Missing Americans in Dora, District of Iraq.

American soldiers called Dora the most dangerous place on Earth. No journalists should be venturing in Dora District, Baghdad, Iraq.

They were probably taken for ransom but that is not new to Dora. The violent groups living outside of government only have one interest and that is money. Other than money, there is nothing for them to negotiate. 

May 9, 2007
Baghdad -- Christians are fleeing in droves (click here) from the southern Baghdad district of Dora after Sunni insurgents told them they would be killed unless they converted to Islam or left, according to Christian leaders and families who fled.
Similar episodes of what has become known as sectarian cleansing raged through Baghdad neighborhoods last year as Sunnis drove Shiites from Sunni areas and Shiites drove Sunnis from Shiite ones, but this marks the first apparent attempt to empty an entire Baghdad neighborhood of Christians, the Christians say.
The exodus began three weeks ago after a fatwa, or religious edict, was issued by Sunni insurgents offering Christians a stark choice: to convert to Islam and pay an ancient Islamic tax known as "jizyah," or to depart within 24 hours and leave their property behind. If they did neither, they said, they faced death.
Sunni gunmen have been enforcing the edict with a dozen or so kidnappings, a shooting, by knocking on doors and by posting leaflets on walls--actions that have prompted hundreds of Christians to leave an area that was once home to one of Baghdad's largest Christian communities.
The insurgents' campaign in Dora is the first major incident of sectarian cleansing since the Baghdad security plan, a centerpiece of President Bush's strategy to win in Iraq, went into effect in mid-February and extra U.S. troops began arriving in Baghdad in an effort to retake the city from insurgents and militias.
"They are talking about security plans and bringing peace, but nothing arrived in Dora. There are no rules, no government and no government forces," said Bishop Shlimon Warduni, auxiliary bishop of the Chaldean Patriarchate, the ancient Christian sect to which most of the Christians in the Dora area belong. "This is a full-scale persecution. In all of Iraq's history we didn't face a situation like this."...

There just should not have been any question.

May 7, 2014
By Johathan Oosling
Lansing, MI -- Michigan lawmakers (click here) may use the state's "rainy day fund" to pour $195 million into Detroit as part of a "grand bargain" designed to speed up the city's exit from bankruptcy and minimize pension cuts for retirees.
A 10-bill package set to be introduced Thursday in the Michigan House would tap the Counter Cyclical Budget and Economic Stabilization Fund for a $194.8 million lump sum payment to Detroit pensions.
The fund would be replenished with tobacco settlement revenue over the next 20 years, meaning the state would not pay any financing costs.
"That's what we'll come out of the chute with," said state Rep. John Walsh (R-Livonia). "Like any bill, it'll be up to what we hear from the public and our colleagues. But it makes the most sense. The money is available. I would consider this an appropriate use of the rainy day fund."
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has emphasized rainy day savings since taking office in 2011, but his office has indicated that he would be open to using the fund for the Detroit settlement, which he strongly supports. The rainy day fund balance is projected to top $580 million by the end of the current fiscal year....

Up to the election of Rick Snyder to the Governorship the Rainy Day Fund was used to make up for budget falls. In the absence of state help, Michigan towns declared bankruptcy under Snyder's emergency managers. It has been disastrous. Most of the communities receiving an emergency manager are minority communities. The elected officials were removed from decision making and sales of any assets began. This tragedy in Flint is directly because of the harsh handling of it's emergency manager.

What is the Rainy Day Fund and how much does the state have in the fund? (click here)

---

 The Counter Cyclical Budget and Economic Stabilization Fund, commonly referred to as the Budget Stabilization Fund or the "Rainy Day Fund," was created in 1977 to serve as Michigan's "savings" account and to assist in stabilizing revenues during periods of economic recession. The fund provides a safeguard to protect critical programs for Michigan's citizens when the state experiences an economic downturn. The fund is accounted for as a subfund of the General Fund.The Rainy Day Fund had a balance of $386.2 million as of September 30, 2014. Below is a 10-year history of balances in the Rainy Day Fund:...

I understand the Detroit Free Press is receiving emails from the Governor regarding Flint, but, there is way to know if the release is all inclusive unless it is by order of a judge. I think it is important the Governor pass on the emails. But, in all honesty what can they possibly say?

There is a lot of old infrastructure in Michigan known to have severe winters. When emergency managers took over the cities they removed assets, but, never provided solutions to problems.

Janury 18, 2016
By Paul Egan
Lansing — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (click here) conceded in a Monday interview he's made mistakes in his handling of the Flint water crisis, which he called "a disaster" that reflects badly on him and his administration. But he also blamed entrenched bureaucrats for the lead poisoning and rejected suggestions he resign....

It seems to me the Snyder administration never cared about the people so much as removing assets and providing a platform for private industry to exploit the cities most effected by low employment.

Flint still has an 8.8 unemployment rate. (click here) The recovery act helped, but, there hasn't been much difference since this radical approach by Governor Snyder. Graph to left (click here).

Given the hippocracy of Rubio and Cruz, who is more trustworthy Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders?

October 20, 2015
By Phillip Bump

...certainly within the margin of error, (click here) mind you, meaning that it's probably safer to say that the two are viewed as about equally trustworthy. And while the numbers on issues generally map to the overall candidate choice, the numbers on trustworthiness are much friendlier to Bernie Sanders. Some number of Democrats think Sanders is more trustworthy, but still plan to vote for Clinton.

That said, given the past few months of headlines, the fact that Clinton is even close to Sanders on trust is surprising. We've written about Clinton's drooping numbers on trustworthiness. Among all voters in our poll last month, 56 percent found her to be untrustworthy.

Among Democrats, though? Different picture.

What's particularly interesting is that the numbers on trust have a stark divide. White voters are far more likely to view Clinton as less trustworthy than Sanders, and non-white voters are far more likely to view Sanders as less trustworthy....

Hypocritical. Rubio and Cruz stated they would require the Americans in Iran as part of the nuclear deal.

It is amazing to listen to hippocrits. (click here) Funding raising is paramount to these guys. When the Iran Nuclear Deal was made by Secretary Kerry, the Obama administration was criticized for leaving Americans in Iran by Cruz and Rubio.

Today, Cruz and Rubio is stating they would never have included Americans in the Iranian Nuclear Deal.

There are no refined points that changed their mind. They are politicians. They are happy the Americans, including a former Marine, are on their way home, but, never would have permitted it.

Reconstruction and relief is to begin tomorrow in Nepal.

May 12, 2015
Jessica Robertson and Heidi Koontz
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake (click here) struck Nepal on April 25, 2015 at 06:11:26 UTC. Visit the USGS event page to learn more about this earthquake.
Hundreds of aftershocks have occurred to date from this event, including a magnitude 7.3 earthquake at 07:05:19 UTC and a magnitude 6.3 earthquake at 07:36:53 UTC, both on May 12, 2015.

It has been a disastrous set of circumstances including a landslide (click here).

18 January 2018
Kathmandu, Nepal - Nearly 9,000 people (click here) were killed and more than 900,000 homes damaged in last year’s deadly earthquake in Nepal. Nine months after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the challenges facing survivors have increased as cold weather sweeps through the mountainous country.
With delays in the establishment of a National Reconstruction Authority, which has stalled the rebuilding of homes, many survivors are facing a harsh winter living in thin tents or huts made from metal sheets and bamboo. The government said work on rebuilding nearly a million houses as well as the heritage sites destroyed in the earthquake would begin this month.
At least six earthquake survivors are reported to have died from the cold because of inadequate shelter. Young children and the elderly are especially vulnerable.
The government has started giving each family affected by the earthquake $100, but many say that is insufficient to buy warm clothes and everyday essentials.
Volunteers, local grassroots initiatives and non-profit organisations in Nepal have been working tirelessly to provide families with supplies to keep them warm through the winter....

The earthquake also caused an avalanche on Everest.

January 19, 2016
By 9News

The five brightest planets (click here) will align in Australia’s morning skies tomorrow for the first time in more than 10 years.
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will rise together in a line that stretches from high in the north to low in the eastern horizon.
According to Professor Rachel Webster of Melbourne University’s astrophysics department, Australians will need to be willing to wake up early to see the planets, with the best views between 5.30am and 5.40am AEDT (Australian Eastern Daylight Time).

“The great thing is you don’t need a telescope to see the planets. They will be visible with the naked eye,” she said.
She said the key to spotting the alignment is to find a clear, west-facing spot above ground level....

“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” 
― Martin Luther King Jr.

San Bernardino

To begin I think the city needs to take back it's identity. But, it is a mistake not to recognize the ideology involved in the deaths of Americans.

A timeline would be helpful, but, I think what occurred was a young woman, well educated, but due to the ideologies of her father, she never valued her own worth beyond dying for Allah.

My understanding is that the couple was exposed to an ideology straight out of the mind of a madman. There is no religion on Earth that has the ideology to wipe out all others to control the entire population of human beings on Earth. The idea is not only bizarre, but, it is completely dreamed up. The ideology was dreamed up by men too desperate to surrender for the guilt they have in killing other people. International criminals came up with the ideology. Not an Ayatollah, or Imam or Cleric; criminals. 

The ideology of a caliphate is ancient. They developed after the death of Mohammad in 632. They were necessary. No different than other great societies, the caliphates were cultural and strong in defense of the human beings.

Italy would no more return to Caesar's empire than they would have the Earth stop spinning. There was a time of Caesar and it is over. Human beings have advanced out of their past and the caliphate. Caliphates are history and evidently the STRATEGY of international criminals to maintain their lives. What a better way to stay alive when wanted for human rights atrocities than to build an entire army to defend the indefensible.

There was never a call by any holy man to return a caliphate as if a phoenix. The criminals that began the return to a caliphate took the dignity out of Islam. They took the reputation away from Islam. They have turned Muslim against Muslim.

There is no doubt the USA has a problem with gun violence and mass killings, but, to state this incident was a lone wolf attack is a mistake. There was silly influence there and it was very wrong. There was no religious definition for the plans a woman deprived of "self" carried out. Was it a grand scheme right from the beginning? What do the records say? 

If the couple's plans were in praise of Allah, why did they have to hide the very plans that were to define their souls?

The violence that surround this couple is incredible. It was their neighbor who facilitated the plans. Plans are only plans unless they are enacted. So, the couple had help from people convinced they should be sympathetic to 'the cause.'

The deaths of San Bernardino by a couple newly married with a new baby has defamed Islam. Marriage of two devoted people to a religion they find at the center of their lives is a beautiful thing. Couples marry in a church or a mosque or a temple or synagogue to show the world they are blessed by their faith to wed. That level of commitment of two people is a beautiful thing. There are people married for decades and know no other than the person they married as young people. Devoted to each other. Devoted to their children. Devoted to their families. But, most of all devoted to an entire life of building and growing a future together. That entire idea was perverted by an ideology of madmen. That young woman had no other reason to live except to die.

There is a lot wrong here. The tangled web of a Masters prepared young woman has to be examined. The religious leaders have to make example of these people that hold onto the idea "killing for Allah" as a religious stepping stone to heaven. That is insane. It does not belong anywhere in the faith. Self-defense or being a soldier in a sovereign military to protect one's homeland is not the same at all as "killing for Allah."

There are greater problems about impoverishment in the middle east. There are problems with justice in the middle east. Some of the punishment issued is old world. Maiming cannot be a part of the future of the middle east. But, the greater problems of the middle east do not belong to the USA. Americans are used to thinking and saying that. Americans always believe they are the answer to every problem. That is not the case. 

But, what is true is that the USA has something most of the world admires. It has a domestic peace that exists within freedom. Not only does this peace exist within freedom, but, it has lasted for over 200 years. What made the USA great in 1776 is exactly what makes the USA great in 2016. Everyone wants that, but, they don't realize it isn't necessary to come to the USA to get it. 

The USA is either viewed as a great country or a great evil by people other than Americans. There is no in between. 

The terrorists that have committed murder in the USA are in prison. Some domestic terrorists were in prison until they were executed. The government and the law of the USA is nothing to toy with. However, our justice department is built on the idea people can be rehabilitated. The USA isn't so special, most if not all other countries understand how people can be rehabilitated.

It is that compassion that lives in most every country on Earth that separates the real evil from all others. Daesh is evil. There is nothing godly about the practices of such a regime. There is no tolerance of difference with Daesh. Daesh is absolute in their demands for power. That is not a government that cares about it's people, it is a dictatorship that kills indiscriminately to maintain fear, control and a reason for living. What is the reason for living with Daesh? None of the answers are applicable to a modern day society or the values of advanced societies.

And what about the child? What is the inheritance of the child this couple brought to this world? It isn't a good inheritance. It is a parental legacy of violence and death. That isn't what is suppose to define childhood in most of the world. But, Daesh uses it's children as chattel and sends them into regimes to kill. Why bother with the alphabet when all a child needs to know is the proper firing of an AK47 or some other heinous weapon of death.

The ideology this couple carried in their hearts and in their daily lives has taken away the definition of Islam and replaced it with death as a legacy to Mohammad.

The USA has a problem. It has too much potential for anyone to kill others. That should not exist in the USA, but, it does. The killing in San Bernardino was facilitated by freedom. It was facilitated by a gun lobby that has unreasonable power within the USA. 

Think about it.