legal measures of which the most current expression of hate is leveled at 11 million Undocumented Workers.



A newly surfaced article could fan the flames against embattled Rep. Steve Scalise. (click here)

Many years before Scalise took over the role of House majority whip, the Louisiana Republican rejected a resolution to formally apologize for slavery to African-Americans, The Hill reported on Tuesday, citing a 1996 article from the New Orleans’ Times-Picayune. “Why are you asking me to apologize for something I didn’t do and had no part of?” Scalise said at the time, according to the paper. “I am not going to apologize for what somebody else did.” He later supported language in a bill that expressed “regret” for slavery. The newspaper quoted Scalise – then working in the Louisiana Legislature – for the April 11, 1996 issue of the paper.

The Undocumented Workers in the USA have worked within the country providing Americans with a variety of services. They are a majority of Hispanic ethnicity many from Mexico just south of the USA border. The Undocumented  Workers have established themselves as families. Now, the Republican Party wants to march all of them back across the southern border as soon as possible. It is a human rights problem in that families are broken up to enforce the notion these workers are criminals of some kind or another.

The idea the Undocumented Worker that has been incorporated into the USA economy as workers can simply be removed from the sovereign lands is hideous and ridiculous; did I mention immature and childish.

The Undocumented Workers now within residence in the USA have proven to be no threat to the national security. Every sovereign country has a right to defend it's borders, but, when it can't and undocumented immigration takes place, the problem does not belong to the undocumented, it is a much larger picture.

The only way to effectively stop undocumented immigration is to build a better country where the immigrants have come from. Currently in Mexico, villages and cities are addressing the lack of upward movement of it's citizens. Mexico is attempting to address poverty, but, at the very best it will stem the movement of Mexicans in the future, NOT THE PAST. Any Undocumented Workers in the USA are always welcome to go back to their nation of origin, but, to enforce same through law in the USA is not simply cruel, but, a human rights issue.

This paradigm of the Undocumented Worker in the USA has a very long history and no laws ever stopped it. The laws of the past were never enforced because there were other financial needs in the country and as noted these workers are not a threat to the country. In recent years the tide of the Undocumented has slowed, but, the USA has pride in accepting children into it's borders to protect their lives. Those children are alive and safe and can at some point return to their countries, but, the drug cartels of Latin American is known to be a danger to nearly any human being within reach.

When realizing the legitimate reasons the Undocumented have come to the USA the movement to send them back lacks legitimacy except racism. There have been overt demonstrations of hatred at the borders of the USA by Americans and the expression at the demonstrations are overtly racist. But, why should the Undocumented be the exception to racism, even our President is exposed to hate on a regular basis. No surprise there, huh?
  

No more "N" words. An international standard should exist regarding hate speech.

Antisemitism is being felt in countries other than France. Europe has a significant population of White Supremacists. White Supremacists are antisemitic. The group EURO (click here) founded by David Duke maintains the hate within society.

January 18, 2015
By Emma Barnett

When I heard the news (click here) that four Jews had been murdered last week on European soil by an Islamist gun-toting terrorist, my blood ran cold; my hands started sweating. Dazed, I found myself in the work toilets shedding a silent tear. And then I realised why I needed to be alone: I felt scared.

For the first time in my life, as a British Jew, 70 years on from the liberation of Auschwitz, I felt anxious and bewildered at how this assault had happened just across the Channel. While I was stunned and enraged by the murders of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and writers – both as a journalist and citizen – it was the murder of my fellow Jews that left me feeling personally exposed.

I’m not alone in this newfound unease. A startling YouGov survey published yesterday has found that more than half of British Jews fear the community may have no long-term future in Europe; over half say they have witnessed more anti-Semitism in the past two years than they have ever seen before and 77 per cent have observed anti-Semitism disguised as a political comment about Israel.... 

It occurred to me an international standard already exists. It accompanies the formation of The Hague Conventions (click here). These standards exist but are not enforced by the international community. I realize this is about human rights, but, the hate is still active without consequences.

Using the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) to Advance Human Rights At Home (click here)

To immediately enforce anti-hate policies on an international level will cause wars, both civil and international. Within the reality of causing war is the reason to begin to dialogue an international standard. The standards should be reviewed and a path forward to introduce enforcement of these standards with ultimate economic consequences in a generation. If it is possible to move any consequences forward in a shorter period of time than it needs to be pursued. This is asking for cultural change and it is difficult. The history of intolerance based in race and ethnicity is as old as civilization itself, moving such a standard forward in priority has to take a political characteristic rather than a social standard.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (click here)in the USA is a great resource for the USA, but, simply having the knowledge is not enough to stop the hate or stem the effects of hate. The leadership of this organization can speak to the fact when hate exists it will become a criminal matter within these groups. Today in the USA there are members of hate groups within our criminal justice system that have developed a continuum from street to prison cell. Imprisoning those that hate does not remove it alone. Imprisoned individuals will have their families threatened to achieve compliance within the power structure. Removing hate from a culture is difficult if not impossible.