Exploring the word assassination and Jeremy Scahill

"The Assassination Complex" (click here)

Jeremy Scahill is one of the three founding editors of The Intercept. He is an investigative reporter, war correspondent, and author of the international bestselling books Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield and Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. He has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria, the former Yugoslavia, and elsewhere across the globe. Scahill has served as the national security correspondent for The Nation and Democracy Now!.

Jeremy Scahill has a new book out and in his appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher," he believed using drones in warfare is assassination. He stated the US Congress doesn't have a clear definition for it.

Before I get in to the word, Jeremy Scahill pays a farewell to an important person involved with peace, "Father Daniel Berrigan." (click here) I think it is important to understand why Jeremy has such a strong focus on the moral reasons that surrounds war and death in war.

I don't have a clue about Congress's specific participation in defining assassination, but, the word does have a legal basis. I didn't go to Oxford University to discuss the history of the word, what I did find is an online article that explores the history of the word assassination. I was surprised. I didn't expect to see any history of a word at all.

First Merriam Webster:
Assassinate (click here): to kill (someone, such as a famous or important person) usually for political reasons

The article begins with assassination of President William McKinley and then goes on to explore the word itself.

Murder committed (click here) by a perpetrator without the personal provocation of the victim, who is usually a government official.

First used in medieval times to describe the murders of prominent Christians 
by the Hashshashin, a secret Islamic sect,the word assassination is used in the twenty-first century to describe murders committed to political reasons, especially against government officials. Assassination may be used as a political weapon by a state as well as by an individual; itmay be directed at the 
establishment or used by it.

The term assassination is generally applied only to political murders—in the United States, most commonly to attemptson the life of the president. 

However, the classification of any one incident as an assassination may be in part a matter ofperception....

There is a possibility the word assassination can take on a greater meaning, however, should there be a legal class greater than any other for the murder of a ranking political figure?

The blogger who claimed that Ted Cruz’s dad was in connection with John F. Kennedy’s murder has been found dead

May 12, 2016

Prominent Indianapolis blogger Gary Welsh (click here) has died, according to Indianapolis police, who say they are investigating the death as a “tragic suicide.”

Welsh, 53, wrote the widely followed conservative blog Advance Indiana, which he launched more than a decade ago. He also was a practicing attorney.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s incident report says officers were dispatched to the Lockerbie Glove Factory Lofts, 430 N. Park Ave., before 8 a.m. Sunday after receiving a report of a person found shot in the stairwell of the building. The witnesses who called 911 reported that a gun was next to the body.

IMPD Capt. Richard Riddle said he expects an autopsy will be conducted Monday. He said the Marion County Coroner’s Office will determine the official cause of death.

Welsh was known for hard-hitting blog posts that took swipes at both Democrats and Republicans.

Donald Trump should take a lesson from Warren Buffet. "The Buffet Rule"

May 13, 2016
By Brian Soloman

The Yahoo auction just got a few new wealthy bidders. (click here)
On Friday afternoon, Reuters reported that the world’s third-richest man, Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett is behind a consortium of investors bidding for some of Yahoo’s internet assets. Also on board: Quicken Loans founder and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.
Why Buffett and Gilbert would be interested in a declining business like Yahoo is unclear–although in a possibly unrelated move, Yahoo Finance did host the first livestream of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting. Last quarter, Yahoo reported $0.08 in adjusted earnings and $1.09 billion in revenue, both down significantly from the same quarter a year ago. At the time, Yahoo executives said the strategic alternative process was the company’s “top priority.”
Verizon has long been the rumored front runner for Yahoo, ever since it bought AOL’s similar media and advertising business in June of last year. The wireless giant wants to create an advertising technology platform that leverages the company’s deep knowledge about its more than 140 million customers....

The USA Air Force pieces B-52s together while the wealthiest Americans pay the lowest tax rate in 50 years. 

"The Buffett Rule: A Principle of Tax Fairness" (click here)

The average tax rate paid by the very highest-income Americans has fallen to nearly the lowest rate in over 50 years. The wealthiest 1-in-1,000 taxpayers pay barely a quarter of their income in Federal income and payroll taxes today—half of what they would have contributed in 1960. And, the top 400 richest Americans—all making over $110 million—paid only 18 percent of their income in income taxes in 2008. 

The devastation of the fires is incredible.

When a fire burns intensely, it burns longer and leaves behind a white and not black ash on the ground. When white ash is left behind there is complete mineralization of the items burnt.

13 May 2016
By Earnest Scheyder

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (click here) praised firefighters on Friday for defending the energy hub of Fort McMurray and promised the federal government would pour money in to its recovery.
Trudeau toured the town in a military helicopter and saw a patchwork of neighborhoods destroyed by an inferno that forced the evacuation of all 88,000 inhabitants. Some homes still stood, while others had burned to their foundations.
The inferno closed the extensive oil sands operations near the town and the effort to restart them is progressing slowly. The wildfire knocked out nearly half, or 1.07 million barrels per day (bpd), of Alberta's oil sands capacity....

If it takes millions of dollars US to refit these very valuable planes, it is impossible to realize the price for a new one.

From the testimony of the mechanics dedicated to keep them flying and breath a future into their massive engines, the US military needs to double the mechanic crews for mentoring those that can actually still work on them.

Long Island’s (click here) aerospace industry is profiting from maintenance and upgrade contracts worth millions of dollars for military aircraft that are as much as half a century old.
In 1954, Godzilla made his film debut in Tokyo, Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” gave voice to rock ’n’ roll rebellion, and the B-52 Stratofortress bomber flew for the first time.
Now, 62 years later, the B-52...

The current mechanics rarely gets home to play with their children or take their wives out for a date to dinner and a movie. The quality of life of our military families is as vital as the defense our soldiers provide this country.

The value of these jets cannot be matched by the security we provide them in flight. If they were lost in flight, their value and the value of their cargo would be a profound event considering the vital missions it was carrying.

Given the vast loss of any of these planes I have to wonder if smaller jets with smaller capacity is a more measure of wisdom.

Can Republicans debate issues without the religious standards they toss around?

Matthew 27:3
When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.

Here is one for you. Maybe it will help Republicans make that leap to sincerely wonderful souls.

2 Corinthians 4:1-2

4 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have the renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distrot the world of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 

Every child of God deserves love and praise.

What does the media think it's doing?

If it isn't a scandal about "The Clinton Foundation" it is "Donald Trumps' Gaming the Media." 

I can't count the number of times "The Clinton Foundation" has been supposedly caught up in a scandal. 

So, what!

It is no different than that extravagant review of the Trump jets. What is the point? Trump will purchase used jets for the US Air Force? The Air Force is already doing that.

Corrupt Wall Street CEOs go down hard, I guess.

Our military is completely compromised by fighting two wars over a decade long and the USA Air Force is doing more with less, while the F35 is a piece of junk. The American people are tired of the baloney life is handing them. I think the media's priorities need a very strong ethics overhaul.

And leave Donald Trump's youngest son alone!!!!!!!!

President Obama issued the guidance for Transgender children because there was a need in the country for it.

May 13, 2016
Fannin County Board of Education (click here) held a three and one-half hour meeting on Thursday night, May 12^th.  Two and a half hours were public comments about transgender bathrooms in Fannin County Schools.
It was standing-room only in the high school cafeteria.  Even more people were in the gymnasium.  Fannin Rebel TV, the high school television station, broadcast the meeting live to the people in the gym.  Around forty people gave comments about transgender bathrooms and people who do not fit traditional male/female gender identity. Except for attorney Ken Fletcher, everyone who spoke lives in Fannin county, has children in the school system or went through the school system themselves.  By the amount of people at the School Board meeting, Fannin County sent a loud and clear message to the School Board that they don’t want transgender bathrooms in Fannin schools. There were no counter-protesters outside the School Board meeting or along the walk from the First Baptist Church to the Fannin County High School cafeteria....

There have been multiple lawsuits in the country over that past few years regarding children and transgender.

13 May 2016
By David Ferguson

...“Shame on you!” (click here) says Jo. “Shame on you, Governor McCrory, for spreading hate and fear when you could be doing the opposite! A true leader would recognize that transgender individuals deserve all the love and respect that is deserved by all. Our transgender son is a sweet, loving young man who has displayed more courage than anyone else I know. Stop being a bully and leave our child and others like him alone!” Her husband Jon called McCrory and his Religious Right cronies haters and bullies, and says that sometimes he struggles to hold back his anger.

A decade ago, Jo and Jon Ivester struggled to describe their teenage daughter—a tomboy who played football with the guys in both 7th and 8th grades. They had no language to define their child, save the language of love. Today they understand their son Jeremy to be transgender; and by telling their story, and his, they hope to help other families on a similar journey.

The baby Jo and Jon named Emily was their third of four, and they knew from the toddler years that Emily didn’t fit the typical girlie-girl pattern—preferring hand-me-downs from her brother and stereotypical boy toys over the other clothes and activities on offer. But it would take two decades and a bridesmaid dress before the family—Emily included—realized that “tomboy” really meant “boy”—that Emily was transgender and needed a name and identity that fit....

Japan is looking forward to President Obama's visit to Hiroshima.

13 May 2016

By Justin McCurry 

The school uniform (click here)s Nobuko Oshita made for herself looks like it would turn to dust at the slightest touch. One sleeve of what is left of her stained summer blouse is missing. A metal badge bearing the name of First Hiroshima Prefectural girls’ high school is still attached to the lapel.

The 13-year-old was helping with demolition work when the US B-29 bomber Enola Gay released its atomic payload over Hiroshima on the morning of 6 August 1945. Rescue workers found Oshita, barely alive, amid the rubble and took her to her parents’ home, where she died that night.... 

12 May 2016
By Inga Vesper

Countries that forbid (click here) and punish abortions have higher termination rates than countries that permit and support these procedures, a study has found.

Research published today in The Lancet shows that abortion rates have dropped significantly in developed countries where abortions are allowed. But rates have remained static in developing countries where the procedure is criminalised and often undertaken in illicit, unsafe environments.

The evidence indicates that access to good healthcare and modern contraception are the most important factors in reducing abortion rates, says Gilda Sedgh, the study's lead author and a researcher at the Guttmacher Institute, a US organisation that aims to advance sexual and reproductive rights.

"In developing countries, family planning services do not seem to be keeping up with the increasing desire for smaller families," Sedgh explains. "More than 80 per cent of unintended pregnancies are experienced by women with an unmet need for modern methods of contraception, and many unwanted pregnancies end in abortion."...

The Lancet (click here)

11 May 2016

Interpretation

Abortion rates have declined significantly since 1990 in the developed world but not in the developing world. Ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health care could help millions of women avoid unintended pregnancies and ensure access to safe abortion.

This has nothing to do with Boko Harem.

Ogum State is in southwest Nigeria and it's southern border is the the Atlantic Ocean. Ogum State has the largest city in Nigeria and the country's captial city,  Abeokuta.

Ogum State is also called, "Gateway to Nigeria."

13 May 2016

By Premium Times

A four-storey shopping complex (click here) constructed by the Ogun State Government has collapsed with many people feared dead.

The project at the popular Itoku market of Abeokuta caved in Friday morning, trapping several construction workers, witnesses said.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun has arrived at the scene and is coordinating the rescue effort.

A witness said the building collapsed at about 9.00am, as workers were busy at the site. Six people were rescued and immediately taken to the hospital thirty minutes later, the source said.

Rescue efforts have continued more than three hours later, as personnel of the Fire Service, Ogun State Emergency Management Agency, Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, work to remove the debris to reach trapped victims....

Case in point regarding the UN Small Arms Treaty.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on "Counter-terrorism Efforts in Sub-Sahara Africa" has revealed the sincere effect of increased military focus on this region of the world.

The military budget for this region of Africa increased from one half billion US dollars to one billion US dollars. At the same time the USAID US dollars for democracy and governance were cut.

Here are two results of increased military spending by the USA.

April 21, 2016

By Elsa Buchanan

Around sixty soldiers (click here) are still missing in Chad following the country's presidential elections on 9 and 10 April, despite opposition calls for an independent investigation into their disappearance.

Were they USA trained soldiers? Or did they simply pick up guns and wore a uniform? Were they terrorists with an opinion different than Idriss Deby? This is ridiculous. What makes any USA authority think more munitions is going to bring about stability, democracy and governance? 

The missing military are believed to have vanished after having voted against the incumbent president, Idriss Deby,  who is seeking a fifth term in office in the election contested by 13 candidates. Members of the armed forces voted on 9 April along with nomads, while the rest of the population voted on 10 April....

In Somalia children are used as spies. I suppose that is an improvement from being child soldiers.

May 7, 2016
By Kevin Sieff
Mogadishu, Somalia - For years (click here) they were children at war, boys given rifles and training by al-Qaeda-backed militants and sent to the front lines of this country’s bloody conflict. Many had been kidnapped from schools and soccer fields and forced to fight.
The United Nations pleaded for them to be removed from the battlefield. The United States denounced the Islamist militants for using children to plant bombs and carry out assassinations.
But when the boys were finally disarmed — some defecting and others apprehended — what awaited them was yet another dangerous role in the war. This time, the children say, they were forced to work for the Somali government.
The boys were used for years as informants by the country’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), according to interviews with the children and Somali and U.N. officials. They were marched through neighborhoods where al-Shabab insurgents were hiding and told to point out their former comrades. The faces of intelligence agents were covered, but the boys — some as young as 10 — were rarely concealed, according to the children. Several of them were killed. One tried to hang himself while in custody.
The Somali agency’s widespread use of child informants, which has not been previously documented, appears to be a flagrant violation of international law. It raises difficult questions for the U.S. government, which for years has provided substantial funding and training to the Somali agency through the CIA, according to current and former U.S. officials....

There are other incidents in Central Sub-Sahara Africa where American munitions is creating nightmares rather than safety, democracy, governance and peace. The USA has no reason to be in Sub-Sahara Africa if it cannot bring about a better quality of life for the people there. Giving munitions to African governments turns their leadership into tyrants and not a democracy. Where democracy is practiced there is government intervention to be sure the current leader is elected again, basically a tyrant. 

GUNS ARE NOT THE ANSWER TO ANYTHING!

The world has already witnessed the wrongful ways of the USA in an invasion into Iraq. Is the USA going to continue to destabilize the world and CREATE more danger for civilized governments? The political question frequently asked in the USA is "Are we safer today than before 911?" By this measure and the increasing military push by the USA military advisers in Sub-Sahara Africa; no the USA is not safer and neither are our allies, because the USA fuels the violence and does not eliminate it.

The military focus of the majority Republican Congress is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to the USA, allies and third world countries.

George Zimmerman is becoming a multi-millionaire for shooting a young black man. Where is the law prohibiting this?

I consider this a human rights violation. It diminishes the value of life to monetary wealth. It is by far the most egregious expression of capitalism I've ever witnessed.

This is the result of anarchy. Gun laws that create vigilantism turn loose their worst fears and discrimination in life. The death of Trayvon Martin is a human's right violation as is the other wonderful young black men in the USA, including Tamir Rice. I think Tamir Rice is the youngest racist victim of gun violence in the USA to date. He is certainly the youngest since the global community began to learn of these inhumane conditions within the USA. 

March 13, 2016
By Jane Onyanga-Omar and Doug Stranglin

...The United Gun Group (click here) website began hosting the auction after another website, GunBroker.com, halted bidding. But United Gun Group briefly pulled the listing Thursday night, saying the auction was not in the organization's best interest.
“Our mission is to esteem the 2nd amendment and provide a safe and secure platform for firearms enthusiasts and law-abiding citizens; our association with Mr. Zimmerman does not help us achieve that objective," the organization wrote.
However, the auction was back up and running on the company’s website early Friday and the bid clock says it will be open for four more days.
GunBroker.com stopped the auction on its site Thursday and said Zimmerman never contacted anyone at the firm about the listing....

There are three of the five permanent members of the United Nation's Security Council in NATO.

Nuclear weapons (click here) are a core component of NATO’s overall capabilities for deterrence and defence alongside conventional and missile defence forces.... 

NATO is not about nuclear readiness for Europe, it is about the security of western civilization that is the focus.

NATO is mostly about conventional weapons and the size of any continental military force. The USA's nukes are needed in NATO, but, their conventional forces are important.

The formative years and privacy.

In the home environment gender is more or less invisible and on occasional play toy. Bothers play tricks on sisters and vice versa. If the home environment is healthy with a small measure of privacy for bathrooms, why can't school be a continuum? 

May 12, 2016
By Julia Hirschfeld Davis and Matt Apuzzo ...The move (click here) is certain to draw fresh criticism, particularly from Republicans, that the federal government is wading into local matters and imposing its own values on communities across the country that may not agree. It represents the latest example of the Obama administration using a combination of policies, lawsuits and public statements to change the civil rights landscape for gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people.After supporting the rights of gay people to marry, allowing them to serve openly in the military and prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against them, the administration is wading into the battle over bathrooms and siding with transgender people....

Quite possibly this is the first time in American education history the adults need to understand the definition of privacy to a child. Evidently, the sense of privacy begins about the age of two years old.

...Preschoolers (click here)

Why they need it: Now that they actually have a little independence, preschoolers can begin to manage some of the skills that come with it  -- like dressing themselves, pouring juice, or cutting with scissors  -- and they want to be alone while they're practicing them. "Preschoolers want to be like big kids, and it's harder to do that when Mom or Dad is hovering around wanting to help," says Smedley.

This is also the stage when kids' imaginations really take off. Pretending is how they work out conflicts, practice role-playing, and exert control in their lives  -- and they may get embarrassed if they know you're watching them playing pretend games.

How you'll know it: For many parents, the first sign that a child has truly grasped the concept of privacy comes when he closes the bathroom door. Where does this come from? Kids have seen their parents closing it all their lives-it's the most obvious act of privacy. They're not necessarily embarrassed about their bodies; they're just imitating grown-up behavior.

But don't be surprised if your preschooler orders you out of his room, too. Anna Gray Hart's 3-year-old daughter, Merrill, has taken to playing in the closet, carrying on elaborate conversations with a favorite stuffed animal. If Merrill catches her mom peeking, she says, "Go away, Mommy," and stops playing until she's alone again....

The real topic here is socialization and the sense of gender difference. I am sure Americans can identify the damage done to a transgender child that identifies with opposite gender than expressed by their physical gender. For the very young secondary sex characteristics are not developed and innocence is precious. Young children develop their sense of gender identity by their clothing and not their nudity. 

There are experts that can speak to the importance of gender identification and socialization.

"Duke Center for Child and Family Policy" (click here)

How qualified is qualified? Kenneth A. Dodge curriculum vitae (click here)

The United Nation's definition of child maltreatment (click here):

Child maltreatment refers to the physical and emotional mistreatment, sexual abuse, neglect and negligent treatment of children, as well as to their commercial or other exploitation. It occurs in many different settings. 

Gender identity is a powerful aspect of anyone's personality. A child should never be isolated in their perception of self in socialization growth. 

It is really amusing to think American parents might have problems in a new environment for transgender children. Americans simply don't know what to do with such ideas. That is unfortunate because parents are the strongest influence in a child's life. It is important every American child grow up happy and healthy in a society of acceptance. American parents have to shed the idea 'shame' is a good characteristic of a child's personality and behavior. 

To illustrate how clearly confusing this issue can be; when I was in High School I would occasionally where a "Lettered" (athletic letter) sweater or man's tie to school, sometimes both. My expression of masculine icons was not about gender identity is was about protests for gender equality. The idea outward expression alone is the key to gender identity can be a challenge. Even though cross dressing for me was a protest, it never moved me to attend a boys/man's bathroom. The transgender child will find identity with bathroom facilities and should be respected. This is the child's identity and not their protest.

It is my estimation that gender identity issues will manifest in schools rather than homes. Principals and teachers need to be ready to be a child's advocate.