In lock step with third world dictators.

Attacking contraception is not solving a problem, it is making it worse. Ending contraception creates 'the baby maker environment' when women cannot be a dependable employee whether married or not. This is hostile toward women and sets them up for failure.

Marriages will fail when Trump achieves his goal of no abortion and no contraception. There were reasons for prostitutes at the temples in the days gone by.

April 4, 2017
By Megan Burbank

Right on the heels (click here) of his facetious choice to dedicate the month of April to sexual assault awareness (yeah, right), Donald Trump, who lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2,864,974 votes, has revoked US funding for the United Nations Population Fund, which provides... birth control.

The Trump administration informed Congress on Monday that it had terminated United States funding for the United Nations Population Fund, the world’s leading provider of family planning services, including contraception, to women in at least 155 countries.

The United States is one of the top donor nations to the United Nations, and the denial of funding was one of President Trump’s biggest moves yet to reduce financing for family planning.

This almost escaped my notice entirely when it came on NPR this morning, because I heard "UN organization" and assumed it was linked to the global gag rule, which bans US funding for global NGOs that provide abortion services. The Obama administration struck down that rule, but Donald "Friend to Women" Trump reinstated it almost immediately after taking office....

We already know lack of contraception leads to large families and poverty.

St. Petersburg is so far west it is almost a European attack and should be scrutinized by NATO.

April 5, 2017
By Ilyq Arkhipov

The bomb (click here) that killed 14 in the St. Petersburg subway Monday capped the worst start of a year for terrorism inside Russia since December 2013, according to data from a Moscow analytical group, suggesting the lull seen in recent years could be coming to an end.

“The increase in terrorist activity that we started to see already in 2016 is gathering momentum in 2017,” said Grigory Shvedov, head of Caucasian Knot, which has been collecting the data since 2010 and will present the latest findings on Thursday in Moscow. “The increase of violence in the North Caucasus and growing effectiveness of militants results both from them returning from Syria and the fact that many extremists aren’t going there at all and are staying in Russia.”

About 4,000 militants from Russia are still fighting with Islamic State in Syria, according to government data. Russian leaders have warned of the risk the militants will return to stage attacks at home. In December 2015, President Vladimir Putin said his military would destroy them in Syria to stop that from happening....

Although, there is this:

1 April 2017

Akhmed Balkarov, Ruslan Kipshiev, and Ruslan Zhugov, (click here) accused in the case of an attempt to create a caliphate in Kabardino-Balkaria, have retracted at the trial their confessions and claimed that they made them under torture, to which they were subjected after being detained by law enforcers....

In August 2016, in Rostov-on-Don, the court started consideration of the case against ten residents of Kabardino-Balkaria. According to the investigators, all 10 defendants of the criminal case were members of an illegal armed formation (IAF), whose goal was to change the constitutional system and establish a caliphate with a Sharia form of government in Kabardino-Balkaria.

...Defendant Ruslan Kipshiev has refused to testify. He has claimed that he does not admit his guilt in any part, that he "did not give such a confession and did not sign it on his own will."

Timur Lakunov, an advocate of Ruslan Kipshiev, has requested the Court to read out two interrogation protocols in which his client stated that he did not admit his guilt and called the earlier confession made "under the influence of law enforcers." "Even if I wanted to change the constitutional order, I could not do that," the defendant allegedly states in the document.

Ruslan Zhugov has also claimed that he pleads not guilty....

Daesh is a global charismatic movement and this is more proof. Below is a very well done assessment of Daesh.

27 November 2017

What I find most interesting about the picture to the right are the long beards.

Reminds me of Phil, that manly look. "I am man, you are woman. Ugha, Ugha."

The organization "Islamic State" (click here) was created on October 15, 2006, as a result of the merger of 11 radical Sunni groupings. At the same time, they adopted a draft "Constitution" entitled "Notice to Mankind about Birth of Islamic State". Until 2013, its name was "Islamic State of Iraq" (ISI). The organization set a target to capture the Sunni part of Iraq and turn it into a militarized Islamic Sunni state, as soon as the forces of the international coalition led by the USA, left Iraq.

On April 9, 2013, the grouping named "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) was formed with the aim to establish an Islamic Emirate in the territory of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. The Levant is a historical region in the eastern Mediterranean, which covers the territory of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Turkey and Cyprus.

Starting June 2014, ISIL launched an attack on several areas of Northern Iraq by organizing a large-scale offensive in Sunni provinces. By October 2014, ISIL occupied one-third of Iraq.

The terrorist organization is made up of the militants who once fought against US forces during their stay in Iraq, and against the forces of the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

By September 2014, according to the estimates of the CIA (US Central Intelligence Agency), the membership of the grouping reached some 20,000-31,500 persons. The IS troops include Mujahideens from 80 countries, including France, UK, Germany, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, USA, Canada and Russia....

There is an infographics (click here) zero victims of terrorism in the rebel regions of Russia.

2010-2015, (click here)
based on its own data and open sources information. By clicking each figure, you can see distribution of casualties in the center of the circle, divided by categories such as security forces, militants, and civilians.

Russia is providing open source information? Interesting.

Why should Ukraine allow a contestant to a program when her citizenship is based in a country that violated international law?

Russia has chosen a sympathetic figure to compete in a contest conducted in Ukraine. Russia has violated international law, invaded a sovereign country and armed rebels resulting in the deaths of innocent people aboard a commercial jet.

I am sure Ukraine's decision to bar Yulia Samoilova came with great discussion and will be used by Russia for propaganda enforcing nationalism. What the Russian people won't hear is how many people have died since Russia broke the treaty with Ukraine, Europe and the USA.

Nothing to fear thought, Russia's new best friend Donald Trump can probably find a spot on "Russia has talent." That is after he produces the show. I hear producing "Celebrity Apprentice" isn't enough for him.

April 4, 2017

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (click here) advocates the  Ukrainian decision to bar Russia’s 2017 Eurovision contestant Yulia Samoilova from entering Ukraine because she violated the rules of entry to occupied Crimea.

“Ukraine allows trips to Crimea solely across the administrative border of Kherson region. Any other way violates the Ukrainian laws and entails sanctions. The Russian side is fully aware of that; these requirements are the same for everyone,” Poroshenko told a press conference after negotiations with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis in Riga on April 4.

According to the Ukrainian president, the Russian side knows about such rules and took this decision deliberately, counting on provocation....

Add to the Trump impeachment list, violation of treaty with Europe and Ukraine by look the other way in an invisible handshake with Putin.

March 3, 2016
By Nick Cumming Bruce

Geneva — The United Nations (click here) said on Thursday that 236 civilians were killed in conflict-related violence in Ukraine in the 12-month period to mid-February, and it estimated that at least 9,160 had died since the conflict started in April 2014....

It matters! Even though it does not matter to Ms. Samoilova and Russia.

One has to wonder if Tom Bossert was simply finished with work or just doing a really lousy job while completely distracted from securing the homeland.

President Trump needs to decide who he trusts within the US Senate to assist with national security recommendations, including Homeland Security. I am sure Senator McCain and those on the intelligence committee such as Senator Feinstein (for a bipartisan dialogue) would be more than willing to suggest nominees.

April 5, 2017
By Jennifer Jacobs

President Donald Trump (click here) reorganized his National Security Council on Wednesday, removing his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, and downgrading the role of his Homeland Security Adviser, Tom Bossert, according to a person familiar with the decision and a regulatory filing....

While loyalists are comforting they don't have the best perspective if simply trying to please constituents. I am confident Jared Kushner has his hands full. There is always Governor Chris Christy for any cabinet position.

November 30, 2013

...Data shows emerging trends (click here) towards growth in cyber insurance purchases, demonstrating that the market no longer represents a discretionary investment, but is maturing into a mandatory approach to cyber mitigation. Catherine Mulligan, the senior vice president of the Management Solutions Group and Specialty Products at Zurich Insurance stressed that the previously existing gap between risk managers and executives in how cyber threats are perceived has been closed, allowing for support across the board for cyber insurance within companies....

It is going to be interesting how cyber insurance companies face the new cash cow in companies owning Americans' information for sale.