I've been saying it for years. My opinion was all based in superficial facts about Musharraf and his warlord status.

May 11, 2015
By Anthony Zucher

According to Pulitzer Prize-winning (click here) author Seymour Hersh, the US raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was not a secret, risky US action, it was a joint operation between the US and Pakistani military intelligence.
The allegation has many in the US - and Pakistan - crying foul, and pointing to what they see as insufficient attribution and questionable conclusions throughout Hersh's lengthy piece.

"The notion that the operation that killed Osama bin Laden was anything but a unilateral US mission is patently false," said White House spokesperson Ned Price, adding that the piece was riddled with "inaccuracies and baseless assertions".

At the heart of Hersh's article is the allegation that, starting in 2006, Bin Laden was under Pakistani control, kept in Abbottabad with the financial assistance of Saudi Arabia....

Musharaff and bin Laden has a history and was well known. My comments are with the blog. I still congratulate President Obama for taking control and ending bin Laden's life. He was right to do it. I don't really care the details. I really think Bush knew Musharraf had control of bin Laden and it was because of Saudi Arabia and the bin Laden family it was all hush, hush. I was simply a raving maniac after all, I hated war, Bush and Cheney.

In 2001, it took a month for Rumsfeld to get the ships positioned for the invasion of Afghanistan. Afghanistan fell like Dominoes. And then there was the report of bin Laden at Tora Bora. Then Rumsfeld sends in a daisy cutter so there was no proof if bin Laden was killed by chance. 

Musharraf was receiving a lot of money from the USA for air space. It took a long time to remove him from his power in Pakistan. There were those attempting to kill him by bombing bridges as his car drove over it. Twice. The same bridge. He was hated. I don't know if they have held his treason trial. I stopped following it. I didn't want to know at some level. I don't know why Ex-Patriots of Pakistan go back to run for office. They are either assassinated or held for trial for treason, but, there is no success in any of them actually be received in a way that would place them in power.

The entire episode in Afghanistan was flawed. If Afghanistan had the oil that Iraq had, Bush would never have invaded Iraq. Bush over looked the Rare Earth Elements in the mountains. Typical oil man. Has no appreciation for any other form of wealth.

The idea the Obama White House tailor made the speech and disregarded the truth is a bit odd. I don't doubt it is possible, but, the idea there was a courier that went belly up was adopted by the Bush Crowd as his success. The 'story' about the death of bin Laden isn't what served President Obama's election bid. What served President Obama's re-election bid was the fact bin Laden was dead. The story was a side note. At least to me it was.

Candidate Obama promised to end the hunt for bin Laden by finding him and either killing or capturing him to bring him to justice. Barack Obama is a good American. He has his priorities fairly straight. He really does love this country and more than the country he loves the people.

Mr. Hersh is highly respected. There is no reason for him to come forward now to clear the air. He has no personal reason for telling the truth. I believe him. 

The law of parsimony - a principle according to which an explanation of a thing or event is made with the fewest possible assumptions.

The world is never as complicated as many like to make it out to be.

Will the real Jeb Bush please stand up.

May 10, 2015
By Agence France-Presse

Jeb Bush has said (click here) he would have authorised the US invasion in 2003 of Iraq.
The presumed Republican presidential hopeful said on Sunday he would have authorised the invasion, though he acknowledged mistakes made after Saddam Hussein’s downfall.
Bush, the son and brother of two former presidents, pointed out that the Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton voted in favour of authorising the use of force in Iraq before the invasion.
“I would have [authorised the invasion], and so would have Hillary Clinton, just to remind everybody,” Bush told Fox News television in an interview to be aired late on Monday. “And so would almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got.”...

He doesn't seem to be his own man no matter what he says. The Former Governor said the mother in Baltimore was just like his mother, now he states he would mimic his brother's illegal war and there is this strange bonding with the Former Secretary.

As time goes on Jeb Bush is proving he has no real identity away from family and his adopted family. 

The comment he made about "W"s war went beyond the USA borders. He stated whoever in the world hears his words should know there is no space between he and his brother. See, Jeb's already won the election. He is in Oval Office already. He is there to maintain a strong resistance against any potential for the World Court to carry out prosecution of anyone Jeb Bush decides is unworthy of it.

Jeb Bush has already purchased the office. 

I can easily see the year 2000 in that arrogance, right? A man above any potential of losing an election because he did exactly what "W" did to gather all the money and take the office. "W" was going to be President. Just that simple and his Secretary of State made it so. 

The Bush Dynasty. Who are their affiliates in the world? Carlyle and Snowden and the eruption of information never touched Carlyle. As far as Jeb Bush is concerned Obama simply needs to leave the Oval Office and take the furniture with him.

Jeb Bush was the one that used the words 'the world.' No one assigned those words to him. He said it himself. He must be king of the whole damn world. He has to return things to order. The petroleum industry, Iraq and now Syria. And the American people? They ask for too high wages and their health care is not his problem. See, now that he purchased the Oval Office and there is a majority Republican House and Senate he becomes dictator. And if the world doesn't obey? Anyone want to answer that? 

The NFL is not the courts.

May 11, 2015
By Everett Rosenfeld

The National Football League (click here) suspended New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for four regular season games without pay "for conduct detrimental to the integrity of the NFL," the league announced Monday afternoon. 

The league also announced that the team—which won the Super Bowl earlier this year—would be fined $1 million and forced to forfeit its first-round pick in the 2016 draft and its fourth-round selection in the 2017 draft.

The Patriots were accused following the AFC Championship game in January of intentionally deflating footballs. In explaining Monday's discipline announcement, the NFL said the team was penalized for "the violation of the playing rules and the failure to cooperate in the subsequent investigation."... 

It's more than cheating. It is more than a breach in contract. This has involved the public who are fans to the team. Has anyone asked whether or not this is a legal violation?

Tulsa is making more changes to their County Sherrif's staff.

May 11, 2015
By Jarrell Wade
 

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office (click here) announced another major change Monday, placing the office's longtime spokesman on administrative leave.
Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz said in a statement that Maj. Shannon Clark was put on administrative leave with pay pending a review of his duties and performance.

The statement did not address the reason Clark was placed on leave.

The announcement comes within two weeks of other high-level administrative changes at the Sheriff's Office....

The Department of Homeland Security issued this notice regarding privacy today. I am sure there are many that would be interested in it's content.

Action

Notice of Privacy Act system of records. (click here)

Summary

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security proposes to update and reissue a current Department of Homeland Security system of records titled, “Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Customs and Border Protection-007 Border Crossing Information(BCI) System of Records.” This system of records allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect and maintain records on border crossing information for all individuals who enter, are admitted or paroled into, and (when available) exit from the United States, regardless of method or conveyance. Border crossing information includes certain biographic and biometric information; photographs; certain mandatory or voluntary itinerary information provided by air, sea, bus, and rail carriers or any other forms of passenger transportation; and the time and location of the border crossing....

The USA Military should take note.

This is the NSA Utah Data Center. (click here)

There are many Americans that see this as a problem for the country. It's capacity is far too enormous for the country's need. The USA military should regularly covet this facility. It should covet it especially during challenges or war and emergency capacity is needed. 

Kindly note:  

May 7, 2015
By Jonathan Stempel

A U.S. spying program (click here) that systematically collects millions of Americans' phone records is illegal, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday, putting pressure on Congress to quickly decide whether to replace or end the controversial anti-terrorism surveillance.
Ruling on a program revealed by former government security contractor Edward Snowden, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the Patriot Act did not authorize the National Security Agency to collect Americans' calling records in bulk.
Circuit Judge Gerard Lynch wrote for a three-judge panel that Section 215, which addresses the FBI's ability to gather business records, could not be interpreted to have permitted the NSA to collect a "staggering" amount of phone records, contrary to claims by the Bush and Obama administrations.
"Such expansive development of government repositories of formerly private records would be an unprecedented contraction of the privacy expectations of all Americans," Lynch wrote in a 97-page decision. "We would expect such a momentous decision to be preceded by substantial debate, and expressed in unmistakable language. There is no evidence of such a debate."
The appeals court did not rule on whether the surveillance violated the U.S. Constitution.
It also declined to halt the program, noting that parts of the Patriot Act including Section 215 expire on June 1.

There is every reason to believe this facility will no longer be needed in it's current capacity.

This mess makes me crazy. There is so little organized progression to the US military in it's appropriations and acquisitions it wastes more money than the military ever deserves.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md., 30 April 2015. U.S. Army radio communications experts are moving forward with mass production of the Rifleman software-defined radio for handheld use by infantry warfighters with substantial contracts Wednesday to two manufacturers.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., announced a potential $3.9 billion contract with options to Harris RF Communications in Rochester, N.Y., and to Thales Defense & Security Inc. in Clarksburg, Md., to produce Rifleman radios....

This isn't the worst of it. This is a different modality than radio communications in the past. I don't approve of the digitalization of the US military, but, if the commanders see this as an advancement then so be it. BUT. There needs to be 'old world' back up in every vehicle and every operation both at the receiver and sender capacity. Digital is the worst idea any one had for the USA military. I am not happy with the poor capacity of digital in my home, yet alone be happy with such capacity for the US military.

But, dig this. The products are going to go out to the troops and then comes this, "Oops."

This is the Army. 

This article is from the Navy.
 
CRANE, Ind., 14 April 2015. U.S. Navy researchers (click here) are working with working with industry and academia to find new ways to create radiation-hardened commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronics from the effects of radiation from the explosion of nuclear weapons.
Officials of the Naval Surface Weapons Center in Crane, Ind., invited companies and colleges last week (N0016415SNB38) to work with the Navy to evaluate the survivability of COTS electronics that are exposed to the radiation of nuclear explosions.
Research will involve evaluating modern electronics when they undergo severe changes in behavior when exposed to nuclear radiation. Navy experts particularly are interested in simulations long-term exposure to radiation, as well as high levels of radiation during the first minute of a nuclear explosion....

Do I have to say exactly how stupid this is?

The Army has decided to use these new fangled communication devices; while the Navy is investigating the impact of radiation on COMMERCIAL OFF THE SHELF electronics. 

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Does one division of the USA military actually talk to the other. Because if they talked to each other the Army would have found the Navy was FIRST going to investigate radiation on the electronics the US military uses on a regular basis and/or emergency communication for domestic emergencies with the people they serve.

I already know digital capacity with a radiation blast is gone. The signal is completely lost and when communication is finally reestablished that information during the blast is gone. Completely gone and the USA military will need a "Secure Military Cloud" where all communication passes through while at war to be stored and reviewed as necessary for lost data.

That is free information. Okay? The Americans that care about the military actually have ideas that might help. 

BUT.

I don't approve of digital for the military for exactly what I already stated. It will require a Cloud to retain data for a period of time on a rolling basis depending on capacity. That cloud can be hacked into by the enemy and then they'll have information that the military on the ground has lost and has to spend time to reclaim it. 

What does that mean? Dead soldiers beyond what a radiation blast would cause. Doesn't that reality dictate the need for a drone military? No. The minute the USA military has complete and autonomous power without counting on citizens to conduct the military, it becomes a huge problem globally and domestically. I think the military needs to keep up with any enemy's capacity, but, to simply develop a drone military 'in case' it is a good idea is extremely dangerous for everyone. 

The biggest danger of a drone military is that it will completely compromised by other countries and then used against the USA. That is not national security. There is no such thing as a hack-proof computer capacity.

There are times when I write criticism of our military I feel as though I should first apologize. Many of these bozo priorities are not necessarily theirs so much as the Congressperson who's district will receive jobs from the wayward project. There are ways to better spend our military dollar and keep levels of personnel the country needs; I strongly suggest the military stop accepting spending on worthless projects and projects that don't fit into a logical progression.

Seriously. 

Please tell me a pork barrel project isn't compromising my military. This is a ridiculous expenditure.

May 8, 2015

By John Keller
Editor

LOS ANGELES AFB, Calif. 8 May 2015. Satellite navigation (click here) experts at L-3 Interstate Electronics Corp. (IEC) in Anaheim, Calif., are speeding their work on developing anti-jam Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers with special M-code GPS capability for military operations.
 
Officials of the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., announced an $18.2 million contract modification to L-3 IEC Wednesday as part of the Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) program.

The deal calls for L-3 IEC to accelerate the MGUE program by providing additional pre-prototype receiver cards and test support to speed the fielding of M-Code capable GPS receivers to the warfighter, Air Force officials say....

This is outrageous. You mean to tell the American electorate their military gets so hopelessly lost in the real world it has to be tracked by GPS that will compromise their security. This is someone's idea of government spending that goes beyond the security of the country. This program needs to be scrapped. 

The ONLY reason to install this on any military vehicle is because it doesn't have a driver. These computer expenditures are not the way to go. If the USA military can track and control their vehicles, so can the enemy.
 

September 4, 2014

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City (click here) heard oral argument in ACLU v. Clapper, which challenged the National Security Agency’s (NSA) program of bulk data collection of telephone records. Judge Lynch began by explaining the nature of appellate proceedings...

For as interesting as this video court is regarding the confusing issue of privacy vs. bulk collection of data; there is a profound absence of 'the citizen' in these proceedings. Across the USA citizens are calling upon their First Amendment Rights to assemble and demonstrate against this horrible government program. 

When 'the citizens' finally have a recognized presence in the proceedings the Constitution comes alive and makes the decision far more interesting. I am not referring to politics. The people may re-elect a Congressional Representative and/or Senator in the face of such a vote because their politics demand peace over war. How a Congressman or woman voted on a domestic spying program is not a valid measure of the clear protests of the American people otherwise.

On this day in May, the USA is waking up to what scientists warned them about 50 years ago. It could have completely been avoided.

Will Parsons uses a snowblower to clear the driveway of his neighbor on Oak Avenue Sunday morning, May 10, 2015 in Rapid City, S.D. Some parts of Rapid City saw 10 inches of snow by Sunday morning with more forecast throughout the day. (Chris Huber/Rapid City Journal via AP) TV OUT(Photo: AP)

May 10, 2015
By Augus Leader Staff and wire reports

South Dakota (click here) was the center of weather extremes Sunday, with a tornado hitting Delmont on the eastern side of the state and more than a foot of snow blanketing the Black Hills to the west.

The National Weather Service says as of late Sunday afternoon, Lead reports 18 inches of snow, Deerfield 17 inches and downtown Rapid City 13.5 inches.

Snowfall in the Black Hills could total 2 feet by the time the system passes.

Meteorologist Kyle Carstens of the National Weather Service says the snow is not unusual for this time of year. He says this is the wettest time of the year for the Rapid City area, and temperatures have been hovering just below freezing.

But Carstens says the snow won't stay. Temperatures are expected to reach the 60s by mid-week....

In the 1900s in the USA during the time of invention Henry Ford knew this would happen. What happened here? Politics? You've got to be joking.

There are Americans missing and dead. That's okay for the sake of politics?

Oh, by the way, this isn't the worst of it.

Realizing how completely terrible the course of this episode of warming will be and how completely hostile the climate will become as defined by scientists 50 years ago the politicians proceeded anyway. Where and When in the conscience of the country do the people END the politics of self-destruction?
 

I hear the Midwest is receiving incredible storms in the face of a tropical storm that should have diminished the tornado threat. Hm.

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

"Ana is the first tropical storm to make landfall this early in any hurricane season." Those were the words of the Weather Channel at the video (click here).

Ana made landfall as a tropical storm between Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at 6:00 a.m. EDT on Sunday.

The National Hurricane Center downgraded Ana to a tropical depression at 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday. 

According to hurricane specialist Michael Lowry of The Weather Channel, Ana is the second earliest landfalling tropical storm on record in the Atlantic. 

Ana will continue to weaken as it slides northeastward from eastern North Carolina through southeast Virginia into Monday.

The coastal Carolinas will continue to see the most direct impacts overnight into Monday, including bands of locally heavy rain, some strong wind gusts, minor coastal flooding, dangerous rip currents and beach erosion. Some rain and gusty winds will also affect parts of southeast Virginia by Monday.

"Good Night, Moon"

The Waning Gibbous

21.8 days old

53.3 percent lit

Below is a well done time lapse of sunsets and moon rise.