Is it the individual that is fraudulent or the election scheme.

The US Supreme Court is making a lot of lethal legal mistakes in relation to elections, including, Citizen's United. The Supreme Court is correct, money/corporations is a citizen and the more spent the more influence is racked up to win elections.

The entire money/corporation thing is influence peddling. Corporations leverage against citizens with monies earned in profit. There is more money being spent than there is actual citizens in the USA. The entire concept is flawed and fraud. Money has no birth certificate and neither does a corporation. 

If the USA is to grant corporations are people, too, then where does that leave cloning? Why not clone enough people to guarantee an election? Why not be sure corporations have enough money to guarantee an election?

This occurred in Texas. One case of one vote does not make the argument for voter ID.


June 7, 2015
By Mitch Mitchell


...Woodard, (click here) a 2011 Democratic precinct chair candidate, had admitted to having her son vote on behalf of his father on June 18, 2011. Voter fraud allegations arose after the boy’s father showed up to cast his own ballot later that same day.

Woodward was sentenced to two years of deferred adjudication probation on her initial plea, but Judge Ruben Gonzales did not make it official because of her medical issues.

Woodard was back in the courtroom Friday, when Gonzales gave her an opportunity to withdraw her guilty plea and have a jury trial, saying he had a “strong concern” that she did not admit to her crime.

Woodard then readmitted her guilt and took the probation offer....

There has to be INFLUENCE in accepting the fact one fraudulent vote threw the election. That has never occurred. What has occurred is the purging of thousands of traditionally Democratic voters in Florida in 2000.

June 10, 2014
By Brendan Nyhan

Is vote fraud common in American politics? (click here) Not according to United States District Judge Lynn Adelman, who examined the evidence from Wisconsin and ruled in late April that “virtually no voter impersonation occurs” in the state and that “no evidence suggests that voter-impersonation fraud will become a problem at any time in the foreseeable future.”

Strikingly, however, a Marquette Law School poll conducted in Wisconsin just a few weeks later showed that many voters there believed voter impersonation and other kinds of vote fraud were widespread — the likely result of a yearslong campaign by conservative groups to raise concerns about the practice. 

Thirty-nine percent of Wisconsin voters believe that vote fraud affects a few thousand votes or more each election. One in five believe that this level of fraud exists for each of the three types of fraud that individuals could commit: in-person voter impersonation, submitting absentee ballots in someone else’s name, and voting by people who are not citizens or Wisconsin residents....

There needs to be voter registration with candidates and perhaps even copies of absentee ballots. There also has to be a fact sheet to hand out to voters that state clearly the numbers of voter fraud in the USA vs the voter schemes instituted through the pretense of Voter ID. Voters have to understand the reality of actual Voter Fraud incidents. They never impact the outcomes of an election.

By Keveh Waddell

...The cost of obtaining an ID (click here) affects voter participation, and can disproportionately drive down turnout among African-American voters and 18-to-23-year-olds.

The Government Accountability Office studied the effect that voter-ID laws have on turnout in the 17 states that require voters to show government-issued ID at the polls. Driver's licenses and state-issued IDs are the two most common forms of identification, and they don't run cheap. An inexpensive driver's license will set you back just under $15, but some states' cost almost $60.

Sixteen of the 17 states in the study offer a free alternative to driver's licenses or state IDs for residents. But even these free IDs aren't really free: to get one, residents must prove their identity and usually have to pay to obtain a separate identification document. Getting a birth certificate, one of the most common kinds of documents applicants use, can cost as much as $25....

These costs are small to many people, but, to the working poor these costs are out of the question. The Working Poor are those that need to vote to represent their interests and bring change to legislatures. They need to vote in federal and government elections.

Additionally, there are democracies in this world whereby Election Day is a National Holiday so people can vote. The except would be essential services.  Some ideas about Election Day include mandatory voting laws while others introduce this day over time appearing first at national presidential elections.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article23415846.html#storylink=cpy

The United States coins itself as the quintessential authority on freedom and democracy. It is time that myth become reality.

The other lawsuit following the Voter Rights Act dismantling was Wisconsin.

October 9, 2014
By Cindy Gordy

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court (click here) blocked a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals order to implement Wisconsin’s voter identification requirement just weeks before Election Day. By granting a petition for an emergency stay, filed by Advancement Project, co-counsel Arnold & Porter and the ACLU, the Supreme Court’s decision means that Wisconsin voters will not have to acquire and present a state-issued photo identification at the polls on November 4th. The national civil rights organization, Advancement Project, challenged the discriminatory law under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens of Wisconsin (LULAC), Cross Lutheran Church, Wisconsin League of Young Voters Education Fund, and the Milwaukee Area Labor Council of the AFL-CIO.  Advancement Project released the following statement in response to today’s ruling:...

That is one interesting alliance of interests. That is an overwhelming set of voters. The US Supreme Court could not ignore the sheer numbers of minority and special interest voters that would be impacted by hateful election laws. 

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals order to implement Wisconsin’s voter identification requirement just weeks before Election Day. By granting a petition for an emergency stay, filed by Advancement Project, co-counsel Arnold & Porter and the ACLU, the Supreme Court’s decision means that Wisconsin voters will not have to acquire and present a state-issued photo identification at the polls on November 4th. The national civil rights organization, Advancement Project, challenged the discriminatory law under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens of Wisconsin (LULAC), Cross Lutheran Church, Wisconsin League of Young Voters Education Fund, and the Milwaukee Area Labor Council of the AFL-CIO.  Advancement Project released the following statement in response to today’s ruling: - See more at: http://www.advancementproject.org/news/entry/wisconsin-voter-id-law-halted-as-supreme-court-blocks-appeals-court-order#sthash.j7QThBDm.dpuf

Early voting is considered absentee voting.

Early voting refers to the practice of voting in person during a designated time period before Election Day. Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia offer no-excuse early in-person voting.  You don't need an excuse to vote early -- you can take advantage of early voting even if you are capable of voting at the polls on Election Day.

A handful of states will allow you to cast an absentee ballot in-person, as long as you have a valid excuse for not voting on Election Day. This is technically NOT early voting, although it does serve the same purpose.  We've call this "in-person absentee voting." 

This site offers definitions of 'Early In Person Voting." (click here) It doesn't really discuss absentee voting.

Ohio voters were heavily impacted.

February 21, 2015
By Robert Higgs

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. John Kasich (click here) signed into law Friday changes to Ohio’s election rules on early voting and handling of absentee ballot applications.

The administration announced the bill signings with little comment. The bills would take effect in time for the November election.

Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols noted that the changes to absentee voting rules will make them more uniform, and that Ohio’s early voting period is longer than most states.

“Ohio has more early voting than 40 other states after we signed these bills,” Nichols said....
 
Here is a beauty. Ohio routinely has mailed out absentee ballots to all it's citizens. This bill went on ot state there would be mailing of absentee ballots if the state legislature did not authorize it in the budget. That includes any absentee ballots there may even be requested. No mailing of requested ballots. I would expect no requests as most voters would still expect them to come in the mail unless there was a state wide education campaign.

...The bill allows the Ohio secretary of state to send them out, statewide, if lawmakers appropriate money to pay for it. Republicans said voters are not treated equally because some county boards of election choose to send out applications and pay for return postage on absentee ballots and ballot applications.... 

Evidently, a county executive took issue with that portion of the bill and for this past election all the ballots were mailed. It isn't stated if they will be mailed in future elections. 

Basically, Democratic majorities will mail them and Republican majorities won't. Amazing.

If I were a Democrat running for office I would make this a gigantic issue. Why would a state normally used to receiving ballots in the mail not want that continued, especially considering the difficultly many Ohioans would have in getting to government offices to pick up a mail in ballot. The purpose of the ballot is nearly lost when considering why many would use a mail in absentee ballot. Many Americans would use a mail in ballot because there would be hurtles to what most Americans would consider a simple task. 

As a matter of fact, there should be a federal law requiring every state to mail out all absentee ballots. There should be interesting statistics in Ohio to back that up if anyone wants to carry out a study of past Ohio elections in response to everyone receiving an absentee ballot.

In North Carolina the Supreme Court ruled against the NAACP.

October 8, 2014
By Maya Rhodan

...“We are disappointed (click here) with the Supreme Court’s ruling today,” the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, said in a statement. “Tens of thousands of North Carolina voters, especially African-American voters, have relied on same-day registration, as well as the counting of ballots that were cast out of precinct, for years.”

The North Carolina State Board of Elections said that in 2010, over 21,000 voters registered and voted on the same day during the early voting period, and just over 6,000 voters were able to have their ballots counted even though they voted in the wrong precinct. During May’s 2014 primary, over 400 voters didn’t have their votes counted because these provisions were removed, Durham-based organization Democracy NC reports.

These measures are just two of many that the heavily GOP-backed law eliminated in 2013, in what supporters called an effort to prevent voting fraud in the Tar Heel state. Several organizations have filed a suit against the voting law in the hope of blocking it before this year’s election....

Twenty-one thousand voters are a lot of voters. It could throw an election. Now, that the citizens of North Carolina are restricted in their movement and location on any election day, there will be impacts.

The Supreme Court just doesn't want to admit Americans lives are not dictated by a supposed order. Americans move around a lot on any given day. The are not planning their activities and probably CAN'T plan to be close to home to vote on Election Day. Most American travel many miles to work or other activities, including volunteer activities. The word CAN'T should never enter into the reasons voters did not bother to plan for Election Day.  

Arizona took a different tilt on the Supreme Court Shelby ruling.

Evidently, there are different voter registration forms used in Arizona. There is a federal form and a state form. So, the Arizona law states in order to vote in state and local elections voters would need a state issued form and provide a driver’s license number, a photocopy of a birth certificate or a passport. 

Odd, isn't it? This is a voter law that doesn't really require an ID so much as a driver's license number. It doesn't stipulate at all a state ID either.

There is an important point to be made. Before the extremist right wing states started this entire Voter ID mess, there was a method by which those registering to vote would be asked to take an oath in penalty of perjury.

The lawsuit was filed by a Native American Indian Tribe.

JUSTICE SCALIA (click here) delivered the opinion of the Court.The National Voter Registration Act requires States to “accept and use” a uniform federal form to register voters for federal elections. The contents of that form (colloquially known as the Federal Form) are prescribed by a federal agency, the Election Assistance Commission. The Federal Form developed by the EAC does not require documentary evidence of citizenship; rather, it requires only that an applicant aver, under penalty of perjury, that he is a citizen. Arizona law requires voter-registration officials to“reject” any application for registration, including a Federal Form, that is not accompanied by concrete evidence of citizenship. The question is whether Arizona’s evidence-of-citizenship requirement, as applied to Federal Form applicants, is pre-empted by the Act’s mandate that States“accept and use” the Federal Form....

The Tribe wanted Arizona to use the federal form for all elections, including state and local elections. The court stated all federal elections had to accept the federal form which requires an oath and not documented proof. 

Interesting, but, it divided the elections into two paths. The problem with having divided elections with the state and local elections on a separate ballot and perhaps a separate voting day, was the cost. The cost would be exceptional and the organization would be tedious. 

Maricopa County stated out of it's 1,915,531 voters there would be 900 that would fall into the category of only voting in federal elections. The cost would not justify the separation of elections, yet, there was a state statute to obey.

October 7, 2013
By Editorial board

"Nice Voting Trick Boys, but, It Won't Work" (click here)

Here’s an old trick: Create a phony problem and take credit for attacking it vigorously.

After years of hunting for voter fraud in Arizona, there is scant evidence of non-citizens voting. The real problem is lack of voter participation.

Nevertheless, two of Arizona’s top elected officials are ready with a separate but unequal voter registration scheme that attacks the non-existent problem and undermines efforts to increase voter registration. (And they say Congress is dysfunctional.)

Yet there’s plenty of calculation behind this apparent madness.

Take a look at the players. Attorney General Tom Horne, who wants to be re-elected, and Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who wants to be governor, will face Republican primary contests next year....

Recently there was a case in Alabama that upheld the practice of gerrymandering.

March 25, 2015
By Krishnadeve Calamur
 
The U.S. Supreme Court called a district court ruling that upheld Alabama's redistricting plan, which overloaded some districts with black Democrats, "legally erroneous." In a 5-to-4 ruling, the justices rejected the ruling and sent it back to the lower court....

...According to The Associated Press, (click here) Justice Breyer said the lower court "should have reviewed claims of racial gerrymandering on a district-by-district level, not just statewide. He also said the court didn't apply the right test when it found that race wasn't the primary motivating factor."...

Legally erronious means not according to established law. In other words in this case Alabama was under a statute that provided for the organizing of districts and in this case it was not followed. The Supreme Court returned it to the lower courts since it was a matter of enforcing the existing law.

This article was before the hearing took place on the Voting Rights Act. It gives the opportunity to understand the dynamics on Alabama.

Case in point: Alabama, (click here) a state rife with ironic political twists and a history of overt attempts to suppress the black vote.

In 2000, Democrats controlled the state Legislature, and the redistricting process. They used their power to create districts with black majorities under the Voting Rights Act, while at the same time putting enough reliably Democratic black voters into majority white districts so that white Democratic candidates could build black-white coalitions and have a chance of winning....

...By 2010, Republicans controlled the Legislature...the black majority increased to over 70 percent. At the same time, the majority white districts got whiter, and more safely Republican. 

The redistricting came after the 2010 Census showed population shifts that made some existing districts way too big in population terms, and others too small. The Republicans tried to equalize the size of the districts. They also tried to maintain the same number of majority-black districts, but now contend that under the Voting Rights Act, a simple majority of black voters in those districts was not enough.

"The state cannot diminish the ability of black voters to elect their candidate of choice, for example, by making a district that was 65 percent black into a district that is 51 percent black," says Alabama Solicitor General Andrew Brasher, who is defending the law at the Supreme Court on Wednesday....

Alabama took the change in demographics to completely distort the racial character of a district. 

Selby County, Texas vs Holder is the basis of the US Supreme Court decision.

Now, realize when a decision is made by the US Supreme Court it is suppose to examine all the laws that impact the case. 

I don't recall any Supreme Court finding about the Texas Constitution in deciding this case.

Voter fraud has been identified as a crime of the individual. There is also the definition of Election Fraud.

Electoral fraud or vote rigging is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates, or both.

It appears to me that Voter Fraud is a political issues and is substituted with Electoral Fraud or Vote Rigging.

The only way manipulation of the vote can occur is if it happens systemically. That reflects the new Voter ID laws which states IDs normally found within a Democratic Voter includes such things as student ID and the personal cost of obtaining a birth certificate. 

Texas states he has produced all the birth certificates so anyone can obtain a state ID or driver license. There is a fatal flaw in that since some current residents of Texas were born in other states. Texas cannot simply state it has supplied all the birth certificates necessary. If Texas holds that as proof to a voter having no excuse for not obtaining a state ID, then that is further discrimination that only allows people born in Texas to vote. 

...But then on October 8th a federal judge struck down Texas’s law on its own merits, ruling that insofar as some 600,000 registered voters in the state lacked the relevant forms of ID—about 4.5% of the state's registered voters—the requirement was tantamount to a “poll tax.” 

That was registered voters. The Texas Law impacted REGISTERED VOTERS. Not new voters. Not newly minted voters, but, registered voters.

On October 18th, though, (click here) with the early voting period set to begin about 48 hours later, the Supreme Court allowed the law to remain in place for the general election. Debate over the law promises to continue. But this year, for the first time, Texans will finally be able to assess its impact in practice....

I have not yet heard any detailed assessment of the Texas law from this episode of it's impact. There is this:

...Though the state has seen a steep rise in registered voters in recent years, the total number of early votes cast had ticked down, from 1,731,589 in 2010, to 1,715,731 this year.

Texas is known for its low turnout rate. Gerrymandered districts ensure few of the legislative races are competitive, and polls suggest that Republicans will once again win all the major races this year by whopping margins....

If Republicans are successful in Texas because of Gerrymandering. Two questions:

l. Why worry about voter fraud before the fact when there is assured outcomes to the vote anyway? Why create the speculation and suspicion? There was no chance, with gerrymandering the elections were going to change anyway.

2. Why is gerrymandering not considered Electorate Fraud? It is a systemic method to insure the outcome of an election? 

The Texas State Consitution says any voter fraud is to be prosecuted AFTER THE FACT.

The Texas State Constitution stated crime can be prosecuted after the fact and not before it. The Voter ID Law was prosecuting crime not yet committed. 

October 2, 2014
By Terry Langford

While a federal judge in Corpus Christi (click here) mulls whether the state's requirement to show photo ID to cast a ballot violates the federal Voting Rights Act, a judge on the highest criminal appeals court in Texas is taking another approach: He's suing the state over its relatively new voter ID law.

Judge Lawrence "Larry" Meyers' lawsuit, filed in Dallas County, claims the voting law enacted last year violates the Texas Constitution because it attempts to "prevent" voter fraud, something he says the state's governing charter never intended. 

Meyers' lawsuit states that "the Texas Constitution gives the Texas Legislature power solely to 'detect and punish' election fraud when it has already occurred." In an interview on Wednesday, Meyers said the Constitution says nothing about preventing election fraud. 

"It's legally unconstitutional, and it's an affront to every voter in the state of Texas," Meyers said. 


Calls to the Texas attorney general's office regarding who would be defending the state's voter ID law if Meyers' case moves forward were not immediately returned....

Texas had an interesting backlash when it passed a voter ID Law.

The Texas law was passed in 2011, but, was not implemented until 2013 after the Robert's Court destroyed the preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act 1965.

November 3, 2015
By E. G. 

...The state’s Republican lawmakers (click here) introduced this requirement in 2011, arguing that it would prevent fraud and ensure the integrity of elections. They passed it over the objections of Democrats, who maintained that voter-ID laws are merely a cynical way to suppress turnout—especially among African-Americans, Hispanics and poor people—and who have continued to fight the law in court on that basis....

Now, think a minute about PREVENTING fraud. Identity theft is probably the most common form of fraud when it comes to the average citizen. Fraud swirls a long around banking and money. But, for the average person manipulation is not really an issue when it comes to money. So, the average person and a good bank put their common will together and when an account has strange or unusual transactions it is picked up and stopped before it ever was started. Then the bank or credit union assists it's depositor in filing paperwork to press charges.

Then think about voting. Most elections in the USA have not met with high percentages of voter turnout.

November 10, 2014
By Jose A. DelReal

...General election voter turnout (click here) for the 2014 midterms was the lowest it's been in any election cycle since World War II, according to early projections by the United States Election Project.

Just 36.4 percent of the voting-eligible population cast ballots as of last Tuesday, continuing a steady decline in midterm voter participation that has spanned several decades. The results are dismal, but not surprising -- participation has been dropping since the 1964 election, when voter turnout was at nearly 49 percent.

The last time voter turnout was so low during a midterm cycle was in 1942, when only 33.9 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.

Voter turnout during presidential elections is, as a rule, significantly higher. More than 58 percent of eligible voters submitted ballots in 2012 and nearly 62 percent did so in 2008. By contrast, only 41 percent of eligible voters voted in 2010 and 40.4 percent in 2006....

Considering most elections have characteristics in their demographics, would it not be easy to find any changes in those demographics. Voting is local. It is not a federal government activity. Fraud at the local level is nearly impossible and at the state level not much better considering the voters register and vote at the local level.

Preclear means someone who has not yet become clear. The Voting Rights Act requires some jurisdictions to receive advance approval from the Department of Justice for changes they want to make in adjusting voting districts or procedures.

Under the preclearance provision of Voting Rights Act, jurisdictions with a history of discriminating against minority voters must receive advance federal approval for any changes in voting practices or procedures. 

Now that the Robert's Court removed preclearance of the Voting Rights Act, the only other legal reference point is in regard to border crossings.

According to 19 CFR 122.1 [Title 19 Customs Duties; Chapter I U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security; Department of the Treasury; Part 122 Air Commerce Regulations; Subpart A General Definitions and Provisions], Preclearance is the examination and inspection of air travelers and their baggage, at the request of an airline, at foreign places where Customs personnel are stationed for that purpose. Preclearance may be used only for air travelers and their baggage, not for merchandise.

Things were going along just fine. Then the Robert's Court through everything into chaos.

I have addressed this mess once before on the blog and included all the pertinent law, the amendments to the US Constitution starting with ten, fourteen, fifteen, etc.

So as a review there is an article below. Let's just skip to the fallout from the atomic bomb that blew apart lady justices' blindness by the Robert's Court.

There is everything at this site, including oral arguments.
 

Facts of the Case (click here)

The Fourteenth Amendment protects every person’s right to due process of law. The Fifteenth Amendment protects citizens from having their right to vote abridged or denied due to “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The Tenth Amendment reserves all rights not expressly granted to the federal government to the individual states. Article Four of the Constitution guarantees the right of self-government for each state.

The Civil Rights Act of 1965 was enacted as a response to the nearly century-long history of voting discrimination. Section 5 prohibits eligible districts from enacting changes to their election laws and procedures without gaining official authorization. Section 4(b) defines the eligible districts as ones that had a voting test in place as of November 1, 1964 and less than 50% turnout for the 1964 presidential election. Such districts must prove to the Attorney General or a three-judge panel of a Washington, D.C. district court that the change “neither has the purpose nor will have the effect” of negatively impacting any individual’s right to vote based on race or minority status. Section 5 was originally enacted for five years, but has been continually renewed since that time....

It's Sunday Night

"Vote for Me" by Joe Walsh from the album "Songs for a Dying Planet" (click here for official website)

I’d like to announce my candidacy,
I’d appreciate it if you’d vote for me.
I want to be Vice President.
Vote for me.

If I was Vice President you know what I’d do?
Pretty much anything I wanted to.
Vote for me. Vote for me.

I’d have a first class seat on Air Force One.
An awesome pad in Washington...D.C. (If you vote for me)
Play golf all day with heads of state,
If they brought beer wouldn’t that be great? I can’t wait!
Vote for me. Vote for me.

Well there are an awful lot of issues important to me.
Here’s my campaign policy,
Legislation, education,
occupation, arbitration,
conversation, equalization,
immigration, itemization,
immigration, race relations,
imitation, hospitalization...
I’m freaking out vote for me!

Well it’s the land of the brave, the home of the free.
That’s the funny thing about democracy.
A vote for me, is a vote for me!

The LA Times has an interesting article.

June 6, 2015
By Anna Badkhen

In the early 19th century, (click here) a Fulani scholar, cleric and trilingual poet named Uthman dan Fodio launched one of West Africa's earliest jihads. Hurtling camelback and horseback, Dan Fodio and his followers delivered Islam to the mostly animist rural savanna on the tips of their spears and broadswords. In the flood plains of the Inner Niger Delta, in what today is central Mali, one of Dan Fodio's disciples, a Fulani orphan named Ahmad bin Muhammad Boubou bin Abi Bakr bin Sa'id al Fulani Lobbo, led an Islamic rebellion and founded the theocratic empire of Massina. Modern-day Fulani remember and revere him by his nom de guerre, Sekou Amadou — Sheik Mohammed. His empire stretched from Timbuktu to Ségou and lasted 44 years....

A caliphate would define itself by cities and not national borders. The ancient militaries were successful in destroying those that governed and brought in their own leaders city by city.

A mystical movement would rule with a change in leaders. The mystical character of the movement would stabilize the new leaders. The people would not resist a movement that proved they now had a stronger god than the previous.

...Two years ago, I joined a Fulani family in Mali for a year of migration on the routes that still abide by the schedules Sekou Amadou had drawn in 1818. But the landscape they traverse is no longer the same. Mali has been growing progressively hotter and drier since the 1960s, and cyclical dry spells that occasionally wracked Sekou Amadou's Sahel are now killer droughts. Expanding farms are helping destroy what's left of pasturage....

The USA military has warned about the instability in the world because of the climate crisis. 

Humanitarian aid can have an effect on the impacts of the droughts. However, the aid has to enter into the lives of people and not the black market that seeks profits from such aid. The people have to realize relief in order to stop the unrest and chronic searching for a new savior. 

...Human Rights Watch reports that the movement's members have so far summarily executed at least five men, including a village chief, believed to have collaborated with the Malian army; burned several government buildings; brought down a communication tower; and warned civilians to keep away from the government, the U.N. and the French troops....

Daesh is the ultra conservative that is using modern day governance as an enemy to god.  There is not much new about such movements. Leaders reach back to a time with a strong reference in success and model themselves after it. That doesn't mean the leaders of the ? new ? movement are deliberately carry out a strategy. I simply don't believe they are that smart. If these new regimes were actually mimicking the past they would not be looking for Western munitions to carry out it's killing.

A caliphate was not born from machines, it was born from camelback and horseback. 

The idea Daesh has a profound certificate from god is hideous in it's manifestation. God would provide the right number of camels. Yes? The West would not have a chance if it was actually god acting through Daesh. God would have little to no challengers. Get for real.

Daesh's success still only exists in a power vacuum. The excuse 'Defending Islam" was and is not the issue. There are powerful leaders in the Middle East that defends the faith of the people. Daesh is the opportunistic movement due to disgruntled people that define their lives as antiquated. Well, if the people are still using ancient migration routes to feed their livestock I suppose there will be suffering that other countries don't realize. 

The biggest problem the leaders of Middle East nations face is to bring ALL their people into modern days. They should never assume citizens are admiring the governance if they are not receiving the benefits of it.

Tunisia is picking up pressure from the Libyan Daesh. They are in Tripoli.

Bardo — Secretary of State for Security Affairs Rafik Chelli affirmed, (click here) Friday, that "Tunisia remains particularly cautious and vigilant against the expansion of the Islamic State (Daesh) in Libya, notably after taking control of one of the country's airports."

Tunisia advocates an inter-Libyan dialogue which "remains the unique alternative to reach a consensus," he specified on the sidelines of the House of People's Representatives (HPR) plenary session on the balance sheet of the government's 100 days in office,

"Thanks to consensus, Libyans will undoubtedly overcome the terrorist threat and halt its spread," he assured.

Daesh can only operate in a power vacuum. Ultimately they are human rights violators as a culture and the violence is rejected.

I think Tunisia is guarding against the idea Daesh will invade under traditional definitions. Tunisia needs to build an intelligence within their borders while observing the hostile movement outside it's borders. 

Daesh moves on charismatic movements. The charismatic movement leads to shocking incidents such as those seen in France.

The governance of Tunisia is strong enough to find and weed out any hostile movement within it's borders. 

The only presence of Daesh in Libya are those that have changed their names.

Libya has been experiencing anarchy since Gadhafi turned against the eastern half of the country. I don't blame them for deciding to trust their own neighborhoods for security. They didn't know who to trust, so why trust anyone. They trust god. And if god manifests in a name that represents the old caliphate, it is all the better. 

The name "Islamic State" is ADOPTED by many. That is normal. The warlord paradigm lives on. It is just that Daesh appears to be anointed by god to exist. The idea of a caliphate is charismatic. So, while reports are that Daesh is taking over the country, it doesn't mean the power structure has shifted so much as the name of the power structure.

June 6, 2015
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Islamic State militants (click here) have seized another town in Libya, the group and a military source said on Friday, expanding the territory they control in the strifetorn country.

The militant group, which controls large parts of Iraq and Syria, has exploited a security vacuum in Libya as two rival governments struggle for power, four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Islamic State took over the city of Sirte on Libya's central Mediterranean coast in stages this year, occupying government buildings and last month the city's airport. The group has now also taken over the town of Harwa to the east of Sirte, according to a statement posted on social media.A military source confirmed militants were controlling Harwa, adding they had taken over government buildings. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killings of dozens of Egyptian and Ethiopian Christians, the storming of a luxury hotel in Tripoli and attacks on oilfields as well as suicide bombings in several cities. The group has a strong presence in the eastern city of Derna and has carried out suicide attacks in Benghazi, the main eastern city. The government of premier Abdullah al-Thinni has been based in the east since losing the capital Tripoli in August to a rival administration....

Typical, the Libyan oil company functions in the face of anarchy. While the rest of the country is in anarchy the oil company continues to operate untouched. It is amazing to realize the natural resources of a country remain in control of financial interests while the actual governance of the country can't be identified.

This is from Reuters.

By Libby George

May 18 Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) (click here) has opened its books to international oil firms and is meeting regularly with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to keep them on board with the current payment system for Libya's oil exports.

National Oil Company Chairman Mustafa Sanallah said he and central bank Governor Saddek El-Kaber met with Libya's major oil buyers to reassure them that none of the payments were going to fuel hostilities between rival factions or be misused.  

"They know where our money comes from, and where it is sent in Libya," Sanallah said. "The money flow is very clear to them, and they were happy with this," he added.  

The assurances come as Libya's internationally recognised government, which runs an eastern rump state since fleeing the capital last year, said it wanted all oil exports to be paid for through a new state oil firm it is setting up in the east.... 

In the past oil resources in Africa, ie: Nigeria, were secured by militias or otherwise known as government military units. The people were disregarded and suffered consequences in securing those resources. Most Nigerians can tell the story. It was widely known and the pollution from the oil was overwhelming.

...Among the companies that he said the NOC met last month in Malta were U.S. ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum , Total, OMV, Eni and Statoil....

It appears the governance has shifted to east Libya. From this reporting Tripoli sounds like a shell of it's old self.

..."There are two institutions still working in Libya ... for the sake of Libya," Sanallah said, citing NOC and the central bank. "They are not on the side of any authority."...

The Libyan Civil War started in 2011 with the rise of a power structure in eastern Libya. It really appears as though they have won the war. If The West is approving of the eastern control of the national asset there has to be realization Tripoli is in chaos. There may have been a sovereign shift to the east. If the east can defend it's power structures and provide services to the people there is a new capital in Libya.

"Trade Arabia" is recognizing the reports by Reuters. In that could be a consensus of knowledge.

BENGHAZI, 1 hours, 32 minutes ago

The eastern Libyan state (click here) oil firm Agoco is producing between 250,000 barrels per day and 290,000 bpd, a company spokesman said, unchanged from previous weeks....

The deployment of military assets is the act of a sovereign government. In this reporting the Benghazi based government acted to prevent arms to rebels. The Benghazi government is looking for stability. It all adds up to a shift in the power structure.

24 May 2015

Libyan jets have attacked an oil tanker (click here) off the coast near the city of Sirte that the Benghazi-based government said was carrying reinforcements and weapons for rebel fighters.

“Our jets warned an unflagged ship off Sirte city, but it ignored the warning,” Saqer al-Joroushi told Reuters. “We gave it a chance to evaluate the situation, then our fighting jets attacked the ship because it was unloading fighters and weapons.

“The ship now is on fire. We are in war and we do not accept any security breaches, whether by land, air or sea,” Jourushi said.

An oil industry official said the ship was a tanker carrying 25,000 tonnes of oil. He named the tanker as Anwar Afriqya....

Who are the players? NAMES AND AFFILIATIONS. Who is The West doing business with? That will tell the tale of the actual change in power structure. The rebels in Tripoli claiming to be Daesh may already be defeated only they don't know it.

...Libya remains gripped by a power struggle between two governments fighting for control, with the internationally recognised government operating out of the eastern city of Benghazi having lost control of the capital, Tripoli, to the rival grouping last year....

Supposedly, there is a constitutional process coming into force. Yes or no?

By Mary Fitzgerald

...During Muammar Qaddafi's 42 years in power, (click here) Libya had no formal constitution. Finding constitutional solutions to the country's myriad challenges, the prickliest of which include managing oil wealth, decentralisation, the role of religion and minority rights, will be no easy task.
The CDA's path has not been smooth: just under 500,000 of Libya's 3.4m eligible voters took part in the assembly elections, raising questions from the outset about its legitimacy and the document it was commissioned to draft. Boycotts by the Amazigh and Tebu minorities along with security problems on polling day left empty 13 of the CDA's 60 seats, which are divided equally between the three historic regions of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. Eight of these were later filled in additional ballots. Ali Tarhouni, a liberal-leaning economist who lived in the United States for many years, was selected by his fellow members to head the CDA....

It is easy to tell they are Ba'athists. They are Saddam wannabes.

Manipulating water access was used by Saddam Hussein. Among the earliest interventions to benefit the people in Southern Iraq was to return water to the wetlands.

Daesh is no gift from god to form a caliphate. They are as brutal as the old dictator. One might say Saddam and his sons are reincarnated.

June 6, 2015

Islamic State (click here) militants have shut the gates to the Euphrates River dam in western Iraq, limiting the amount of water coming through, media reports have said. The tactic gives the group battlefield advantage, and has also sparked humanitarian concerns.

By reducing the flow of the water downstream, Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants have reportedly made it easier to cross the river and attack pro-government forces based further south.... 

Burning Daesh to the ground!

6 June 2015
Government forces (click here) and Shiite militiamen repelled two Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group attacks in Anbar province on Saturday, officials said. In one attack, they used anti-tank missiles to stop four would-be suicide car bombers.

Police and military officials said ISIS fighters attacked the government-held town of Husseiba with heavy mortar fire early Saturday. They say the attackers retreated after an hours-long battle, leaving behind three destroyed vehicles and five dead fighters. At least 10 troops and militiamen were wounded in the clash....

June 7, 2015

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) – An Iraqi general (click here) says troops backed by Shiite militias have recaptured key parts of the northern refinery town of Beiji from Islamic State militants.

The commander of the Interior Ministry’s Quick Reaction Forces, Brig. Gen. Nassir al-Fartousi, told state TV Sunday that the Iraqi flag was raised on a local government building in Beiji and that troops were advancing, without elaborating.

There was no word on the fate of the contested refinery on the town’s outskirts.
Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, fell to the extremist IS group during its blitz across northern Iraq a year ago, but parts of the town and nearby refinery have since been retaken by government forces.

The victories by the Iraqi forces are noted in several sources.

June 5, 2015

American and allied jets (click here) are providing air cover for a coalition of Iraqi forces that includes one of the most feared Iran-backed Shia militias, which stand accused of grotesque human rights abuses, The Telegraph can confirm.

Members of the Imam Ali Brigade are fighting alongside US-trained Iraqi special forces in the battle for the city of Baiji and its oil refinery, Iraq’s largest, special forces soldiers said.

Banners belonging to the brigade were also fluttering at the scene of the battle. The fight is a vicious back-and-forth campaign being fought both inside the refinery compound and the city, and in the desert surrounding them, that has lasted almost a year.

Coalition jets have joined in to bomb Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant positions, both the troops and the Pentagon say. 

Keta'ib Imam Ali is the same organization as the Imam Ali Brigade. It is Shi'ite. Al Sistani lead militias.

Keta'ib Imam Ali (click here) commander Abu Ezra receives Martyrdom Medal of Honour by Ayat. Sistani representatives in Kerbala 

June 3, 2015
By Bill Roggio

A photograph (click here) of a commander in the Iranian-backed Imam Ali Brigade being honored by representatives of Grand Ayatollah Sistani demonstrates that even the ‘moderate’ segment of Iraq’s political class are supporting Shiite militias that are directed by Qods Force....

The 12th Triple Crown (click here) victor ran the sixth-fastest winning time in Belmont history, besting second-place Frosted by 5 1/2 lengths in a wire-to-wire win. He was still a little off Secretariat's legendary ride, but now is second among Triple Crown winners in Belmont finishing time since the race has been 1 1/2 miles.

American Pharoah ranks with the greats. They are within 3 seconds of each other. American Pharoah's win was no mistake.

1. Secretariat, 1973 (2:24.00}
2. Easy Goer, 1989 (2:26.00)
3. A.P. Indy, 1992 (2:26.13)
4. Risen Star, 1988 (2:26.40)
5. Gallant Man, 1957 (2:26.60)
6. American Pharoah, 2015 (2:26.65)

His stride is very different than the rest of the field. I found it easiest to discern his gallop when he was in the back stretch. His gallop stride is less frequent than the other colts. His stride carried him further than the others. Maybe better said, he covered more ground with one stride length than the others. It was easier for him to run because of his stride length. He didn't have to work as hard as the others and sustained his lead from the beginning. In other words, he had plenty of reserve if it was asked of him.