Haider al-Abadi is Maliki's replacement and is now saying "Yankee go home."

2 December 2015
  
Iraq has said that any deployment (click here) of foreign troops on its soil cannot happen without approval of its government.
The Iraqi prime minister's comments came in response to the earlier announcement by the United States Defense Secretary Ashton Carter that the US will deploy "specialised" troops to Iraq to help fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.
"We do not need foreign ground combat forces on Iraqi land," Haider al-Abbadi said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The Iraqi government stresses that any military operation or the deployment of any foreign forces - special or not - in any place in Iraq cannot happen without its approval and coordination and full respect of Iraqi sovereignty."...

We don't belong in Iraq.

We never did.

9 September 2014
By Mohamed Madi

Iraq's deputy speaker (click here) Haider al-Abadi is the country's new prime minister.

One of Iraq's most senior politicians, he has held several high-profile posts since returning to Iraq from exile in 2003.
He succeeded in deposing incumbent Nouri Maliki as the preferred candidate of the Shia State of Law parliamentary coalition, although Mr Maliki initially bitterly disputed the appointment.
But Mr Maliki later announced he would step aside and back Mr Abadi.
Mr Abadi faces the task of rebuilding trust between the Iraqi government and the country's Kurds and Sunnis, who felt increasingly alienated under Mr Maliki.
He takes over at a time of deep national crisis, as Islamic State militants have taken over large swathes of northern Iraq....
 

December 1, 2015
By Rose Troup Buchanan

Four suspected jihadists (click here) have been arrested after they were believed to have been part of a terror cell that made threats against the Pope.

The four Kosovan men, three of whom were arrested in Italy and one in Kosovo, are suspected of “condoning terrorism” and “inciting racial hatred”, according to Italian police officials.

While none of the four appeared to have been active in any specific threat, authorities said they had been active online in promoting their ideology and described them as “highly dangerous”.

Those seeking to promote hate think they have found a successful way of organizing people to carry it out. This has nothing to do with Iraq or Syria or Daesh. It is a mimic. That is the danger of Daesh. Fighting a war is only escalating the ideology with people that want to promote hate so they can also have a war, too.

Among the alleged threats found online, prosecutors said the most disturbing messages were aimed at Pope Francis.

"Remember there won't be any pope after this one. This is the last. Don't forget what I am telling you," chief prosecutor Tommaso Buonanno told the Associated Press.

"They were threatening the Pope, celebrating the recent attacks in Paris and threatening the former US ambassador to Kosovo," Carmine Esposito, Brescia’s police chief, at the centre of the investigation, told Rai Tre.

Italy has increased its security in the wake of the Paris attacks that killed 130 people. Four Moroccans were expelled from the country last week.

2 December 2015
By Rodolfo C. Estimo, Jr.

Riyadh: Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh (click here) has called on preachers in the Kingdom to fight deviant thoughts and values that are not Islamic.
“This is in keeping with the significant role you play in contemporary Saudi society in view of various attempts to destabilize security and Islamic teachings and values,” Al-Asheikh said. He made the call during a meeting with preachers and workers in Badiah district.
Al-Asheikh said that guiding Muslims along the right path in accordance with correct teachings and values is part and parcel of their Islamic duties and responsibilities.
However, he said: “While you go about your task in disseminating Islamic thoughts, you’re at the same time expected to exercise tolerance to achieve the desired goals.” He urged preachers to be focused and exercise patience in the pursuit of what is right and proper, and to keep their links and associations with scholars.

I sincerely believe the Arab nations have to fight for the return of peaceful Islam after the illegal USA invasion into Iraq. The USA cannot do anything about this except stay out of Iraq and Syria.

2 December 2015
By the Arab News
 
Jeddah: Saudi Arabia has invited 65 leading members of the Syrian opposition to attend a meeting in Riyadh from Dec. 11 to 14 to discuss developing a united front against the Bashar Assad regime ahead of possible peace negotiations, according to media reports Tuesday.

Ahmed Ramadan, a member of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), confirmed the Saudi Foreign Ministry had “invited 65 figures to attend the conference in Riyadh,” one report stated.
He said no names were listed but it is expected participants would include 20 members from the SNC, seven from the National Coordination Body, 10 to 15 military leaders from various groups, and 20 to 25 independents. There would reportedly also be business leaders and religious figures attending.
Ramadan said the SNC would soon name those who would attend. He said the SNC had hoped that it would have more representatives because it represents several “large” groups, including the Kurdish National Council and parties that signed the Damascus Declaration in 2005.

 September 28, 2013
 By Stephen Lendman 

The Western-sponsored (click here) Syrian National Coalition (SNC) lacks legitimacy. It’s an artificial construct. It operates extrajudicially.
It’s a rogue outlaw gang. It supports war. It abhors peaceful conflict resolution. It wants Assad toppled. It wants governance subservient to Western interests replacing him.
It’s anti-democratic. It wants diktat rule. It wants Syrian sovereignty destroyed. It wants Syrians having no say over who’ll lead them. It represents what the great majority of Syrians oppose.
It doesn’t matter. Obama wants another imperial trophy. He intends war to get it.
On September 22, Russia Today (RT) headlined “Syrian National Coalition to attend Geneva 2 if transitional government on table.”
On July 6, Ahmad Jarba became SNC’s new president. He replaced acting head George Sabra. He succeeded Mouaz al-Khatib.
He resigned over lack of enough international support, internal divisions, and disarray among “rebel” factions.
According to the Economist, “there is little reason to believe (Jarba) will wield more influence than his successor(s).”...
...Moscow’s prepared to set a date. “The (SNC) vocally opposed the Russian-American plan to destroy Syrian chemical weapons.” said Lavrov....

We are dealing with tribes again. Pakistan has been dealing with tribes for it's entire existence. Why does the USA believe there can be a governing authority any different than that of Pakistan in Syria?

8 July 2013

...Mr Jarba has played a vital role in bridging (click here) the gap between tribes in eastern Syria and the opposition.
He is close to the faction of Syrian secular dissident Michel Kilo, who has sought to gain the support of minority groups in the face of a possible Islamist takeover.
Mr Jarba was a member of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), before joining the coalition.
He suspended his membership of the National Coalition in March 2013, following its appointment of Ghassan Hitto as prime minister of the organisation's interim government. Mr Jarba went on to help administer rebel-held areas.
According to the National Coalition's Facebook page, Mr Jarba "has been supporting the Syrian revolution, providing medical and military aid, since the beginning of the revolution". He has also been a "key figure in establishing political diplomacy", it says.
In recent months, Mr Jarba has been a leading advocate of providing arms to the opposition forces.
Although he often wears a Western-style suit and tie, some of Mr Jarba's official photographs show him wearing the traditional robe worn by Arab tribesmen.

December 1, 2015
By John Seewer

A white Cleveland patrolman (click here) shot a 12-year-old black boy carrying a pellet gun told investigators that he and his partner continuously yelled "show me your hands" before he fired the fatal shots, according to the officer's statement released by prosecutors Tuesday.
The rookie officer said of the estimated two-second encounter that Tamir Rice didn't obey his commands and that he saw the boy pulling a weapon out of his waist band.
"I knew it was a gun and I knew it was coming out," officer Timothy Loehmann said in the statement given to investigators.
It turned out Tamir was carrying a nonlethal, Airsoft-type gun that shoots plastic pellets when Loehmann shot him twice outside a recreation center on Nov. 22, 2014. He died a day later.
A grand jury will decide if Loehmann or his field training officer should be charged criminally for Tamir's death....

There was absolutely no MEANINGFUL warning. The police are lying. They shot before they thought yet alone warn a 12 year old to put his toy on the ground and put his hands up.

Chicago has been knee deep in corruption for a long time.

December 1, 2015

By Bill Ruthhart, Hal Dardick and John Byrne

Chicago Tribune

Mayor Rahm Emanuel (click here) on Tuesday announced he has dismissed Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, citing a lack of public trust in the police leadership in the wake of the high-profile shooting that eventually led to a white officer being charged with first-degree murder in the death of a black teen shot 16 times in a Southwest Side street last year."Superintendent McCarthy knows that a police officer is only as effective as when he has the trust of those he serves," Emanuel said at a City Hall news conference where he appointed a task force to look at police accountability.
Emanuel said he and McCarthy on Sunday began discussing the future of the Police Department and "the undeniable fact that the public trust in the leadership of the department has been shaken and eroded."
"This morning, I formally asked for his resignation," said Emanuel, who said McCarthy can be proud of his record. "Now is the time for fresh eyes and new leadership to confront the challenges the department and our community and our city are facing as we go forward."...

Deep seated corruption has a life of it's own. It is safe to say  Chicago has a problem that needs to be addressed. Some times a leader of such a city has to find the time and incident to bring about scrutiny and change. I think Mayor Emanuel has to lead Chicago to a renewal of law enforcement. He has had some terrible problems with police problems, including the manipulation of police statistics. It is time Mayor Emanuel clean house and find people worthy of their salary.

...On October 28, a pathologist ruled (click here) the death of Tiara Groves a homicide by “unspecified means.” This rare ruling means yes, somebody had killed Groves, but the pathologist couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause of death.

Given the finding of homicide—and the corroborating evidence at the crime scene—the Chicago Police Department should have counted Groves’s death as a murder. And it did. Until December 18. On that day, the police report indicates, a lieutenant overseeing the Groves case reclassified the homicide investigation as a noncriminal death investigation. In his writeup, he cited the medical examiner’s “inability to determine a cause of death.”

That lieutenant was Denis Walsh—the same cop who had played a crucial role in the alleged cover-up in the 2004 killing of David Koschman, the 21-year-old who died after being punched by a nephew of former mayor Richard M. Daley. Walsh allegedly took the Koschman file home. For years, police officials said that it was lost. After the Sun-Times reported it missing, the file mysteriously reappeared....

The cover-ups need to stop with better law enforcement for the city. Firing the Chicago police commissioner is just the beginning and not the end.

Sometimes it seems as though there are only Republicans in the USA. "W"rong.

Saturday, December 19, 2015 (click here)
ABC News Democratic Debate
8pm ET (7pm CT, 5pm PT) 
Aired On: ABC (Live Stream)  
Location: Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire  
Sponsors: ABC News, WMUR  
Moderators: David Muir and Martha Raddatz  
Candidates: Clinton, Sanders, O'Malley

Sea ice increases does not prove there is a cooling Earth, quite the contrary.

Sea ice increases in Antarctica is due to glacier melt water runoff. It has nothing to do with cooling oceans. More sea ice in Antarctica is bad news. It means the glaciers and terraces are melting. It is spring in the southern hemisphere. The "Melt Water" run off is creating more sea ice. That is all it is.

February 10, 2015
Sea ice increases in Antarctica (click here) do not make up for the accelerated Arctic sea ice loss of the last decades, a new NASA study finds. As a whole, the planet has been shedding sea ice at an average annual rate of 13,500 square miles (35,000 square kilometers) since 1979, the equivalent of losing an area of sea ice larger than the state of Maryland every year.

“Even though Antarctic sea ice reached a new record maximum this past September, global sea ice is still decreasing,” said Claire Parkinson, author of the study and climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “That’s because the decreases in Arctic sea ice far exceed the increases in Antarctic sea ice.”...

The scientific community has seen this before when the UK expedition measured marked increases in sea ice around Antarctica a few years ago.

What is new about this report is the global picture. Antarctica's sea ice increase is accompanied by a global picture of decreasing sea ice. That is new. But, it all fits the picture when realizing we are losing our ice fields and glaciers. It wasn't long ago politicians would get their hands on a report about advancing glaciers, but, they never bothered to see the global picture and why those advances occurred. This report does the hard work to bring global issues to focus when reporting ONE MEASURE of what may seem like relief to Earth's warming. It is inaccurate to speak in pieces of a global phenomena.

In 2004 the Taku Glacier was reported as having advances to it's width, height and length. The Taku Glacier is at the top of the Juneau Icefields.  The Juneau icefields spans Alaska, USA and Canada. They are considered temperate glaciers because they react quickly to climate change. They are located near the Pacific Ocean and the temperature of that ocean.

In the very same time frame in 2004, the lowest glacier in elevation in the Juneau Icefields, the Mendenhall Glacier was in profound retreat. 

Those two realities brought an understanding that warming was having different effects on different glaciers, but, why? 

The picture to the left is the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska. It's terminus (front edge) at one time existed all the way to the falls to the right, the falls were ice and not water and the height of the glacier was not easily climbed. All the exposed ground in this picture was once buried under the Mendenhall Glacier.

Why was it the Mendenhall Glacier was retreating and losing ice and receiving no recharge (recharge is the snow that falls on top of the glacier. Eventually, that snow will compact under the weight of more snow and become the famous blue ice) while the Taku Glacier was advancing due to receiving recharge?

The DEW POINT. 

The dewpoint is the temperature to which a given parcel of air must be cooled, at constant barometric pressure, for water vapor to condense into water. The condensed water is called dew. The dewpoint is a saturation point.

The water vapor of Juneau icefields that provided recharge to all the glaciers was no longer on ground level. The dew point had moved up in elevation. The air near the lowest glacier no longer was saturated with water to provide the snow for recharge. The Taku glacier was to benefit from the hotter troposphere. 

So, in relation to sea ice, the global picture shows a decrease, while Antarctica actually showed an increase in sea ice. There is only one Antarctica. The loss of ice on the Antarctica continent resulted in a colder circumpolar temperature as the melted ice ranoff in that circulation. The colder temperature of that water flow resulted in larger amounts of sea ice.

The reason politicians are successful in the USA to divert the truth about Earth's warming is because the planet is different in every corner of the world. There is different geography is also different effects on climate. The best example of such microclimates occurs in Africa. 

...Casey was taking part in a September 2012 research expedition (click here) to Kilimanjaro to study the ice at the summit. For scale, bright tents that were part of the scientists' base camp are visible in the lower left of the northern ice field image.

Despite Mount Kilimanjaro’s location in the tropics, the dry and cold air at the top of the mountain has sustained large quantities of ice for more than 10,000 years. At points, ice has completely surrounded the crater. Studies of ice core samples show that Kilimanjaro’s ice has persisted through multiple warm spells, droughts, and periods of abrupt climate change.

But trends beginning more than a century ago suggest Kilimanjaro’s peaks may soon be ice-free. Between 1912 and 2011, the mass of ice on the summit decreased by more than 85 percent. Researchers say it’s no longer a question of whether the ice will disappear but when. Estimates vary, but several scientists predict it will be gone by 2060....
 
Mount Kilimanjaro clearly states when elevation exists in tropical rainforests, there are glaciers. However, in the case of Kilimanjaro, it was the forest at lower elevations that protected the ice from disappearing due to warming at higher elevations. 

The rainforests were degraded by human activity and that lush green place in the foothills of Kilimanjaro provided water vapor to allow recharge at the top of the mountain. 

When the rainforest disappeared so did the snow and Mount Kilimanjaro lost it's ice. In that reality know the negative feedback loop. As the forest supported the ice cap, the ice cap also cooled the foothills. The foothills rainforests would not return without considerable effort to begin THE BALANCE of the mountain all over again.

Global systems are balanced. When balance is lot there is unrelenting negative feedback loops that are difficult to bring about to restore, but, it is vital they are restored.

No individual event defines a global climate crisis. The entire picture is where the truth lies.

I am somewhat surprised the Republicans are courting pastors and ministers. I thought churches enjoyed non-profit status because they are apolitical. Is that not the case? There has been a seismic change in non-profit status for churches and their pastors and ministers?