President Obama will always have his place in history.
There isn't enough room here to list why.
Monday, October 23, 2017
It seems the good news out of Niger is Uber. Now, does someone want to explain why American soldiers engaged in training got caught up in violence in a village..
October 23, 2017
Taxi-hailing startup Uber (click here) has appointed a new West Africa general manager, with Nigerian-Canadian Lola Kassim now heading up operations in the region.
The announcement sees the former management consultant at McKinsey and Company take on the West African leadership role at the California-based firm, according to Techpoint.
Using over 10 years of experience as an executive within private and public companies in Canada and across Africa, Kassim will fill the role that was vacated by former West Africa general manager, Edi Atawodi.
Atawobi was promoted to a product manager position within the global payments growth department for Uber worldwide six months ago, and the company has waited until this month to fill that position.
Kassim’s focus in her new role will be to drive the ride-sharing and taxi-hailing company’s overall strategy in West Africa, creating additional value for driver-partners while working to improve the reliability and service levels of UberX, the company’s popular low-cost ride-sharing option, according to an Uber press release.
Kassim holds a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and an MSc from the London School of Economics, according to Nairametrics.
Uber currently operate in 15 cities across eight African countries, including Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi and Kampala, with West African cities in Ghana and Nigeria including Kumasi, Accra, Abuja and Lagos....
I have no questions. The US troops are engaged in an illegal action. Osama bin Laden is dead and there is no right for the USA to simply carry out war and violence all over the planet.
23 October 2017
By Idrissa Fall And Bagassi Koura
By Idrissa Fall And Bagassi Koura
New details are emerging (click here) about the attack that left four U.S. soldiers dead in Niger as U.S. congressional leaders are demanding answers from the Pentagon.
The four U.S. service members, three of whom were Green Berets (special forces), along with four Nigerian soldiers were killed on October 4 in an ambush in Tongo-Tongo, a village near the border with Mali.
On the eve of the attack, about 30 Special Forces, mostly Nigeriens and eight U.S. Green Berets, set off in pickup trucks toward the border village and arrived at night, according to Almou Hassane, mayor of Tongo-Tongo, in the Tondikiwindi district.
They must have spent the night in the northwest of Tongo-Tongo,” Mayor Hassane said in a phone interview with the VOA French-to-Africa service.
"These Nigerien soldiers are part of a security and intelligence battalion that has been trained by the U.S. forces during several U.S.-led training exercises known as Flintlock," said Moussa Aksar, director of the newspaper l'Évènement in Niamey, and a terrorism specialist in the Sahel.
The soldiers were trying to track down an accomplice of Abu Adnan al-Sahraoui, a former member of the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), who joined the Islamic State terror group in the Sahara Desert.
The soldiers questioned the villagers, who dragged on the discussions longer than anticipated.
“It turns out that this village was a little contaminated by hostile forces,” said Aksar. “The unit stayed a little longer than expected because apparently people were aware that something was going on."
For his part, Mayor Hassane said, “Thee attackers, the bandits, the terrorists have never lacked accomplices among local populations.”
A fake terror attack attracted the soldiers to a trap outside the village, where about 50 assailants in vehicles and motorcycles armed with Kalashnikovs and heavy weapons opened fire on them. Four Nigerien soldiers and three Americans were killed on the spot. The body of the fourth American soldier was found 48 hours later, about a mile away from the initial site, CNN reported.
“We are not talking about civilians wounded or killed because these soldiers were ambushed outside the village,” Aksar said.
A fake terror attack attracted the soldiers to a trap outside the village, where about 50 assailants in vehicles and motorcycles armed with Kalashnikovs and heavy weapons opened fire on them. Four Nigerien soldiers and three Americans were killed on the spot. The body of the fourth American soldier was found 48 hours later, about a mile away from the initial site, CNN reported.
“We are not talking about civilians wounded or killed because these soldiers were ambushed outside the village,” Aksar said.
The attack has raised questions, especially since the U.S. Army operates drone bases in Niger and has significant intelligence resources there.
“That's what really shocked us: how, at their level, with all the resources they have, they could not have strong intelligence to avoid what happened there,” said Hassane.
Since the attack, Tongo-Tongo village chief Mounkaila Alassane has been arrested, and there is no information on his whereabouts.
Return the village chief to his village. NOW!
Return the village chief to his village. NOW!
No group has officially taken responsibility for the attack. According to sources in the region, however, it is the work of Abu Adnan al-Saharaoui, who calls himself the Islamic Emir of the Great Sahara, affiliated with the Islamic State group.
The Emir is a trafficker. Just that simple. He is nobody. He can be arrested under the Small Arms Treaty. An arrest of such a trafficker does not include American troops in Chad that were there for training soldiers. If there was violence caused by the jerk, it would have required an interest by those that can bring peace to a village or town, but, it would seem the violence didn't break out until the American soldiers showed up unexpectedly. There was no reason for them to be there and there is no war powers act to back them up.
The Emir is a trafficker. Just that simple. He is nobody. He can be arrested under the Small Arms Treaty. An arrest of such a trafficker does not include American troops in Chad that were there for training soldiers. If there was violence caused by the jerk, it would have required an interest by those that can bring peace to a village or town, but, it would seem the violence didn't break out until the American soldiers showed up unexpectedly. There was no reason for them to be there and there is no war powers act to back them up.
According to a Tuareg from the region, al-Saharaoui is reported to be involved in arms and fuel trafficking. He is a former member of the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), which occupied and imposed sharia law in northern Mali in 2012 before being dislodged by French forces.
Al-Saharaoui, a former acquaintance of Algerian extremist and trafficker Mokhtar Bel Mokhtar, had led the kidnapping of the nine-person staff of the Algerian consulate in Gao in 2012. Originally from Western Sahara, he wants to control the band on the common border of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
How many generals are in the White House and no one knows what is going on? Really!
Why does everyone else in the world know what is going on besides the generals that are suppose to know?
I am quite sure the USA soldiers knew what they signed on for and it wasn't being killed in battle in Niger!
Flintlock 2017 (click here)
Maritime training in Chad.
Soldiers from the Chadian military conduct maritime training during Flintlock 2017 training in N'Djamena, Chad on March 1, 2017.
How many generals are in the White House and no one knows what is going on? Really!Why does everyone else in the world know what is going on besides the generals that are suppose to know?
I am quite sure the USA soldiers knew what they signed on for and it wasn't being killed in battle in Niger!
Flintlock 2017 (click here)
Maritime training in Chad.
Soldiers from the Chadian military conduct maritime training during Flintlock 2017 training in N'Djamena, Chad on March 1, 2017.
I know a 12 year Antarctica scientist that knew in 2003 there was a decline of the Adelie penguins. He and his peers expected the loss of these Emperor Penguins. They have been hoping against hope this would not occur.
The scientists involved in climate studies and studies that lend themselves to understanding the climate know what this is about. They have known.
The scientists involved in climate studies and studies that lend themselves to understanding the climate know what this is about. They have known.
Well, something has to stop the poaching.
By Christopher Torchia
A rhino turned the tables (click here) on a suspected poacher in Namibia, charging and injuring the man while he was allegedly tracking it.
The incident happened in Etosha National Park after suspect Luteni Muharukua and other alleged poachers illegally entered the wildlife area in hopes of killing rhinos for their horns, The Namibian newspaper reported last week.
The newspaper said the rhino “appeared from nowhere” and quoted Simson Shilongo, a police officer, as saying the rhino inflicted a severe leg injury on Muharukua after he fell while fleeing....
Well done!
The UK storms are named differently than in the USA. This is definitely more than a rare occurrence. It is the Climate Crisis.
The UK is comprised of islands regardless of it's location near the European continent. It has been my experience, these storms are island-loving and this year is an extreme example of that.
If I may....
The voracity of the high velocity winds of these storms demand not only heat, but, water vapor. What do most islands have? They have a land mass which generates heat as well as crashing waves of any height to create water vapor from the ocean.
In the USA, as early as mid-2008 storm season, there developed a phenomena whereby storms were 'near land' storms. They were lower in velocity, but, with sustainable presence that carried out significant damage due to the longevity of the wind and water. These near land storms existed because the surf would release water vapor to the water hungry troposphere.
When observing this phenomena, the clouds were continuous from the near height of the beach into far higher cloud formations. There was a direct feed of water vapor from the area of where the waves were crashing on the shoreline to the upper cloud configurations.
So, be it near shore storms or island-loving storms the phenomena is the same. Heat and water vapor results in catastrophic outcomes. We saw Hurricane Harvey launch into the Gulf of Mexico as a barely detectable circulation center into a huge problem once it reached the Gulf waters. Harvey is rarely discussed as a 'dual' storm system, but, it was the entire time it was over Texas. There was a sister system over Florida at the same time.
I do not believe there will ever be a Category Six storm, especially in the Atlantic. The water vapor tensile strength isn't all that. There is just so much velocity water vapor can attain and then what results is an oscillation event that begins the next storm or sister storm (brother storm if that makes everyone feel better, how about sibling storm, is that better).
The reason I bring that up is due to the severe water environment found on many of the UK shores. If the theory about 'creating water vapor' by waves crashing on land to fuel storms is true, which I strongly believe it is, then are the waves crashing on jagged cliffs going to spawn higher water vapor content, hence, the UK having a far more concern than originally thought. The only such rocky shoreline in the USA exists in the New England states and perhaps Cape May, New Jersey. The topic is rarely thought about yet researched to a respectable peer reviewed conclusion.
My only purpose is to save lives. The lives of allies and people that never deserved the wrath. The danger and persistence of the Climate Crisis is rather worrisome to me. Originally, under Republican administrations in the USA, NASA explained away such things as chronic vortices in the northern hemisphere as a ten to twenty year phenomena. It is hardly that and currently the USA scientific community as well as those on the IPCC don't see this as a natural cycle at all. I think we have to research the hell out of it.
By Lydia Smith
More storms (click here) are on the way for the UK – following the strong wind, rain and flooding brought by Storm Brian.
Although mild weather is predicted for next week, forecasters for Accuweather predict another 10 to 13 named storms will hit Britain this autumn and winter.
Only five were recorded in the same period last year.
“We expect an active storm period until January, with further storms until April,” said AccuWeather's Tyler Roys....
Tourists in Dubai take notice.
There are many tensions in Arab countries, be they Shi'ite or Sunni. Daesh has set up suspicions of every person within ten feet of each other. The one way to distinguish those of 'the faith' and those of the toxic variety Daesh practices is to set up a fraud proof social conduct code. That may be what happened here.
October 22, 2017
By Will Worley
...He has already suffered tremendously (click here) as a result of these allegations, and now faces the likelihood of incarceration.
“His family was unable to visit him during this critical time because they faced a very real risk of imprisonment themselves under the UAE’s cyber crime laws which forbid criticism of the government.
“At this point, Jamie will definitely be pursuing civil action against his accusers when he does eventually return home, as it appears that he will not be able to find justice in the UAE.”
She added: “He feels betrayed and exploited by the system, which did not investigate the reports of key witnesses in his defence and led him to believe that the case would be dropped.”...
The UK is not seen as a place exempt from Daesh violence. The police are always tracking or chasing down someone suspected of a potential attack. So, in the case of tourists, the least action of insulting behavior will propel reports to the local authorities. To the observer, who knows if the person insulting the other through touching or body language isn't the police themselves in suspicion of a citizen.
I think travel into some countries in the Muslim realm may be risky at best. If the tourist doesn't understand social conduct and it's enforcement then don't go. It is a serious issue and should be understood to avoid misinterpretation and unanticipated interruptions in travel plans.
The Muslim world is winning the charismatic war of Daesh. They must be doing something right.
Dubai, of all countries, is under scrutiny by most of it's peers. While, The West, believes living life as if nothing is wrong is the best path for anyone in the face of such hatred as Daesh, it may be imprudent to believe so.
October 22, 2017
By Will Worley
...He has already suffered tremendously (click here) as a result of these allegations, and now faces the likelihood of incarceration.
“His family was unable to visit him during this critical time because they faced a very real risk of imprisonment themselves under the UAE’s cyber crime laws which forbid criticism of the government.
“At this point, Jamie will definitely be pursuing civil action against his accusers when he does eventually return home, as it appears that he will not be able to find justice in the UAE.”
She added: “He feels betrayed and exploited by the system, which did not investigate the reports of key witnesses in his defence and led him to believe that the case would be dropped.”...
The UK is not seen as a place exempt from Daesh violence. The police are always tracking or chasing down someone suspected of a potential attack. So, in the case of tourists, the least action of insulting behavior will propel reports to the local authorities. To the observer, who knows if the person insulting the other through touching or body language isn't the police themselves in suspicion of a citizen.
I think travel into some countries in the Muslim realm may be risky at best. If the tourist doesn't understand social conduct and it's enforcement then don't go. It is a serious issue and should be understood to avoid misinterpretation and unanticipated interruptions in travel plans.
The Muslim world is winning the charismatic war of Daesh. They must be doing something right.
Dubai, of all countries, is under scrutiny by most of it's peers. While, The West, believes living life as if nothing is wrong is the best path for anyone in the face of such hatred as Daesh, it may be imprudent to believe so.
Nothing is ever about the country anymore with Republicans. It is always the next election and the best one liner to defeat Democrats.
The idea of a secured room is to reveal without inhibition the facts important to the national security of the United States of America. Even in a secured room where camera and the public are not permitted, Trey Gowdy can't separate himself from the next one liner political spin.
That is amazing. Gowdy doesn't want to hear the truth even when it is in the best interest of the country and even when held in secret away from cameras and the public.
October 20, 2015
By republicinsanity
One year ago today, (click here) we took our first look at the U.S. House Representative from South Carolina's 4th District, Trey Gowdy, and HOT DAMN is the timing of the anniversary of that for an update perfect right now. Rep. Gowdy is a man who centuries ago, would have made a fine witchfinder general, as he obsessively looks for conspiracies being carried out by Democrats that never actually manifest, and complains about the media when they have the nerve to report when he's unable to find any wrongdoing....
Trey Gowdy is a scared man. He is afraid there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. With Facebook ads is there any doubt. These Congresspersons are not interested in the truth or the national security of the USA, they are more interested in protecting cronies and the next election. They don't care about the country, yet alone the truth.
Trey Gowdy can't get the job done. I would think that evident. Such investigations with such obvious evidence should not take a lifetime to come to conclusions. All this stubbornness by the Republican Party is about being scared of the truth and what it might do to their next campaign.
October 22, 2017
By Nicholas Fandos
Washington — In a secured room (click here) in the basement of the Capitol in July, Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, fielded question after question from members of the House Intelligence Committee. Though the allotted time for the grilling had expired, he offered to stick around as long as they wanted.
But Representative Trey Gowdy, who spent nearly three years investigating Hillary Clinton’s culpability in the deadly 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, was growing frustrated after two hours. You are in an unwinnable situation, Mr. Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican, counseled Mr. Kushner. If you leave now, Democrats will say you did not answer all the questions. If you stay, they will keep you here all week.
The exchange, described by three people with knowledge of it, typified the political morass that is crippling the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election — and whether the Trump campaign colluded in any way.
But the problems extend beyond that panel. All three committees looking into Russian interference — one in the House, two in the Senate — have run into problems, from insufficient staffing to fights over when the committees should wrap up their investigations. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s inquiry has barely started, delayed in part by negotiations over the scope of the investigation. Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, while maintaining bipartisan comity, have sought to tamp down expectations about what they might find....
That is amazing. Gowdy doesn't want to hear the truth even when it is in the best interest of the country and even when held in secret away from cameras and the public.
By republicinsanity
One year ago today, (click here) we took our first look at the U.S. House Representative from South Carolina's 4th District, Trey Gowdy, and HOT DAMN is the timing of the anniversary of that for an update perfect right now. Rep. Gowdy is a man who centuries ago, would have made a fine witchfinder general, as he obsessively looks for conspiracies being carried out by Democrats that never actually manifest, and complains about the media when they have the nerve to report when he's unable to find any wrongdoing....
Trey Gowdy is a scared man. He is afraid there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. With Facebook ads is there any doubt. These Congresspersons are not interested in the truth or the national security of the USA, they are more interested in protecting cronies and the next election. They don't care about the country, yet alone the truth.
Trey Gowdy can't get the job done. I would think that evident. Such investigations with such obvious evidence should not take a lifetime to come to conclusions. All this stubbornness by the Republican Party is about being scared of the truth and what it might do to their next campaign.
October 22, 2017
By Nicholas Fandos
Washington — In a secured room (click here) in the basement of the Capitol in July, Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, fielded question after question from members of the House Intelligence Committee. Though the allotted time for the grilling had expired, he offered to stick around as long as they wanted.
But Representative Trey Gowdy, who spent nearly three years investigating Hillary Clinton’s culpability in the deadly 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, was growing frustrated after two hours. You are in an unwinnable situation, Mr. Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican, counseled Mr. Kushner. If you leave now, Democrats will say you did not answer all the questions. If you stay, they will keep you here all week.
The exchange, described by three people with knowledge of it, typified the political morass that is crippling the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election — and whether the Trump campaign colluded in any way.
But the problems extend beyond that panel. All three committees looking into Russian interference — one in the House, two in the Senate — have run into problems, from insufficient staffing to fights over when the committees should wrap up their investigations. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s inquiry has barely started, delayed in part by negotiations over the scope of the investigation. Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, while maintaining bipartisan comity, have sought to tamp down expectations about what they might find....
The Rooster
"Okeydoke"
October 23, 2017
By Josie Cox
The state of capitalism (click here) is in desperate need of reform and modernisation, according to some of the UK’s top business leaders, who claim that the system has been hurt by management greed, corporate tax dodging and investor short-termism.
Speaking on a panel for the Financial Times, former minister Baroness Shriti Vadera, who is now chairwoman of Santander UK, said that “the underlying promise of western capitalist economies — that a rising tide lifts all boats — has been broken”. She said that a “better model” is needed.
Others echoed her remarks.
Robert Swannell, the former chairman of retailer Marks and Spencer, said that capitalism had “lost its way” and that companies and their investors had become much too focused on short termism, according to the FT.
And Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, said that capitalism had taken a number of “wrong turnings”....
A very interesting thing has happened in the UK. First, Brexit and then Trump. It has made those of conscience take a look at capitalism for the first time in a long time. In the USA, run away capitalism is viewed as the ultimate reward to a so called 'smart strategy' of what is basically thievery and immoral choices into greed.
Capitalism in the year 2017 is a runaway train taking prisoners to low income and politicized activities of daily living that traps the working poor and impoverished in a fiscal cycle of abuse.
The USA is no longer the 'hope' of the world, it is nothing more than a superpower without a conscience.
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