This is the first time Flint Gulf Club will be hosting the Michigan PGA Professional Championship. I think it is awesome.

The professionals at the club might like to have a meet and greet with young people from Flint. I might inspire the next great golfer.

August 18, 2017
By Eric Woodyard

Flint, MI -- Most of the top golfers in the state (click here) will be in Vehicle City next week.

For the first time ever, Flint Golf Club will host the 96th Michigan PGA Professional Golf Championship from Aug. 21-23.

The tournament serves as the starting point to major championship golf and the state championship for Michigan golf professionals.

The field of 132 professionals is headed by defending champion Scott Hebert - the head golf professional at Traverse City Golf & Country Club -- for a purse of $54,400.

He is an eight-time champion one of 11 former Michigan PGA champions in the field, including 2015 champion Dan Urban of Gull Lake Country Club and three-time winner Brian Cairns of Fox Hills Learning Center....                    

I am pleased to see President Trump standing by his Chief of Staff John Kelly.

American Generals, including Pershing, do not assassinate ANYONE.

"Calley charged for Mai Lai massacre." (click here)

American Generals are civilized men, and hopefully by now women. They have at their disposal a country dedicated to morals in the treatment of human beings that oppose and seek to damage or dominate the USA. Those morals extend to our beginnings. While the Colonial USA used guerilla warfare their methods were conventional. They made sacrifices to build this country, including the fact General George Washington were among his military to know their condition and inspire them to victory.

The core to the USA military are family men and women. That has been the case from the beginning. Ask Paul Revere whom he was alerting?

August 18, 2017
By Alex Horton

...Brian M. Linn, (click here) a history professor at Texas A&M University, did just that nearly two decades ago when he published “Guardians of Empire,” a book on the U.S. military presence in Asia from 1902 to 1940.

His verdict on Trump’s claim?

“There is absolutely no evidence this occurred,” he told The Washington Post.

“It’s a made-up story. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times people say this isn’t true. No one can say where or when this occurred.”

But Trump’s claims, and the wider belief in a routinely debunked story, has far-reaching effects. Not only is the story untrue, but the convenient twist — of an insurgency defeated only with the use of brutal war tactics — points to precisely the opposite lessons Pershing and his troops learned in the Philippines campaign from 1899 to 1913, Linn said.

“The U.S. military learned escalating counterterrorism was not effective, and they took great steps, including Pershing, to de-escalate,” Linn said....

There is a difference between Barcelona and Charlottesville. Barcelona terrorists didn't have guns. Their bomb maker was most probably dead, but, they had no guns. The worst it gets in Europe, ie: UK as well, is knives. That is bad enough, but, knives are not guns, especially like the ones in Charlottesville. The KKK doesn't need bombs because it has guns.

The UK incident I am referring to, involved a police officer and a car that pinned him and the attacker then stabbed him.

The UK police have become proficient in response to these LIMITED attacks.

8 June 2017
By Robert Mendick

Footage has emerged (click here) showing the London Bridge terrorists being shot dead by police.

The video shows the extraordinary speed of armed officers in killing the three jihadists, bringing an end to their rampage through Borough Market.

The footage begins with the trio - now identified as Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba - trying to gain entry to the Wheatsheaf pub at 10.15pm on Saturday night in the hunt for new victims....

It is difficult to get guns into Europe. Think about whom Americans are actually arming with liberal gun laws.

Blackwater is a Trump crony. There is little doubt Eric Prince will be left out of federal money.

If Blackwater is taking over in Afghanistan, they need to do it on their own and with contracts directly to the Afghanistan/Pakistan government. The USA should not be involved with this company. US government involvement provides too much permission for this company to be violent.

August 17, 2017
By Michael Collins

Life upended since Blackwater (click here)

Former Blackwater security guard Dustin Heard with his wife, Kelli, and two children, Hannah, 12, and Quinn, 6. Heard is serving a 30-year prison sentence for his role in a 2007 shooting at Nisour Square in Baghdad, Iraq. Fourteen Iraqi civilians were killed and 17 others wounded

Heard’s life has been upended since her husband, Dustin, 35, and three other Blackwater Worldwide security guards were accused of killing Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square on Sept. 16, 2007.

The government called it an ambush against innocent Iraqi civilians. The security guards called it self-defense against an insurgent attack....

"I remember the white car." Do you? Don't let anyone get in your way to shout STOP!

August 10, 2017
By Sudarsan Raghavan

An Iraqi looks at a burned-out car days after Blackwater guards opened fire in Baghdad, killing 14 unarmed civilians in a traffic circle on Sept. 16, 2007.

I remember the white car. (click here)

Last week, a U.S. appeals court threw out the murder conviction of a former Blackwater Worldwide security guard for his role in the deaths of 14 unarmed Iraqis in a Baghdad traffic circle nearly 10 years ago.

I was reporting in Baghdad that day — Sept. 16, 2007 — when the contractors opened fire. Most of the victims were in their vehicles at Nisoor Square, a busy, heavily guarded roundabout at the time.

Inside a white car was Mehasin Muhsin Kadhum, a 46-year-old doctor, and her 20-year-old son, Ahmed, who was driving. They were wrapping up errands that included picking up college applications for Kadhum’s daughter.

By then the Blackwater convoy had entered the circle, and Iraqi officers were trying to stop vehicles as Ahmed approached. A Blackwater guard fired, killing Ahmed. One traffic officer, Sarhan Thiab, told me:

“The bullet went through the windshield and split his head open. His mother was holding him, screaming for help.”...

When the Trump administration makes changes to countries with warring infrastructure it is about Wall Street.

May 20, 2016
By Manish Vaid and Sanjay Kar

The (click here) Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline has progressed, but its future remains uncertain. Four major events have marked TAPI's progress. First among these was its steering committee's unanimous endorsement of Turkmengaz as consortium leader of TAPI Pipeline Co. Ltd., in charge of building, financing, owning, and operating the pipeline, during the committee's 22nd meeting, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (OGJ Online, Aug. 6, 2015). Shares in TAPI Pipeline Co. Ltd. are equally owned by Turkmengaz, Afghan Gas Enterprise, Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Ltd., and GAIL (India) Ltd....

Turkmenistan is not a democracy.

14 August 2017

Known for its autocratic government (click here) and large gas reserves, Turkmenistan also has a reputation as an island of stability in restive Central Asia.
Despite its gas wealth, much of Turkmenistan's population is still impoverished. After independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 the country entered a period of isolation that has only recently begun to end.
Turkmenistan produces roughly 70 billion cubic metres of natural gas each year and about two-thirds of its exports go to Russia's Gazprom gas monopoly.
The government has sought out gas deals with several other countries, including China and neighbouring Iran, however, to reduce its dependency on Russia.

Saudi Arabia has a 55% income tax on foreign companies within it's borders. Turkmenstan is trying to be autonomous to move away from Russia. In doing so it sacrifices the well being and quality of life of it's people. Why? Wall Street is greedy. Lower tax rates have little to do with contracts for oil and gas. REALIZE when the implosion of the gas industry in 2015-16 occurred they were wildly out of control when it comes to a prudent business mode. 

The oil and gas industry seeks to pump EVERYTHING out of the ground because it is stupid. They simply hunger for a cash flow as a commodity to keep it alive. It works out well for Wall Street investment. The oil and gas industry THRIVES on its value as liquidity and quick profit. There is nothing wholesome about the petroleum industry and taking advice from the Secretary of State Tillerson is equally as stupid.

I suggest countries such as Turkmenistan seek consultations from European governments in how to obtain and use taxes wisely. Please end the flagrantly stupid gas flow demands of the petroleum industry.

The multi-billion US dollar TAPI (click here) pipeline will transport natural gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan to Pakistan and to India. The 1,735-kilometer pipeline will run from the Dauletabad gas field in Turkmenistan to Afghanistan. Within Afghanistan TAPI will be constructed alongside the highway running south to Herat and then to Kandahar and onto Quetta and Multan in Pakistan. The final destination of the multi-nation pipeline will be the Indian town of Fazilka, in the Punjab near the Pakistan-India border.

The pipeline will be designed to carry 33 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Turkmen gas annually, and both Pakistan and India through state-owned companies would each purchase 42 % of that volume (13.8 bcm). Meanwhile, Afghanistan would purchase 16 % of that gas which would amount to 5.11 bcm. In addition, Afghanistan will be entitled to receive a transit fee for the use of its territory from each of the other TAPI buyers.

The pipeline is expected to be 1,420 millimeters (56 inches) in diameter and will have a working pressure of 100 standard atmospheres (10,000 kPa). The initial annual capacity will be 27 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas. Thereafter the capacity will be increased to 33 bcm.

The pipeline would run for nearly 1,735 kilometers , including 735 kilometers across Afghanistan and another 800 kilometers through Pakistan. Compressor stations would be constructed at different points of the pipeline....

The petroleum industry desperately needs engineers that understand climate to plug all the holes that leaks methane and other ghg.

According to Jim Cavanaugh, the bomb maker involved in the Barcelona attacks probably blew himself up before the three vans were filled with explosives.

Possibly, but, there were others involved in the attacks and vans could be used to carry more into the scene. I think the exact attack needs to be understood, but, the absent bomb maker is a viable scenario. 

The suicide belts were absent of explosives, too. The presence of the suicide belts also provides an advantage in the view by law enforcement. If the belt is hit by bullets they would possibly explode. There is a psychological advantage to those dynamics. 

If this was a botched attack it was still effective because of the delicate nature of the human body sitting on sidewalk cafes.

Barriers on ANY sidewalk cafe should be an international directive. The barriers can be decorative and still be effective. Artists will have ideas.

Barriers improve the survival rate of people targeted in any such attack. Lesser countries trying to build their economies don't put these measures into their plans. They should.

The USA does not have the highest tax rate in the world.

The United States (click here) has the third highest general top marginal corporate income tax rate in the world, at 38.92 percent. Due to the recent reduction in Chad’s corporate tax rate, the U.S. rate is exceeded only by the United Arab Emirates and Puerto Rico.

The worldwide average top corporate income tax rate, across 188 countries and tax jurisdictions, is 22.5 percent. After weighting by each jurisdiction’s GDP, the average rate is 29.5 percent.

By region, Europe has the lowest average corporate tax rate, at 18.88 percent (26.22 percent, weighted by GDP). The G7 has the highest simple average, at 30.21 percent.

Larger, more industrialized countries tend to have higher corporate income tax rates than developing countries.

The worldwide average corporate tax rate has declined since 2003 from 30 percent to 22.5 percent.

Every region in the world has seen a decline in its average corporate tax rate in the past thirteen years....

No company in the USA pays 38.92 tax rate. The effective tax rate below is not just federal taxes. There have been no significant federal tax changes since 2014. The same dynamic is paying out today.

February 25, 2015
By Matt Gardner

Goldman Sachs’s (click here) latest financial report shows that the company avoided paying federal income taxes on almost half its United States profits in 2014. In fact, the company paid an effective tax rate of just 18.6 percent on $6.8 billion in U.S. profits.

Most of Goldman's low tax rate (about half the statutory rate of 35 percent) can be attributed to a tax break that allows corporations to write off the so-called cost of issuing stock options to their executives in lieu of salaries. Goldman disclosed saving a whopping $782 million in income taxes through this break in 2014....

Excuse me, but, there is no cost that significant in providing stocks in lieu of salary. That is a good business model, however, the tax incentives are corrupt and covert. Read the rest of the above article to realize the level of corruption that exists out of sight of the American taxpayer.

...The stock option tax break allows corporations to give lavish compensation to employees in the form of undervalued stock and then take a tax write off for the difference between the stock option and its true value (e.g. give an employee stock at $10/per share stock for a stock ultimately valued at $18 per share). As we have noted, Goldman is just one of hundreds of Fortune 500 corporations benefiting from this scheme....

That is pure unadulterated corruption. It should be litigated as a fraud. Such litigation would result in fines, possible jail terms and additional federal tax. These are the cronies of the Republican Party, ie: Paulson.

Before there is corporate tax reform there needs to be litigation to obtain LEGITIMATE taxes into the federal treasury DEDICATED to pay the national debt; not deficit, NATIONAL DEBT.

 Hello, America.

As of September 2014, foreigners owned $6.06 trillion of U.S. debt, or approximately 47% of the debt held by the public of $12.8 trillion and 34% of the total debt of $17.8 trillion. The largest holders were China, Japan, Belgium, the Caribbean banking centers, and oil exporters.

Is the First Lady (click here) going to give the country a tour of the renovations to the West Wing?

As it stands now without carpet seems a bit dizzying. It is an oval office. 

It will be interesting to see what she has to say.

There seems to be a lot of renovations on the outside of the White House. Those are probably long overdue.

Trump's primary reason for campaigning is to prove to the GOP he has more power over the electorate than they do.

Congress needs to make their stand for the USA Constitution. 

Trump has been and always will be a power populous power player because his constituency knows nothing else.

The sooner Congress stands together the sooner it will change.