It is pure process now. Close embassies and deploy missiles. The American people actually think they have a say in it yet.

By REUTERS

LAST UPDATED: 09/06/2013

The United States evacuated non-emergency personnel (click here) and family members from its embassies in Lebanese capital Beirut, and Turkish city Adana, that is not far from Turkey's border with Syria.

"The Department of State drew down non-emergency personnel and family members from Embassy Beirut due to threats to US Mission facilities and personnel," a statement on the Beirut embassy's website said....

It is just formalities that proceed war. A speech on Tuesday. I take it there won't be accolades about the countries of the G20 and the great progress they are all making.

Published time: February 01, 2013 11:31 
Edited time: February 02, 2013 15:55

A suicide bomber has attacked the US Embassy in Ankara. (click here) At least one security guard working at the embassy was killed in the blast, as well as the bomber, who has been identified as the member of a banned leftist group.

The blast occurred at the entrance used by the embassy personnel and their visitors, CNNTurk reported. A security guard operating at the x-ray machine at the entrance was reportedly killed while the suicide bomber was passing through the scanner.

"There were two dead in the suicide bombing, a Turkish security guard and the bomber himself," Ankara governor Alaattin Yuksel told reporters, AFP reports.

The US ambassador to Turkey, Francis Ricciardone, confirmed the death....

I just thought I'd mention this. It isn't like Europe and the USA aren't familiar with the region.

The tank was known as "The Waltzing Matilda." It was a design by the UK. It was responsible for a great deal of the North Africa campaign against the Third Reich.

 The British Commonwealth:
circa 220,000 dead, wounded, missing and captured^[1] including 35,478 confirmed dead

The Free French were those still uncaptured and in prisons in Italy. At the time Germany saw North Africa as occupied by the Allied forces and needed to be dealt with to end any hiding places where a defeated France could reconstitute their forces. These are mostly unofficial body counts of the Allied Forces with conventional weapons when the campaign there turned around and drained the Third Reich of resources of men and officers.

 Free French:
20,000 killed, wounded and missing

 United States:
2,715 killed
8,978 wounded
6,528 missing

France was defeated in May of 1940 and the North African campaign began, albeit, without official consent June of that same year. North Africa became a campaign that could be won. Once attacks on Italian forces began in Libya the Axis countries found it necessary to reinforce their troops in the region. As a result the North African campaign began to drain the Axis Powers of assets, both, human and artillery.

Secretary Kerry has unsolved humanitarian problems in Afghanistan, what does he think he is doing?

Internally displaced Afghan refugee children carry water in plastic bottles after being filled at a communal pump in Rodat district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. 

NANGARHAR, 19 August 2013 (IRIN) - Six years ago, (click here) when Najib* was 15, Taliban fighters came to his home in Shinwar District* in the eastern province of Nangarhar telling him to join them. After repeated visits, his family sought a way for Najib to escape, and paid a smuggler to take him to the UK.

Six years on, he has just arrived back in his village, having been deported from the UK, but the threats to get him to join the Taliban are now greater than ever, he says.

“They’re not like the Taliban that were in the area before,” Najib told IRIN. “They are all foreign fighters who have come from the mountains. These guys will just kill you for no reason.”

Najib is not the only one on the move or considering his options: Growing insecurity ahead of the pull-out of international forces is driving thousands of Afghanistan’s children to seek new lives outside the country....

The USA is great at bullets, bombs and training or so they say, but, USAID can't seem to find children most in need. That's interesting.

Iranian charity provides medical care to Afghan refugee children  (click here) 

UNHCR - Wed, 14 Aug 2013 12:16 PM  
UNHCR

 TEHRAN, 14 August (UNHCR) - Ali was a two-year-old Afghan refugee when a seemingly benign lump on his nose started growing at an alarming rate. But thanks to a partnership between the UN refugee agency and the Iranian medical charity MAHAK, his frightened father now expects to see him grow up.
"At one point it was so big that it would block his eye sight," his father said. Ali, sitting in his father's lap, was drowsy after another chemotherapy treatment. "He has been enduring chemo for more than four months and is now ready for radiotherapy. The doctors are very optimistic."
Six months before, the lump had suddenly started growing and a CT scan confirmed he had a highly malignant cancerous tumor. UNHCR had earlier helped his father, a typist with two other children, to obtain health Insurance cards for his family but the ceiling would not cover the high costs of Ali's treatment...

There is more evidence of a greater war for the USA, potentially the all of North Africa.

What bothers me a great deal about this overwhelming focus on the military in the USA is the complete loss of control by the people.

The military is becoming automated, there is a law of Pre-Emeption and there is huge DISCRETIONARY MILITARY BUDGET (different from the domestic discretionary budget) within the USA nation budget. The military is taking on a characteristic of global control and there are no people connected with the citizenship in control of it's power.

Currently, the media in the USA is obsessed with lying to the American people about the attacks into Syria and trying to make the statement, not even an argument anymore, that there will be no boots on the ground and this is simply a strike against missile targets.

Then the leadership is obsessed with this mess. Obama is at a global economic summit and he isn't even attending to the issues the way other leaders are attending to them. Kerry is out on the military campaign trail stating he has omnipotent knowledge and power that will guarantee no backlash and precision deployment that will insure the RIGHT PEOPLE are served by air strikes.

That is complete nonsense. We have lost control of the leadership of the country and this mess came at us out of the blue. There can't be any USA intervention into Syria because the USA has no knowledge of what is happening on the ground and we already know there are terrorist networks involved. There is no way the USA should be unleashing the PKK or the Caucuses on sovereign countries. That is aiding terrorists in their ability to kill and cause instability. 

That is not such an unusual activity for the CIA, in actuality. But, this sort of tells the tale of the broad powers stated in any legislative maneuver by the USA Congress and/or Executive Branch. There is a greater movement by Syria within the region.

September 6, 2013
By Youssef Diab 
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: A military judge (click here) is expected to issue arrest warrants in absentia Friday against a Syrian intelligence officer and another Syrian man in connection with last month’s deadly twin bombings in Tripoli, judicial sources said Thursday.
Separately, Tripoli’s Muslim Ulama Association spurned a call for dialogue by Sheikh Hashem Minqara, a pro-Assad Islamist preacher released Wednesday after being held on charges of withholding information about the Aug. 23 attacks, which killed 47 people and wounded over 500.
Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghayda is expected to issue arrest warrants against Capt. Mohammad Ali Ali, a Syrian intelligence officer, and Khodr Lutfi al-Airouni, both of whom are suspected of involvement in the bombings, a judicial source told The Daily Star.
Abu Ghayda issued two arrest warrants Monday against two other suspects, Sheikh Ahmad Gharib and informant Mustafa Houri, for their involvement in the attacks.
Gharib and Houri, as well as the two Syrians still at large, were charged last week with carrying out the bombings outside two mosques in Tripoli....

Just a short history on all this movement. If I may?

The Shi'ites have been oppressed within the Middle East by USA backed dictators. Basically, the Shi'ites were considered insignificant to the 'interests' of the USA. The majority of Muslims in the Middle East are Sunni and granting Sunni leadership the majority of control would bring about the results regarding the petroleum industry the USA was seeking.

This goes back a very long time, back to the first USA companies affiliated with Mideast Oil which is the early 1900s. But, the dictatorships are something like 1940s or 50s. 

What is occurring across the region is instability due to militias unwilling to commit for religious reasons to central governments. Egypt is in flux for this reason. These countries have to work this out. There is no way the USA should be marching into the region for any reason to kill at will any human being deemed worthy of death. There ain't no way.

These individuals need to be tried and brought to justice. Syria has problems, but, Syria is lead by a Shi'ite. Overreaching authority is common with Syria. It has overreached authority into Lebanon for decades. This is nothing new, it is just new to Libya which had a dictator that kept order.

I have no doubt Syria is playing games in these nations and causing all sorts of problems. This is an ongoing struggle between the religious factions of the region.

The USA should not be seeking control for NATION BUILDING. These nations don't want it. They want a government their people approve of. Syria is a problem, but, it is not a problem the USA should be seeking to control. These all require political solutions. They have to be worked out in negotiations at diplomatic tables. It is just too bad Secretary Kerry can't seem to find a table the right size and shape for him. Maybe one that looks like a battleship and seats made of Flak Jacket Leather might work. 

Secretary Kerry needs to get started to assist these nations with a peace process that brings about 'sharing governance' relationships. I am sure the United Nations has been here before; after all Sub-Sahara Africa has been developing Power Sharing Relationships for decades, it is just that there was no oil there except for Nigeria and we all know what a mess that is. 

The sooner Secretary Kerry relinquishes his Neocon demeanor and begins talks with interested parties, the sooner this will be a focus of economic survival and prosperity in the region to bring about stability. 

In Iraq, what I found absolutely astounding about the Shi'ites were their demand for pilgrimages in the face of tensions, bullets and bombs. And these folks succeeded in maintaining a 'pilgrimage tourist economy.' It amazed me. What the USA DOESN'T KNOW about these people is a sin. And to believe the USA has power that can override it's complete ignorance is more than scary. 

There are four women leaders at the G20.

Park Geun-hye from South Korea, Angela Merkel of Germany (member of the G8), Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina. 

The usual G8 of major economies are at the summit, Stephen Harper of Canada, Francois Hollande of France, Erico Letta of Italy, Shinzo Abe of Japan, Vladimir Putin of Russia, David Cameron of Great Britain, Barak Obama of the USA and Herman Van Rompuy and Manuel Barroso of the European Union. 

The other nations of this summit include the leaders of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erodagan, Jacob Zuma of South Africa, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Manmohan Singh of India, Xi Jinping of China and Kevin Rudd of Australia.

Evidently, Cameron is not getting much respect these days.

6 September 2013

David Cameron has made an impassioned defence (click here) of Britain's history and achievements after a Russian official dismissed it as "just a small island".

Speaking to reporters at the G20 summit, the unnamed official said "no-one pays any attention" to Britain.
Mr Cameron said Russia had "absolutely denied" the remarks.
But he used the opportunity to champion Britain, saying few other nations had "a prouder history, a bigger heart or greater resilience".
British relations with Russia have been strained in recent years following the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2007.
The two countries disagree over what to do about the war in Syria, which is dominating discussions at the two-day summit....

I hate to clue Cameron in, but, that geographical assessment is strategic. Cameron should heed those words. 

The good news is Cameron was actually there for the economic summit and not the military one being conducted by the USA.

It is a bloodless military coup of the American people.

A bloodless coup is a military maneuver to take over the power of a country. It commands the people and the country's assets. That doesn't sound familiar?

The American military has found a way to take on the people of the USA to demand use of their people as soldiers and the nation's assets to become 4.4% of the GDP and 20% of the national budget. There are now chronic wars and no one can see the end of it. That isn't a military coup? Really? 

These statements in 'the real world' are nonsense. It is all mind speak and salesmanship.

The United States will not support all of the rebels in the Syrian civil war, and the U.S. will not become directly involved in the war, said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during an exclusive interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Thursday. Kerry said that the intervention proposed by the White House would prop up the moderate opposition and harm Basher al-Assad.

Right. The USA is going to be able discern what rebels it will support and not support from 30,000 feet up.

“This action has nothing to do with engaging directly in Syria’s civil war on one side or the other,” said Kerry. However, he also said that the U.S. wants Assad to step down and argued that an American response would “have a downstream impact on Assad’s military capacity.”

But, yet the USA will decide winners and losers. Sure. 

Kerry made the case before Congress this week for taking punitive action against Assad’s regime for its alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians last month. President Obama is making a similar argument for intervention at the St. Petersburg G-20 summit, where he hopes to build international support....

This week John Kerry provided why the diplomatic mission of the USA isn't working. It is based in hysterical demands backed by military hardware. When a Secretary of State demands results of others at the end of a gun diplomacy is lost. Completely lost. Kerry is destroying the credibility of the USA to actually have a diplomatic outreach without the threat of war. What ever happened to John Kerry?

Emerging nations are keeping the economic focus to the G20. The two elephants in the room is the misconduct of the USA's NSA as well as Syria.

This is where the G8 GETS THE OPPORTUNITY to become allies to emerging economic strengths in the world. President Obama is a problem at the Summit, not an asset. The majority of these world leaders are forming strong consensus that the policies of the USA are adverse to economies across the globe.

The emerging economies are feeling the pinch of The Fed policies of Quantitative Easing and are seeking an alternative to the IMF and a $100 billion Foreign Exchange Reserve. The new Foreign Exchange Reserve has already been agreed upon. 

The dissonance between the international press and the USA media is enormous. The international press is focused on the impacts of the economic summit and the American press is talking war. Is there any wonder why the American people don't understand the world the USA exists in. Is it any wonder when it comes to foreign policy it is bombs and guns the American people understand? 

The Foreign Exchange Reserve already exists. It is held by central banks and monetary agencies. The agreement is to make the reserve available at $100 billion. The IMF is part of this dynamic. This is where nations DEPOSIT monies for exchange. These nations have reserves within these banks. For emerging nations this is important. If they are growing their reserves available at central banks means exchange in economic interactions are easier. Money is a real commodity. If there isn't enough exchange at the reserve it could inhibit their economies. There are approximately 100 participating nations. All the nations at the G20 are participants. This is good work for this group. 

The issue of the NSA is a problem for them because it brings about the available security for the economic interactions these nations are seeking. The emerging nations are concerned security impingments by the NSA will cause them growth. They are probably correct. That is an interesting perspective actually. If the USA's economy is considered monitored by the NSA, those transactions may go elsewhere. The NSA may very well be an impingement on the American economy as well as others.

The NSA has huge capabilities – and if it wants in to your computer, it's in. With that in mind, here are five ways to stay safe. (click here)
September 5, 2013
Now that we have enough details about how the NSA eavesdrops on the internet, including today's disclosures of the NSA's deliberate weakening of cryptographic systems, we can finally start to figure out how to protect ourselves.
For the past two weeks, I have been working with the Guardian on NSA stories, and have read hundreds of top-secret NSA documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden. I wasn't part of today's story – it was in process well before I showed up – but everything I read confirms what the Guardian is reporting.
At this point, I feel I can provide some advice for keeping secure against such an adversary....

September 6, 2013

Despite pleasant views of St. Petersburg (click here) and a large list of economic challenges on world leaders’ agendas, political tension was apparent at the start of the G20 summit as the US faced questions regarding its stance on Syria and the NSA spying program.
At the Konstantinovsky Palace – where the first day of the G20 summit kicked off – the world’s largest economic powers braced for political battles, RT’s Aleksey Yaroshevsky reported from Strelnya.
The situation in Syria took center stage in summit discussions, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opening call to “not mix up and bundle” economic and political issues. The two-and-a-half year conflict escalated after a chemical weapons attack took place outside of Damascus on August 21. The US believes it has evidence connecting the Syrian government to the attack. All eyes are currently on Congress as it decides whether to support a US strike on Syria.... 

Nothing like lobbying Congress from the G20. You have got to be joking.

If a country was able to recover their teenagers from a dreadful experience, would they want to recover it?

September 6, 2013
By Karen Shaheen

...Tayara found that teenagers (click here) who had certain war experiences showed greater resiliency and were better able to cope with stress and anxiety later in life.
In the study published in the International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Tayara investigated the impact of war on “resilience” – the ability of youths to cope with stress, be self-reliant and move on with their lives after conflict.
Resilience was measured by assessing multiple factors including emotional control, empathy and sensitivity.
The war experiences that Tayara examined spanned the spectrum from loss, which includes death of a loved one or displacement from home, to involvement in war, whether active or passive, such as witnessing shelling.
Teenagers who experienced the loss of a loved one suffered, while those who were injured or witnessed violence showed greater resiliency after the war.
Tayara’s findings confirmed some long-standing beliefs held by scientists who study the impact of war: Cultural background and environment have much to do with how adolescents cope with violence.
For instance, she said, children were able to cope better if they were surrounded by a community that saw war as having a cause. Religion can also provide a measure of relief.
Adolescents in Tripoli, where more people considered the 2006 war pointless, were more likely to be traumatized by it than teenagers in south Beirut....

Most Americans were unaware this occurred. It may have been covered, but, was seen as a nuisance to Israel and not a sincere war. Lebanon viewed it as a war and seven years later continues to worry about it's children.

The 2006 War with Israel (click here)

Israel had had experience of modern missile warfare in 1991, when Iraq fired Scud missiles at it during the war over Kuwait.
In 2006, it was under rocket attack again and had an ineffective response.
After eight Israeli soldiers had been killed and two captured by the Lebanese group Hezbollah, Israel and Hezbollah engaged in a 33-day war in which Hezbollah fired a hail of rockets into Israel and the Israelis bombed Lebanese towns, villages and infrastructure but made little headway in ground operations.
The war ended inconculsively but with Hezbollah largely intact. A new element had also been introduced into Israel's wars. It accused Iran of arming Hezbollah (and Hamas).

This is a point of view The West rarely considers as a matter of leadership.

September 6, 2013
The Daily Star

The assassination attempt against the Egyptian Interior Minister Thursday was a cowardly attempt to destabilize the government, but it is symbolic of the political isolation felt by opposition members, and must not be ignored by the country’s leaders....

Americans and The West witnessed the taking and stigmatizing of "The Baath Party" after the USA invaded Iraq. It is that reality this Lebanon editorial discusses and points to as a bad strategy to bring security to a nation of people, not just 'specific people.' 

... In post-Saddam Iraq, the new order was only too quick to crack down on the Baath party, disbanding the army and imprisoning party members. This approach, led more by a sense of vengeance than any pragmatic decision-making, has led to years of bloodletting and indiscriminate violence, rendering the streets of Baghdad, the sidewalk cafes and bakeries, all killing fields. This year alone, thousands have died.

It is not an uncommon strategy to 'display' or 'stigmatize' or 'make example of' aspects of personhood and/or persons themselves to bring about the idea of compliance without confrontation. All Baath members were to be considered the enemy within Iraq. It is that stigmatized human being the editorial addresses and seeks to remove same. It is hoping Egypt realizes it may be causing its own problems.

After 150,000 had been killed in the Lebanese Civil War, a different response was pursued, and a general amnesty called. Yes, targeted violence has flared in recent years, but the postwar years were largely calm. This might not be the right answer for Egypt, but debate must be allowed, on even ground, so that individuals and parties can begin to see beyond their differences....

This is the Middle East. Countries are not divided by oceans. The nations are smaller both in population and geography. The dynamics are completely different. The West's culture doesn't work in the Middle East. The rules are different. This is one of them. 

From the Lebanon Daily Star

A Formal Letter from the G20 Summit. They did not favor Obama and anyone stating otherwise is a lair.

September 6, 2013
Agencies 

...The first round at the summit (click here) went to Putin, as China, the European Union, the BRICS emerging economies and Pope Francis – in a letter – warned of the dangers of military intervention without the approval of the U.N. Security Council.
“Military action would have a negative impact on the global economy, especially on the oil price – it will cause a hike in the oil price,” Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said. The BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – echoed that remark.
A political solution was the only way forward, another senior Chinese official said later, warning world powers to be “highly prudent” over the issue.
“War cannot solve the problem in Syria,” Chinese delegation spokesman Qin Gang told reporters at the G-20.
European Union leaders described the Aug. 21 attack near Damascus, which killed up to 1,400 people, as “abhorrent” but said: “There is no military solution to the Syrian conflict.”
Obama is unlikely to be deterred. He said before talks with Japan’s prime minister on the sidelines of the summit that the use of chemical arms in Syria was “not only a tragedy but also a violation of international law that must be addressed.”...

I thought for a minute, actually a few seconds, would Pope Francis actually oppose the great United States and it's benevolent wars? Hm?

Sure, enough.

 NICOLE WINFIELD 9 hours ago

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis (click here) urged the Group of 20 leaders on Thursday to abandon the "futile pursuit" of a military solution in Syria as the Vatican laid out its case for a negotiated settlement that guarantees rights for all Syrians, including minority Christians.
In a letter to the G-20 host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Francis lamented that "one-sided interests" had prevailed in Syria, preventing a diplomatic end to the conflict and allowing the continued "senseless massacre" of innocents.
"To the leaders present, to each and every one, I make a heartfelt appeal for them to help find ways to overcome the conflicting positions and to lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution," Francis wrote as the G-20 meeting got under way in St. Petersburg....

The guy is holding a peace vigil, man. It is a first for the Vatican. Is that not cool. First he takes on the issue of the poor and now peace. He's a good guy. It is the first for the Vatican, it should be matched on Saturday at the Oval Office in Washington, DC. Obama needs to throw a peace vigil along with Francis. Maybe God is waiting for men to stop thinking they have the answer to every aspect of life on Earth. What do you think?

...Francis will host a peace vigil in St. Peter's Square on Saturday, a test of whether his immense popular appeal will translate into popular support for his peace message. It's the first time any such peace rally has been held at the Vatican, though Holy See officials have stressed it's a religious event, not a political protest....

continued...

Well, looky thar, Russia might actually know what it is talking about. I'll be darn.

Why do I get the feeling McCain and Graham had their eye on a bigger prize?

Hm?

I mean if they could arm the Caucus rebels in Syria and have them start a war with Russia, what could be better?

If Putin wanted to ENGAGE the USA at this point, it is plainly obvious why.

Thursday, September 05, 2013
A group of Islamist militants from Russia's volatile North Caucasus (click here) region fighting in Syria say they have split with a major Al-Qaeda-linked rebel unit. 

The group, calling itself the Mujahedin of the Caucasus and the Levant, announced its decision to split from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in a video posted on YouTube on September 3.

The video's authenticity could not be immediately verified.

The announcement in the video was made by a bearded man standing among some 40 fighters and speaking in halting Russian.

It was translated into Arabic by another fighter....

Vladimir should share more often. It is called a PRESS LEAK, President Putin.

A press leak doesn't mean a President has lost control, it means the 'exclusive' will sell well and provide important information to citizens regarding the underhanded dealings of political operatives.

I would love a press leak from Russia stating the intelligence that can be declassified regarding the current terrorist networks in operation within Syria. This is the kind of stuff the United Nations' General Assembly needs to hear. Honestly, Vlad, you are too about Russia, you should get out more.

I mean I could do spy assessments of my own all day long, but, it still is only speculative. Make my day, Vladimir.

Why is it I always find myself saying, "I told you so." It is the darnest thing. One would think war is profitable or something in the USA. Just imagine Caucus Rebels getting control of Sarin Gas and traveling all that way back to Russia. My, my, my. I am sure Graham and McCain wouldn't want that to happen after all, right?

Ya think?

21:20 05/09/2013

MOSCOW, September 5 (RIA Novosti) – Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem (click here) will visit Moscow on Monday for talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

The talks “will focus on an all-encompassing consideration of all aspects of the situation in and around Syria,” the ministry said in a statement.

The statement also reiterated Moscow’s position that a political process was the only way to solve the Syrian crisis and that any military action not authorized by the UN Security Council would be inadmissible.

JUST SAY "NO."

We don't belong in Syria.

We never did.

Wait a minute. You mean to tell me the victims, the innocent people, of "Stop and "Frisk" can't sue for their social stigma?

Barbara Ross
New York Daily News
September 3, 2013

Mayor Bloomberg field a lawsuit against City Council (click here) to overturn a law passed last month that would make it easier for people to sue after being targeted by the NYPD's controversial Stop-and-Frisk program.
The law allows plaintiffs to sue for profiling in state court for injuctive relief only - which means a winning plaintiff could ask the court to mandate that the NYPD change it's tactics, but, profiling beyond race to include categories such as age, gender, sexual orientation and housing status...

This isn't about cops. The police are the employees of the city and they are doing what is required of them. This is about the City's Liability and the social stigma placed on victims when viewed in public when they are stopped.

That is what this is about and why the City Council ruled to avoid liability. The Unconstitutional ruling opens the flood gates to class actions suits and civil suites of this law. 

I haven't read the court ruling, but, what was the main focus of the decision of unconstitutional grounds. Was there a mention to the civil liability of the City for the policy and why complainants were prohibited from suing?

NYC Stop-and-Frisk Ruling Leaves City Potentially Liable (click here)

By Brett Snider, Esp.
August 14, 2013
New York City's stop-and-frisk practice is going to end up costing the city unless the decision reached by a federal district court on Monday is successfully appealed and overturned by the Second Circuit....
Wow, where did America go? It isn't on the streets of NYC. This law not only takes the wrong course in solving the problem of violence and crime, it also allows the city to feel no pain when citizens are viewed by others and quite possibly causing a loss of job opportunity and/or reputation. 

"Stop and Frisk" doesn't solve the underlying problems, it treats the symptoms.

The Stop and Fisk law removes any reason for a city to address segregation and allow poverty to breed violence. It allows for "No Go Zones" in our cities. Problems have to be solved not simply swept under the rug. It is unconstitutional for lots of reasons, but, the city legislating 'no pain laws' removing civil suits is dangerous. 

The USA has made a bad habit of changing Torts for the sake of political fodder. What it has done is allowed states like North Carolina to remove liability by Emergency Room staff all together. So, if one happens to be driving from Florida to New York via I - 95 and experience an auto accident in North Carolina; the chances of dying at the hand of an incompetent doctor in an ER is higher than in states with effective tort laws that remove shoddy practitioners.

Getting them closer to Oklahoma gets them closer to the slaughter house.

More trauma befalling captured wild horses as a stock trailer hauling 39 mares out of the BLM short-term holding pens in the West to long-term warehousing in Oklahoma crashed. Miraculously no one was hurt or seriously injured, but imagine the stress these poor horses have endured.
Why not just leave them alone, okay? If the BLM fracks as much as they round up horses, the animals won't be alive in the wild anyway.
By John M. Glionna

September 4, 2013, 1:00 p.m

...The BLM estimates that 49,000 wild horses (click here) are held in such facilities. In 2012, holding costs of $42 million devoured more than half of the BLM's $72-million budget for its horse and burro program.

About 31,500 remain on the range. In June, a panel from the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council blasted the bureau's emphasis on roundups as "expensive and unproductive." The report calls for more birth control — a vaccine for mares, chemical vasectomies for males — and urged the agency to show greater transparency in how it operates.

Grijalva has said it makes no sense to spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to round up horses from their native range when the government has no room to store them. He said he's especially worried about recent research suggesting BLM roundups have the unintended consequence of actually increasing wild horse populations.

Bragato told The Times that the timing of this week’s visit to Nevada is critical: Next week, the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meets.

“He has his eye on that meeting and wants to send a message on the importance of reforming the program,” Bragato said....

They mate while in captivity rather than running away from being mated. Fertile males are known to receive fatal injuries from kicking mares. The BLM should not interfer this way. If there are homes lined up for the horses BEFORE the round up that would insure they would be properly cared for, but, to simply round them up and pen them is not the way to go.

These are the nation's horses and we need to take advise from people able to find the facts.

Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program:

A Way Forward (2013)

...science-based methods (click here) exist for improving population estimates, predicting the effects of management practices in order to maintain genetically diverse, healthy populations, and estimating the productivity of rangelands. Greater transparency in how science-based methods are used to inform management decisions may help increase public confidence in the Wild Horse and Burro Program.

Iran hosts a large Jewish population. This may not be official, but, I believe it is sincere. A very decent and civilized thing to do.

By Robert Tait, Middle East Correspondent

6:07PM BST 05 Sep 2013

The greeting on a Twitter account (click here) believed to be run with Mr Rouhani's blessing caused a stir on social media by announcing: "As the sun is about to set here in #Tehran I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh Hashanah [the Jewish new year]."

It was accompanied by a picture of an Iranian Jew praying at a Tehran synagogue....

There is absolutely no reason to give up on a peaceful Middle East. It is possible.

There is a silver lining in the election of President Rouhani, but, it will never be found it one does not look for it.

Ely was considered a great constitutional scholar. If he were here today he would be laughing.

John Hart Ely - Groundbreaking American legal scholar and expert in constitutional law and constitutional theory, whose 1980 book "Democracy and Distrust" is the most frequently cited book about law published in the 20th century, and who taught at Yale, Harvard and Stanford and was the dean of the Stanford Law School, died Oct. 25, 2003 in Miami of cancer at age 64. 

He wrote a book entitled, "War and Responsibility: Constitutional Lessons of Vietnam and Its Aftermath." There are people like Ely that believes the War Powers Resolution is unconstitutional. The declaration of war, by the way, is NOT one of the enumerated powers of the USA Constitution. The Right Wing on the issue of enumerated powers of the Tenth Amendment is stupid. There is no basis for that political rant. The laws of the country are based on the 'contextualized' understanding of the USA Constitution; not it's STRICT CONSTRUCTION. The idea THE WORDS have more meaning than reality is bullshit.

To counterbalance Ely is an essay at the Michigan Law Review by Philip Bobbitt entitled "War Powers: An Essay on John Hart Ely's..." (click here).

Get at least this much right, there are two separate war powers resolution, "The War Powers Act of 1942" of FDR and "The War Powers Resolution of 1973." So don't talk about something by the seat of your pants, IT SHOWS.

The first War Powers Act of 1942 CONTEXTUALIZED the right to war two weeks after the attack of the USA by Japan on Pearl Harbor. That act was then modified three months later to strengthen the Executive Branch's right to command the outcomes of the military.

The War Powers Resolution is a bit of a joke. It seeks to LIMIT the Executive Branch from being 'King of the War' by stating the President can only tirade 90 days without consent of Congress.

The fact of the matter is the war powers of the USA have grown vastly out of proportion to the nation's best interest. The war power of the USA assaults even the military strength of allies. If the USA's military power were to fall to a President and/or Congress that wanted the resources of the world within their powers, no different than the Holy Roman Empire, no country on Earth would have a chance including the citizens of the USA that would be receiving return fire. So, the entire idea ONE PERSON in the USA government can wield this power is complete assault against human rights of any nation, including that of the USA. 

Believe Dempsey when he states, "That is not going to stop me." He means it. If he engages Syria and Russia sends assets (assets includes the Russian military power) the war would then escalate out of control. There could easily be an exchange of nuclear capacity between nations at that point and there probably would be.

Realize, that Russia and China 'stood down' from the Iraq invasion. They didn't have to and they are getting tired of the USA causing catastrophic damage to the world. At some point China will enter this engagement when it believes Russia is under attack due to their Friendship Pact of 2000.

The attacks on Syria are wrong. They are wrong for many, many reasons, but, the primary reason is that if Russia should send assets to Syria they are legally correct. Internationally, the USA is way out of line and are simply pushing their limits because it did in Iraq. John McCain is the poster child for the Arrogant Neocon. McCain actually believes in the limited nuclear strike and thinks that is all that is needed to scare off any potential or actual enemy of the USA. What does he care, he'll be in a bunker somewhere believing he could actually breath unfiltered air again on sacred ground where Arizonians were toasted by foreign nukes.

The FACTS are very simple. The USA is hideous and ridiculous when it comes to Syrian chemical weapons. It is acting as if it had the capacity to happen in the USA. War abroad is not going to limit the scope of a chemical weapon attack as happened in Japan. The entire political dogma today is so out of sync with reality it is endangering it's own people. Homeland Security needs to be sure there are no potential for creating or owning chemical weapons in the USA, not the DOD. 

The FACTS surrounding this is very simple. Assad legally owns chemical weapons. He has used them against his own people. The acts were indiscriminate in areas of the country where oppositional/rebel forces did not have supply lines or organized infantry to attack Assad forces by killing innocent women and children. Assad could argue those people were human shields of the rebels. Assad has committed human rights violations and insulted the Geneva Conventions. Syria ratified the First Protocol of the Geneva Conventions, but, none since including Protocol II and III. 

The International Community President Obama handily insulted to bring about meaningful dialogue regarding Syria and OTHER NATIONS like it; is fully aware of their limits to act in this instance. The PROBLEM the USA has MANUFACTURED for itself is the overwhelming power of it's military and how it can engage war without consent or ALLIANCE WITH another nation's military. The unilateral capacity of the USA is a very big problem. The American people have to tell their military "NO" and put out of office any Representative or Senator that doesn't 'get it.'

The United Nations SUCCESSFULLY carried out inspections. That was partly due to the fact the USA was within missile capacity of Syria. I am fairly convinced of that. The United Nations is stating military power should not be used. Syria is a problem for the global community as are other nations that still own chemical weapons capacity. The larger international community has to decide this. The USA should not act unilaterally in any of these decisions. The American people have to tell their military "NO" and put out of office any Representative or Senator that doesn't 'get it.'

This is not our war, but, the political dogma in the USA currently wants it to be ours and put us back 'into the business' of military capacity and hardware.

There is no safe strike into Syria. If Russia is convinced Assad controls the chemical weapons of that nation, it is not bad place to be. There are significant terrorist elements within the opposition to the Syrian government and that cannot be overlooked. 

And, oh by the way, Russia was once a USA ally. How quickly we forget. Human Rights violations are not war, but, they are a quick and easy trick for 'making war.'

One other thing, when the Bush/Cheney military machine entered Iraq, the country was disarmed and it's chemical stockpiles were under UN seals. Syria is not Iraq.

NO. Just say NO.

We don't belong in Syria.

We never did.