Fire, flooding and climate.

April 21, 2017

By Traci Eatherton

The 1,200 residents of Satanta in Haskell County were evacuated Sunday afternoon as firefighters worked to contain a grass fire fed by strong winds.

...Last year's high wheat yield and low wheat prices (click here) have some growers looking at other crops, such as soybeans and corn, for the year. "I drove across the southern tier of (Kansas) counties, and saw a lot of wheat being grazed out. Crops being bailed for hay. And some being sprayed, terminating the crop, which are all indications that farmers may be changing crops," said Romulo Lollato, Kansas State University Extension forage specialist.

Total 2017/18 seedings of winter, other spring, and durum wheat for the 2017/18 marketing year, were reported in the NASS Prospective Plantings at just 46.1 million acres, which is 4.1 million acres smaller than the previous year's plantings. Winter wheat seedings are expected to be 3.4 million acres smaller than for the current marketing year, with durum and other spring planted area down 400,000 and 297,000 acres, respectively....

April 11, 2017

By USDA

Global 2016/17 wheat supplies (click here) are raised 1.7 million tons due to higher projected beginning stocks and a 0.3-million-ton increase in production. The change to beginning stocks stems from a 1.4-million-ton reduction in 2015/16 domestic consumption, primarily in the EU. World exports are lowered 0.3 million tons led by 0.5-million-ton decreases each for Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Partly offsetting are higher projected exports for the EU and Ukraine. Total global consumption for 2016/17 is lowered 0.6 million tons to 740.8 million with a 1.0-millionton decrease in the United States, more than offsetting a small net increase for foreign countries. With supplies rising and use declining, global ending stocks are raised 2.3 million tons to 252.3 million....

April 18, 2017

By Bob Burgdorfer

...“The first fields of corn were planted; (click here) however, fieldwork in most areas was limited to spring tillage and fertilizer application,” the Nebraska report said.

Topsoil moisture was adequate to plentiful throughout the Midwest, with Iowa reporting 99% adequate to surplus, Illinois 96%, Indiana 94% and Nebraska 77%....

...“Central and eastern counties continued to receive rainfall, while most western counties remained dry. The additional rainfall aided pasture and wheat development but continued to delay corn planting in many areas,” the Kansas report said. “Powdery mildew and stripe rust have been identified in some wheat fields.”...

...Oklahoma is still contending with drought conditions in eastern areas of the state, although rain did fall in much of the state. Statewide topsoil moisture was rated 5% surplus, 66% adequate, 22% short and 8% very short....

Any commodity coming out of Oklahoma should be tested for methane contamination. The waters in Oklahoma are contaminated and that includes any irrigation. The fracking in Oklahoma has contaminated the water as well as the land. All products of any kind that will find their way into animal or human consumption should be tested for methane contamination.

This is not the first time there has been overflow into the Flint River from sewage plants and it won't be the last.

The Flint River in Michigan was never suppose to be a water source for human consumption. It has poor recharge and it sincerely is not that big a river to supply water for human consumption.

March 31, 2017

By Dominic Adams

Flint, MI - Sewage and storm water (click here) were discharged from the city's wastewater treatment plant into the Flint River early Friday morning and health officials urge people to avoid contact downstream, the city said in a statement.

The discharge was from the recent heavy rains that exceeded the plant's ability to treat convey sewage into the plant, the statement said.

Sewage and wastewater overflowed into the Flint River at about 3:53 a.m., March 31 and city officials did not say how much was discharged into the river or how long it lasted.

MLive-The Flint Journal could not reach city officials for comment.

The wastewater treatment plant retention and treatment basin discharges into the Flint River whenever its capacity and the plant's capacity are exceeded, the statement said....

No, no, no, no. Uga!

Wrong way to go is to follow the idea citizens have to be covert. Comey is creating his own need to exist with such wacko ideas.

This is the country where surveillance meets communication technology with respect.  Being forced into hiding is not the way to go. Absolutely not!

REMEMBER, this is happening under Trump and he already committed to Comey as FBI Director. This is not the way to live in a democracy. We are still a democracy, aren't we?

March 31, 2017
By Alex Cranz

Until yesterday, FBI chief James Comey (click here) seemed like a pretty savvy internet user. The guy knows that you’re supposed to cover your webcam with tape to hide from the NSA and WhatsApp is a fantastic way to communicate securely—even if he hates you for using it. But when the numbnuts set out to make a series of secret social profiles online, he elected to use the name of a 20th century theologian known almost exclusively to theology students and political figures trying to sound smart.

Now, thanks to some very smart journalism by Ashley Feinberg, a senior reporter form Gizmodo Media Group’s Special Projects Desk, everyone knows the head of the FBI is probably an egg on Twitter who likes New York Times stories about himself.

So, apart from eschewing social media all together, how can you, a private citizen, avoid a similar reverse-doxxing?...

Pence is afraid of his own lack of identity to dine privately with a woman.

Subliminal message, "Women can't be trusted with fidelity. It is not my fault."

"Uga! Uga!" One word, right? Exclamatory sentences, correct? I don't speak Caveman, so I am assuming there is an exclamation point after each guttural sound.

Maybe three "Uga!" are better. "Uga! Uga! Uga!." Better? Right?

March 31, 2017
By Jessica Valenti

I have to hand it to conservatives: (click here) it’s 2017, and somehow they have Americans debating whether it’s appropriate to dine alone with a woman.

You see, this week a Washington Post article about Karen Pence revealed that the vice-president will not eat a meal with a woman other than his wife. Those on the right are commending Pence’s marital devotion and moral fortitude, claiming that such a rule is a smart defense against sexual temptation.

One conservative blogger questioned where there was ever a good reason for a married person to eat out alone with a member of the opposite sex; the former CEO of the blog RedState chimed in to answer: “Planning your spouse’s surprise party or funeral and that is it.”...

No immunity for Flynn. Facts will come forward in trial IF he is defensiable at all.

March 31, 2017
By Chad Day, Eileen Sullivan and Julie Pace

Washington - Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn (click here)is in discussions with the House and Senate intelligence committees on receiving immunity from "unfair prosecution" in exchange for agreeing to be questioned as part of ongoing probes into possible contacts between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, his attorney says.

"General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit," attorney Robert Kelner said Thursday.

Kelner said no "reasonable person" with legal counsel would answer questions without assurances that he would not be prosecuted, given calls from some members of Congress that the retired lieutenant general should face criminal charges....

Very little of the trial will be public due to his positions of power in the government. In that lies an opportunity for THE TRUTH in closed sessions. Either he is guilty or not. Let him prove his innocence with THE TRUTH. There is no reason to offer him a deal.

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/article141893424.html#storylink=cpy

Campaign promises are frequently lies. The difference between mainstream politics and Trump, is that Trump believes the lies.

March 28, 2017

About 35 years ago in Flagstaff, (click here) a prostitute more than held her own in a game of mental chess while answering questions from a prosecutor during the murder trial of an infamous motorcycle gang president.

Her testimony contradicted statements she had earlier given authorities, yet she held firm that the version she was giving on the witness stand was the truth.

And, the prosecutor asked, did that mean the earlier contradictory statements were a lie?

Absolutely not, she replied. When asked how they could not be considered a lie, she flippantly replied, “I wasn’t under oath then.”

Amazingly, a similar mentality is at work in a legal hearing from the man who once bragged that he was the “Toughest Sheriff in America.”

Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio currently faces a misdemeanor charge for disobeying a court order to discontinue immigration patrols. Those patrols, the Associated Press reported, continued for 17 months after a judge issued the order.

He is now asking the judge hearing the criminal contempt-of-court case to not allow statements he made on the campaign trail concerning immigration enforcement to be used in the current case against him.

There is no denying he made the statements, but according to court records they should not be admissible because they were “not made under oath.”...

How is peaceful genocide carried out?

Seriously, now. The White Supremacists want to carry out peaceful genocide.

How does that happen?

Yes, I think this is a serious issue.


Cultural Degradation and lack of enforcement of principles that uphold it.

"Cultural Degradation and Minority Student Adaptations: (click here) The School Experience and Minority Adjustment Contingencies." George W. Noblit and Collins, Thomas W.

Counterpoints

Vol. 44, Particularities: Collected Essays on Ethnography and Education (1999), pp. 127-141

As a collective, the people of the USA are being taught that celebrations 'away from work' causes a loss in economic viability as a country. That is a lie. Such celebrations make us stronger in all aspects. Celebrations bring about an economy that upholds the integrity of the morality of a society. Should we do away with the 4th of July and replace it with April 30th?

The point is the USA has built a society that values freedom, social order and humanity. We strive to do better than the generation before facilitated by that very generation of parents. That is a phenomena we should all cherish, yet in the year 2017 the poison that pervades our society is removing the government previous generations have nurtured. We are, or already have, losing our culture. That degraded culture is being replaced by the "Culture of the Homeless."

Does the Republican Party have a culture? What is it?

Rudeness, bullying, power misdirected, but, also there is the social culture of such values as Paleo/Carnivore/Caveman. The dietary staple of the homeless is eggs and beef. Carbs as available. I don't care where one looks, the soup kitchens serve the caveman diet to the homeless. 

Do the homeless have a culture? You betcha.

Women are fought over in the USA in the streets as a symbol of masculinity. That is the culture of the chronically homeless. Cavemen and their women euphemistically dragged by the hair. No joke.

How do you get the disenfranchised to vote?

You relate their culture back to them in a way that provides hope. 

"The Art of the Deal" can take up to ten years to achieve and that is why the Trump voter is satisfied with the ? progress ? 

Ten years? In government that is a flash of light.

...He began his work in 1966 in Boston, (click here) after visiting the Columbia Point Health Center -- a successful clinic bringing health care to low-income residents of the community. Kennedy came away impressed with the clinic's ability to provide treatment to low-income populations. He was aware of a similar clinic in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, and saw in the two clinics a model that could be replicated across the nation to provide more health care to people who needed it. He introduced an amendment to the Economic Opportunity Act that set aside $51 million to establish another 30 centers around the country. Today, as a direct result of Senator Kennedy's vision as a 34-year-old, first-term senator, 20 million low-income Americans receive access to quality primary care at 1,200 community health centers across all 50 states and U.S. territories...

The Art of the Deal holds no magic act. It provides nothing in the way of a policy or platform. It is about power and how to PERSISTENTLY press an agenda. That is definitely a form of art. A deal? Negotiations are always ongoing and in government are hardly a deal. Policy invokes any COMPROMISE.

Do I think Donald Trump has something unique to add to the USA's proud history of diversity, humanity and justice? Absolutely not. The longer his administration continues, the more and more it is evident it has an agenda that degrades the American culture and belongs nowhere in governance.

Keep feeding the homeless and generating false hope and the elections may work out for Republicans for awhile considering the term of a president is eight years and Trump's dealing can take ten.

Recognize racism where it exists and make example of it.

Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.) is an Americanfederal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is aroundKing's birthday, January 15. The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

Federal Holidays (click here)

2017 Federal Holidays

• Holiday

  Date
• New Year's Day

  January 2*
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

  January 16
• George Washington’s Birthday

  February 20*
• Memorial Day

  May 29
• Independence Day

  July 4
• Labor Day

  September 4
• Columbus Day

  October 9
• Veterans Day

  November 10*
• Thanksgiving Day

  November 23
• Christmas Day

  December 25

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a birthday holiday. President's Day is a birthday holiday. There is some resistance in the USA to discriminate against birthdays that are national holidays. If businesses recognized Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a holiday for their employees, then President's Day would have to be remembered as well. FOR THE RECORD, I find President's Day an insult to our history.

That stated, there are some folks that believe if President's Day is celebrated than there is an obligation to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In that case the business celebrates neither.

Then there are the businesses that recognize President's Day, but, not Martin Luther King, Jr. Day because after all he was never a President. That is true, but, the fact he wasn't a President, but, had the leadership of the minority communities in the USA he is a pivotal figure as was George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

We honor the minority populations in the country with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day because we know for a fact they have suffered IN OUR LIFETIMES. There is still racism in the USA and it needs to end, but, it isn't going to end if businesses hold themselves in different esteem than government AND THE PEOPLE.

Recently, "Chase" Bank ran an incredible campaign and featured nothing but African Americans in photos in their banks. Everyday African Americans and celebrities to bring more of an interest by minority populations and exert tolerance with all their customers. It was a magnificent campaign; conducted without asking; and I thank "Chase" Bank.

So, what happened to Martha Stewart Living?

This is Martha's personal calendar which she features in her magazine every month. This is "Marths's Winter." 

On January 16, 2017 Martha celebrated birthdays, but, not Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. She celebrated "Sister Kathy's and friend Kate Berry's birthdays. 

In February, she celebrated Groundhog's Day and low and behold Presidents' Day. On Presidents' Day she "Order summer bulb." 

This is racism. Recognize it and call it out.


The politics of the Republican Party embrace racism and value it's power.

James Comey is laughable. He really expects us to believe he didn't throw the 2016 race to Republicans? LOL! He was advised by the black woman Attorney General Loretta Lynch about STANDARD policy. Excuse me? Comey only wants to have the power to do it again. Someone needs to ask former AG Lynch if she ever thought Comey had racist tendencies. I think that fact is obvious.

The global trade agreements allowed for laziness in the financial markets.

After Brexit, those employed in the  financial institutions will have to work for a living.

March 29, 2017

By Griff Witte

London — A little over nine months (click here) after British voters chose to withdraw from the European Union, Britain took a decisive — and likely irreversible — step Wednesday toward leaving a partnership that has bound the country to the continent for nearly half a century.

With the simple handoff of a letter in Brussels in the early afternoon, the British government became the first country to ever trigger Article 50 — the mechanism by which nations can exit the European Union.

“This is a historic moment from which there can be no turning back,” Prime Minister Theresa May announced to a momentarily hushed House of Commons, before debate later turned rowdy.

In Brussels, European Council President Donald Tusk said there was “no reason to pretend that this is a happy day.” ...

There are always winners and losers everyday on Wall Street. Grow up.

Governance is not about currency, it is about people.

The focus of governance of previous generations has always been to support Wall Street no matter the price to citizens. That is not governance, that is corruption. Government officials obsessing over currency and needed balance between citizen rights and Wall Street profits is nonsense.

Citizens of any country are to come first. Quality of life comes first. We tried it the other way and it doesn't work. The few receiving vast incomes don't act responsibly with their monies or business interests. Those receiving vast incomes act in producing more vast incomes from elaborate financial instruments. THEY GAMBLE.

Pound vs Sterling (click here)

Everyone is familiar with the currency of the United Kingdom which is more commonly known as the pound. Sometimes, however, the word “sterling” is used to describe the UK currency. Are these two different things? Pound and sterling are used interchangeably in the United Kingdom, but is there really a difference between these two words used for the currency denomination?...

Brexit is causing turbulence in the currency markets today.

So.

Products produced in Great Britain will not be effected by currency fluctuations. A sterling is a sterling is a sterling. The real impact will be trade. That is primarily where currency markets always have their impact.

Currency is a sovereign entity of a sovereign country. Fluctuations are as old as money itself. Fluctuations occur. The financial markets will probably mark losses, but, perhaps not. 

"The tail doesn't have to wag the dog." Local economies are more resistance to fluctuations.

Here:

GDP is about national credit and can effect it's rating from FINANCIAL INSTITUTES. 

It is threatening to think a single citizen of the USA can act irresponsibility toward others. The Trump administration is irresponsible and obsessed with their populous extremist agenda.

The US EPA does not have an extremist agenda. Trump is propaganda. There is only one way to stop toxic levels of CO2 that create acid that destroys life, destroys jobs, destroys a food supply, destroys economies and that is to stop emitting carbon dioxide.

Oddly, on a global scale, China is taking the lead on the climate. It has recently shutdown a significant amount of it's coal mines and laid off many workers that will eventually be retrained and reassigned to other areas of work. China has become conscience of climate and it's relation to quality of life. 

The interesting aspect of China and it's new leadership on Climate is the extent to which it has positioned itself globally. Most countries on Earth have a relationship with China. China can now act to improve the quality of life and air of other countries. China has literally stepped up to take over the USA's moral authority.

The USA has really stupid people in leadership at the federal level right now.

NO, I am not crying. 

I am sure if Rachel Carson was still alive she would simply state, "There is no crying within the environmental community. We can't help it we are the smart guys."

Rachel Carson achieved magnificent work by writing, talking and educating the public. There are no shortage of USA citizens that can do it all over again.

Claiming to be a builder, the fact is Trump is just a stupid guy.

This is acid rain. I strongly suggest seek other authorities and/or rulemakers to protect investments.

Acid rain is a direct product of coal burning plants.

Trump knows how to create debt to avoid paying taxes. He is about greed not responsible citizenship or responsible investment.

January 10, 2017

Elizabethtown - Progress against acid (click here) rain has led to healthier lakes in the Adirondack Park, which in turn is helping to protect fish from climate change, according to a study published in the journal Global Change Biology.

“This is a perfect example of why we can’t go backwards on acid rain and air pollution,” said William C. Janeway, Executive Director of the Adirondack Council, a national leader in the battle against acid rain.  “If acid rain makes a comeback during the Trump administration, we will lose this newfound protection and everything will start getting worse again.  That would be tragic.  The recovery of Adirondack waters and the associated economic benefits have been real.  But the recovery isn’t complete.”

President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to eliminate federal environmental regulations and reduce the size and scope of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Federal regulations administered by the EPA have resulted in significant reductions in the air pollution that causes acid rain.

Over the past 25 years, most Adirondack lakes have improved.  Some that were once considered dead are now producing healthy brook trout again.  Others need further reductions in upwind emissions, and time, to regain their vitality.

Through this study, scientists have learned that protection from acid rain provides fish and other aquatic life with greater protection against global warming.  It all has to do with how much sunlight reaches the lake bottom....

CO₂ + H₂O  H₂CO<sub>3

The figure above is carbonic acid. It is directly responsible for water acidification. Greatest concern is the acidification in fisheries. It is pure idiocy that cuts protections developed over decades to protect life, human life.

Jobs and the economy.</sub> 

Suppressing evidence is not new. This should have been expected.

March 28, 2017
By Devlin Barrett and Adam Entous

The Trump administration (click here) sought to block former acting attorney general Sally Yates from testifying to Congress in the House investigation of links between Russian officials and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, The Washington Post has learned, a position that is likely to further anger Democrats who have accused Republicans of trying to damage the inquiry.

According to letters The Post reviewed, the Justice Department notified Yates earlier this month that the administration considers a great deal of her possible testimony to be barred from discussion in a congressional hearing because the topics are covered by the presidential communication privilege.

Yates and other former intelligence officials had been asked to testify before the House Intelligence Committee this week, a hearing that Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) abruptly canceled. Yates was the deputy attorney general in the final years of the Obama administration, and served as the acting attorney general in the first days of the Trump administration.

President Trump fired Yates in January after she ordered Justice Department lawyers not to defend his first immigration order temporarily banning entry to United States for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees from around the world....

Trump cannot deny he was personally involved in any of the decisions about Russia. During his campaign he solicited Russia openly to help his campaign win the White House. Did he not? Absolutely he did. Now, he is trying to suppress evidence that backs up his arrogant campaign chants.

Such reality only brings to mind the fact his son-in-law, Kushner is now responsible for all kinds of decision making in the White House. Trump will sell out is own relatives in order to carry out his bizarre presidency. No surprise there. 

The special (click here) Senate Watergate investigation committee chaired by Senator Sam Ervin, D, NC (in center of the picture) revealed that President Richard M. Nixon was personally involved in the "cover-up" of the break-in and other illegal activities via the so-called Plumbers Unit that included political espionage carried out against Senator Edmund Muskie (D, Me) who at the time was the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination.

And what is the defense of the US Senate for attempting to further suppress evidence? "Blame the victim." And what a victim it is, a woman, easily a disposable person in the world of Republicans.

March 28, 2017

From Haaretz and the AP

That is interesting. Haaretz is carrying a sincere interest in the cover up. Very interesting.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee (click here) is asking whether an open congressional hearing on the Russia probe was canceled because the White House did not want former acting Attorney General Sally Yates to testify and assert executive privilege.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California says Yates was poised to testify Tuesday about the events leading up to the firing of Donald Trump's  former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, including his attempts to cover up conversations he had with Russia's ambassador to the U.S.

Schiff said Yates had sought permission to testify from the White House, adding that he hopes the hearing can be rescheduled without delay....

The Donald Trump administration runs on their master's voice. He has hands on everywhere. The administration is small. To many it is incomplete. The orders to suppress are obvious and come from only one source. AG Sessions has already recused himself from the case.

California voters can't put pressure on their US representative? California's 22nd district is going to tolerate obstruction of an investigation? Really?

March 28, 2017
By Erik Ortiz and Andrew Rafferty

Pressure continued (click here) to mount on Tuesday for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes to recuse himself from the panel's investigation into Russia amid a growing firestorm of criticism for meeting with a confidential source at the White House to review intelligence reports.

The California Republican told reporters "the investigation continues" and questioned why he would remove himself from the probe despite growing concerns about his impartiality after sharing information about the investigation with President Donald Trump before members of the committee....

Campaign hubris that made policy cost North Carolina $4 billion.

Cassandra Thomas of Human Rights Campaign holds a sign advocating the repeal of HB2 as Executive Director Chad Griffin, President of Human Rights Campaign and Executive Director of Equality NC, Chris Sgro, discuss the North Carolina election results at the Government Center on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, in Charlotte, NC.

March 27, 2017

By Mark Berman

A year after North Carolina enacted a law regulating transgender people’s use of public restrooms, sparking boycotts and costing the state jobs and sports events alike, a new analysis says the legislation’s economic fallout is greater than previously estimated.

The so-called “bathroom bill” could cost the state at least $3.7 billion by 2028, according to an Associated Press assessment that tallied the losses – confirmed and projected – from events, meetings and business expansions that were scrapped due to the law....

...State lawmakers have discussed rescinding the controversial law, but repeal efforts have repeatedly fallen short, including a marathon special legislative session in December called for that very purpose. A spokesman for Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democratic, who has long opposed the law, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday....

There needs to be more than a repeal of the law, there needs to be penalties where the repealed law is continuing to be implemented.

Campaign promise or strategy from Russia? Who is running the US military and from what knowledge base?

It is inhumane to simply kill to kill. This is an elderly man not capable of conducting himself as a warrior to battle. He is VULNERABLE to dangers of warfare and should be protected. He is not only vulnerable to warfare, but, the people dead are no doubt part of his household. How is he to feed himself in such conditions? The idea that humanitarian aid can get through to save lives of survivors is not realistic. 

We also know where humanitarian aid is delivered, they can become targets to the battle.

Strikes against ISIS in such urban settings has to be precise. Human shields can be a casualty to battle when there is no other choice, but, neighborhoods of people are not enemies. These are not human shields. Especially Iraq, the USA knows this country inside and out; there is no reason for killing civilians.

Campaign hubris is not applicable to real life. There needs to be a clear understanding such applications of political hubris is a high crime and not simply a misdemeanor.

March 27, 2017

By Tim Arango

A man stood near several bodies recovered from a house that was destroyed in the Mosul Jidideh neighborhood. Scores of residents are believed to have been killed in American-led airstrikes that hit the neighborhood this month.

Mosul, Iraq — Dozens of Iraqi civilians, (click here) some of them still alive and calling out for help, were buried for days under the rubble of their homes in west Mosul after American-led airstrikes flattened almost an entire city block.

At the site on Sunday, more than a week after the bombing runs, reporters for The New York Times saw weary survivors trying to find bodies in the wreckage. Iraqi officials said the final death toll could reach 200 killed, or even more. That would make it one of the worst instances of civilian casualties from an attack by the United States-led forces during the long military involvement with Iraq, starting in 1990.

The pace of fighting against the Islamic State here has grown more urgent, with Iraqi officers saying the American-led coalition has been quicker to strike urban targets from the air with less time to weigh the risks for civilians. They say the change is a reflection of a renewed push by the American military under the Trump administration to speed up the battle for Mosul.

That push is coming at the moment that the battle for Mosul is nearing its most dangerous phase for civilians, with the fight reaching into the twisting alleys and densely populated areas of the old city. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are pinned down here in tight quarters with Islamic State fighters who do not care if they live or die....

...One of the survivors, Omar Adnan, stood near his destroyed home on Sunday and held up a white sheet of paper with 27 names of his extended family members, either dead or missing, written in blue ink....

Indiscriminate bombing violates the Geneva Conventions. According to the graph in the New York Times, the strategy in Iraq has changed a great deal. On January 17, 2017 an increase in unconfirmed deaths and confirmed deaths increased by three times the average. The civilian deaths have continued to increase and sustain. That is an undeniable change in tactics. The fact there are far higher numbers of unconfirmed deaths does not surprise me. They are behind enemy lines and there are no soldiers confirming the civilian strikes.

1. Affirms resolution XXVIII (click here) of the XXth International Conference of the Red Cross held at Vienna in 1965, which laid down, inter alia, the following principles for observance by all governmental and other authorities responsible for action in armed conflicts:

(a) That the right of the parties to a conflict to adopt means of injuring the enemy is not unlimited;

(b) That it is prohibited to launch attacks against the civilian populations as such;

(c) That distinction must be made at all times between persons taking part in the hostilities and members of the civilian population to the effect that the latter be spared as much as possible;

I don't think Kushner can act as Commander and Chief.

Published on Nov 16, 2016

President-elect Trump had plenty to say about the war on ISIS during the campaign, suggesting "bombing the hell out of" the terror group. But as Holly Williams reports, conditions on the ground in Iraq and Syria complicate the decisions he will have to make.

I have other responsibilities this evening. Will resume next Sunday. Thank you.

If the USA is suppose to be an example to the world, billionaire Presidents are the wrong message!

March 26, 2017

By David Filipov

Moscow — A wave of unsanctioned rallies (click here) swept across Russia on Sunday to protest corruption in the government of President Vladi­mir Putin, prompting arrests as hundreds of riot officers moved in to break up crowds. 

The protests are driven by opposition leader Alexei Navalny and fueled by the popular response to his recent allegations that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has amassed vineyards, luxury yachts and lavish mansions worth more than $1 billion....

Medvedev bought at least one yacht while he was President. That is interesting insight as to the Putin dilemma with the Panama Papers (click here).

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (click here) has purchased a 53m superyacht valued at approximately $42 million as a venue to host world leaders in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The Kremlin bought the boat last year, the Guardian reports. The explorer type superyacht, which is presently called Leo Fun, will be renamed as yacht Sirius.

The yacht was built by Proteksan-Turquoise and Turquoise Yacht Construction for an Italian businessman and launched back in 2009....

Leo Fun? 

Oh, Tolstoy. Tolstoy authored great literature such as War and Peace, Anna Karenina and The Death of Ivan Ilyich (click here). Leo Tolstoy's grave is quite unique and nearly absent of who lies there. (click here)

Wasn't there an exclusive hospital for the "Wealth Class" recently opened?

...Authorities charged Navalny, the chief architect of the rallies, was detained in Moscow shortly after they began at 2 p.m. local time. Thousands came out on Moscow’s central Tverskaya street for the unsanctioned protests and were met by a heavy police presence, which began detaining demonstrators en masse around 30 minutes after the rallies began. According to media reports, protesters had blocked traffic on Tverskaya street.

Also in Moscow, a warning over a loudspeaker urged people to “think of the consequences” and disperse now.

Yes, indeed. There is nothing like threatening peaceful demonstrators with a moral message.

The demonstrations appear to amount to the largest coordinated protests in Russia since the street rallies that broke out in 2011 and 2012 after a parliamentary election that opposition leaders decried as fraudulent. State-run television was silent about Sunday’s protests as of midday, but pictures posted on social media sites like Twitter suggested that sizable rallies were underway across the country.

Dozens of arrests were reported in the far east city of Vladivostok, and more were likely as demonstrations began in Russia’s largest cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Authorities preemptively banned a rally that Navalny called for central Moscow. Putin’s spokesman has said that even urging people to take part is illegal....