"5 Broken Cameras" was an Oscar nominated film. Something to be proud of. A peaceful resistence movement.

By Maan
November 3, 2013

Iyad Burnat, (click here) star of the Oscar-nominated film 5 Broken Cameras, was among those shot by Israeli forces during the weekly protest in his village of Bilin on Friday.

Israeli forces opened fire on a demonstration against the separation wall four in Bilin on Friday afternoon, injuring four individuals including Iyad Burnat and two other members of his family. Dozens of others suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation.

Iyad was struck by two rubber-coated steel bullets in the thigh.

In a Facebook post on Friday evening, Burnat said that he was “fine.”

He added in a separate post on Saturday that “the bullet that does not kill us makes us stronger.”...

This is an outrage. The Palestinians in Bil'in are chronically under siege and they are ignored by their own Palestinian government. 

What is the sense in any peace talks if the people on the ground do not consent to it. They don't ask much, simply a place on Earth to call home. The people of Bil'in have done nothing wrong except to demonstrate and make their presence known to not be forgotten. 

The Palestinian people have no reassurances and haven't for some time that they will indeed have homes, a way of life and a future for their children.

If an Oscar nominated film can't get the attention of the world and the Obama Administration to bring about justice for these people, then what will? Nothing? The future of these people are hopelessly lost to violence forever? 

Unless the people consent and are reassured about their future, the killing won't stop. The peaceful protests will continue, the people will be viewed as a problem and they will die trying to save their homeland.

More martyrs? Is that what the Israel-Palestine talks will result in? This assault on the decency of the Palestinians to demonstrate and not send suicide bombers to visit Israel has to be recognized, rewarded and the PEOPLE NEED TO BE HEARD, NOT IGNORED! 

The villages along the artificial lines of Israel and Palestine don't understand why they are dying with only peaceful demonstrations conducted.

Bassem Abu Rahma - A Friend To Us All (click here)

On April 17th we mark one year to loosing Bassem, who we also knew as Pheel.

Although he is greatly missed at the village and during every demonstration, his spirit keeps on living with each and every one of us.

For this anniversary we decided to share the short film made in his memory. The film was ready within days, just in time to be screened at the International Conference on Popular Resistance which was held in Bil’in, 22nd-24th of April 2009. Thanks goes to Shai Carmeli-Pollak for the sensitive and wonderful work he has put into it.

In loving memory of Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahma (Pheel)
19.12.1977 - 17.4.2009

By ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: September 6, 2011

...While the boundary largely separates the Israelis from the Palestinians, (click here) about 1.5 million Palestinian Arabs are citizens of Israel, and more than 500,000 Israeli Jews now live east of the Green Line.
But for the Palestinians, the old line already serves as a virtual border, though one without a state on the other side. 

Here in Bartaa, a northern Arab village that straddles the Green Line in the area known as Wadi Ara, one encounters a quirky reality where the Green Line is alternately ignored and enforced — a paradox that, by extension, can be applied to the entire land. 

Bartaa’s market spreads across a narrow valley that is dissected by crossroads. It is a riot of noise and color, with stores displaying gaudy evening gowns and plastic toys strung above the sidewalks. Only a well-informed traveler would know that the eastern half of the market sits in the West Bank, and the western half in Israel. 

The Green Line runs, unmarked, right through the market, an imaginary wall separating two parts of a village that has long been inhabited by one extended family, the Kabha clan. 

With Israel’s conquest of the West Bank in 1967, the hostile frontier evaporated and the two parts of Bartaa were reunited, the western part being part of Israel and the eastern part falling under Israeli military rule. Then, when Israel constructed the West Bank security barrier, which it said was essential to prevent suicide bombers, it looped the fence east of Bartaa, deeper into the West Bank territory. Although Palestinians see the barrier as a land grab, in this particular case, the villagers accepted it as the lesser of two evils, to prevent them from being redivided... 

Mutually agreed swaps of land may be something the authorities believe is possible, but, the people have no clue and feel threatened in losing their lives and identities, including land their ancestors have farmed and lived on for centuries, if not millenia. 

Challenges in Defining an Israeli-Palestinian Border (click here)

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed peace talks in Washington in July for the first time in three years. While the talks are initially expected to focus on procedural issues, they are already beginning to take on a last-ditch quality. Below, explore some of the contentious issues that negotiators have faced in drawing borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state.

The negotiations regarding land in Palestine will not benefit the Palestinian people.

By Noam Sheizaf
Published March 30, 2013
...Even if Israel (click here) were to agree to leave the West Bank, Green Park would not be evacuated. Even Palestinian negotiators agreed to have it annexed to Israel in exchange for equal territory elsewhere. Thus, the Palestinian people might one day be compensated for the land that was taken from Bil’in, but the people of the village – its owners – will not. This fact also highlights the paradox of the settlements: on one hand, Israel claims that settlements do not affect the final status agreement and can be evacuated at any time – a notion recently backed by U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to give up the demand for a settlement freeze – yet in every round of negotiations, the Israeli government presents new facts on the ground as fait accompli, and demands that the proposed solution be adjusted to accommodate them....

The Palestinians living in Bil'in don't accept that reality. They believe they are betrayed even by the Palestinian authority.

Like what? Space aliens in the South Atlantic? There is an abyssal plain there?

Over the course of nine nights, fishing boats shift positions while hugging the borders of the exclusive economic zones of Argentina and the Falkland Islands. (Map by NASA Earth Observatory, using VIIRS day-night band data from Suomi NPP.)

One might recall my statements about the abundance of squid and how they were overtaking the fisheries. Well, leave it to heroes in South America to make the most of it and remove the overwhelming number of squid destroying the fisheries. 

...Fisheries researchers (click here) and managers suggest that as much as 300,000 tons of Illex squid are harvested from the South Atlantic each year by unlicensed, unregulated fishing vessels. Managing the fishery and monitoring the presence of foreign fishing fleets is very difficult for navies and fisheries managers; the satellite views provide at least some sense of the activity in the area.

“These lights help reveal the full range, patterns, and night-to-night variability of these fishing activities in striking detail,” said Steve Miller, a Colorado State University scientist who works with VIIRS nighttime imagery. “It’s just another example of how much information exists in night lights measurements and how unique they are for coupling human activity with the natural environment in a way that conventional visible imagery cannot do.”

I suppose every nation in the area can seek to own the catch, but, at least there are some willing to work past the border issue and actually find a resolve to help the fisheries remove the over abundance of squid.

Who needs Wall Street?

Fresh-caught Illex argentinus squid packaged and ready for South American supermarkets. Source: Supplied

IT glows. It moves. (click here) And it's forming a 300km long spiral pattern in the South Atlantic . So what exactly is being captured by satellite cameras over the coast of Argentina? 

...Squids (click here) belong to a particularly successful group of mollusks called the cephalopods, which have been around for about 500 million years. Some ancestors of modern-day squids had shells, such as the ammonites, which ruled the waves 400-65 million years ago. Of those that are still around, one small group—the nautiluses—has an external shell. The other—which includes squids, cuttlefishes, and octopods—does not, although squids and cuttlefishes have an internal, backbone-like support made of chitin called a pen....

It's Sunday Night.

"Dancing In The Dark" by Bruce Springsteen (click here)

I get up in the evening
and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help

You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark
 
Message keeps getting clearer
radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man I ain't getting nowhere
I'm just living in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere
baby I just know that there is
 
You can't start a fire
you can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark

You sit around getting older
there's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders
come on baby this laugh's on me

Stay on the streets of this town
and they'll be carving you up alright
They say you gotta stay hungry
hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action
I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
come on now baby gimme just one look
 
You can't start a fire sitting 'round crying over a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Hey baby

Using modest amounts of wood at a large number of coal plants could be a relatively quick way to phase in renewable energy.

Wood is not a biofuel. Where is this coming from? There was a ruling by the EPA in 2009 indicating burning wood is not alternative energy.

Wood is less efficient than any other fuel on the market. It takes far more wood to produce one kilowatt of energy. 

By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: November 3, 2013 

...For companies like Minnesota Power, (click here) co-firing will be one of the leading options if the E.P.A., which recently proposed limits on carbon emissions for new plants, follows through on its plan to develop limits for old ones. Using modest amounts of wood at a large number of coal plants could be a relatively quick way to phase in renewable energy. And unlike wind or solar power electricity from a boiler, burning wood is easy to schedule and integrate into the grid. 

The E.P.A. is in the midst of “listening sessions” in 11 cities around the country, to gather ideas from the public about putting carbon limits on existing plants. Last week it held an eight-hour session in Denver.... 

The EPA needs to uphold the standard of CO2 at the smokestack. Wood produces CO2. Wood is best resolved to compost, quite frankly. The definition of biomass in regard to wood is very specific. There simply is no reason for any violation of this standard. Burning wood is not going to eliminate CO2 in the troposphere. In a natural progression of any forest, dead trees are consumed by detritivores and turned into the soil. The dead trees within any forest never return to the atmosphere anywhere. So, to believe burning wood is the best and prudent alternative is hideous.

The final rulemaking for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) was published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2010.

Can woody residues (click here) from a sawmill or paper mill be used as a feedstock for renewable fuels under the RFS2 program? A: For fuel to qualify under the RFS2 program, it must be derived from feedstocks that meet the definition of renewable biomass. Woody residues from saw mills and paper mills may meet the definition of renewable biomass in certain circumstances. If the woody residues are from planted trees from actively managed tree plantations on non-federal land cleared at any time prior to December 19, 2007, the residues are considered "tree residue" under RFS2 and therefore fall within the definition of "renewable biomass."

Try raising earthworms and you'll finally get it.

Wood is not a biofuel or an alternative energy. It is a fact that when the public allows such plants in their neighborhoods there is never enough wood to support the plant and all kinds of garbage is then burned, including rubber tires, etc. There ain't no way this form of energy is healthy from any avenue approached. 

There is no way a forest can support a wood burning plant. It will never equate to alternative based in the idea wood is a biomass source of energy. The MATH is not there. The equation never balances to zero emissions. 

Those that are trying to cut corners are best to abandon the effort. This isn't about politics. This is about protecting Earth's sustainability in order for people to live and work. This is about the future as much if not more than the present. This is about children and the world they inherit. It is stewardship required of a planet that will sustain life without threats of death due to tropospheric changes. It is about a sustainable climate, not profit, but the best way forward to prevent devastating effects in ways that will cause further destruction of a livable troposphere. This is not an option. It is imposed on the people because of the nature of the planet. It is nothing that can be mitigated. There is no wiggle room. 

The Farm Bill Conference has finally convened.

Unfortunately, there is a large consensus that "Country of Origin" labeling is being regarded as disposable. This is a labeling the American Consumer values, especially in the Organic Food Markets.

China and Mexico are complaining the Country of Origin Labeling is wrong and needs to be ended. 

The complaints about the labeling is NOT coming from Americans, but, from other nations having to live up to the standards of these demands. Well, too bad. The 'Country of Origin' Labeling should not be regarded as frivolous or unnecessary.

Country of Origin Labeling (click here) is a labeling law that requires retailers, such as full-line grocery stores, supermarkets, and club warehouse stores, notify their customers with information regarding the source of certain foods. Food products, (covered commodities) contained in the law include muscle cut and ground meats: beef, veal, pork, lamb, goat, and chicken; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts; and ginseng. Regulations for fish and shellfish covered commodities (7 CFR Part 60) became effective in 2005. The final rule for all covered commodities (7 CFR Part 60 and Part 65) went into effect on March 16, 2009. AMS is responsible for administration and enforcement of COOL.

The decision to eliminate Country of Origin Labeling is being done with complete disregard of the American consumer. There has been no public comment period to register the needs and demands of the people of this country.

Especially now, it appears more and more the burden for providing organic foods to consumers demanding it are up to the buyers for the individual markets. The organic food market will receive no help from the USA government.

Permits, Notifications, and Petitions (click here)
APHIS regulates the introduction (importation, interstate movement, or environmental release) of certain genetically engineered (GE) organisms. All regulated introductions of GE organisms must be authorized by APHIS under either its permitting or notification procedures. 
When a developer has collected enough evidence that a GE organism poses no more of a plant pest risk than an equivalent non-GE organism, the developer may petition APHIS to determine non-regulated status for the GE organism. If the petition is approved by APHIS, the GE organism may then be introduced into the United States without any further APHIS regulatory oversight.
Each section below contains guidance, resources, application information, and status.

Republicans are abandoning the Old Guard.

 Laurens County Republican Party (click here for Facebook site)

Published: Friday, November 1, 2013 3:34 PM EDT

The Laurens County Republican Party (click here) has become the fifth county party in South Carolina to censure U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.

The county’s executive committee passed a 29-point resolution Oct. 29 in favor of censuring Graham. Laurens County joins Chesterfield, Fairfield, Greenville and Orangeburg counties.

The motion to censure passed 7-4.

“This reflects the continued frustration of many in the party with officials who are elected as Republicans and then seem to forget the doctrine of the party when they assume office,” said a spokesperson for the Laurens County Republican Party....

It isn't as though Republicans in Laurens County are completely happy with the Democratic President.

From the Facebook Site: 

"I have been broadcasting for 31 years and writing for longer than that. I do not recall ever saying on radio or in print that a president is doing lasting damage to our country."

A few of the points in the censure are:

 Senator Graham’s attempt to reward those who break the laws of our country with amnesty.

They oppose Immigration Reform. Perhaps some of these counties need a strong 'in your face' Pro-Immigrate Movement.

 The continued support the senator offers in the arming of elements of Al Qaida, sworn enemies of the United States, in the Middle East.

The Syrian Crisis. There is no clear opposition and there won't be. It is noted the disintegration of central authority in the Mideast. The factions of militias are to protect their neighborhoods basically. They aren't interested in a central authority because of the problems they have caused before. The 'default' setting for these countries are 'tribal authority.' They reject and seek to destroy central authority. Central authority is a Western function of government. The militias come together when a threat is greater than one militia can handle; ie: Syria. 

Benghazi was the first brush with this default setting in the Mideast. At no point in time has the USA or any other major power run into such acceptance of a diffuse central government. What Ambassador Stevens ran into was the rise of the 'militia government.' He didn't recognize it because he was focused on influencing democracy to work for the people. He believed Benghazi was a place to instill the democratic principles. Little did he know the people had already reconciled themselves into local militias where they had control of their day to day lives. Benghazi could not have been prevented, except, if the USA was completely absent to the government structure there.

The USA government conveniently lives in denial of the truth of their imposition of values on the Mideast. It is that generational denial that caused the deaths in Benghazi. Al Qaeda grew out of the local understanding that a central government was a puppet to The West. The people of the Mideast have longed believed The West was the problem, so in that lies the current tribal movement in North Africa and Syria. Denial will kill. Absolutely. The West's politics have to be dispelled of it's dysfunction. I believe that is what Chancellor Merkel is awakening. To allow the USA live in denial of global discontent is very dangerous.

There is a sense of righteousness within the problems The West is experiencing in the Mideast. The West assumes it is always THE BEST way to go. A strong central government has brought about a higher standard of living, however, the people of a nation have to consent to it. The people of the Mideast don't consent to it. 

The only right The West has is to find allies and allow those allies to fight to change the quality of life of the people, ie: Afghanistan and Iraq. It doesn't work, it is not sincerely the will of the tribal authorities and that is the power the people recognize. The tribal authority is tied directly to their relationship with God. The West is never going to change that. Fighting for territory is innate to these tribal authorities. When the USA enters the fray they are simply another authority seeking territory for their own purposes. No one recognizes that as a legitimate definition of the governing of the Mideast? I mean for real, you all don't get it? 

That is what makes nucelar technology so dangerous. It is why non-proliferation is so important. The West and Soviets always assume sharing technology will result in strong allies with central authority forever. It is myth. The Soviets or as known today Russia are just as guilty as The West in living in denial of the diffuse authority in the Mideast. Creating 'Saddams' is the way The West has imposed it's demands for trade of oil. The 'Saddams' were the manifest of Wall Street through military proliferation by The West and the petroleum industry. Take or leave it, the facts of the matter are clear. 

North Africa and any rise of strong militias is a direct threat to Europe. To that end France maintains it's vigilance to the stability and/or any growing threat to Europe and acts to prevent and/or end that threat. Europe has a right to do that. Russia ran into that same threat when they went into Afghanistan, but, all the USA saw was a chance to undermine an expansion of Russia. Now that the USA has had enough of fighting the tribes Russia will resume their stance to prevent threats to it's borders and otherwise. It is the nature of the beast. Surely, everyone understands the importance of understanding that concept. No? 

The best route to a central government in the Mideast of any country is through the five pillars of Islam. Generosity and benevolence. When the central government PROVIDES a quality of life to the people, the people will seek that benevolence. Ask the Saudi King how he does it. Hasn't anyone noticed the most prospering Mideast nations have central authority that provides incredible favors to their people. Dubai stands because it doesn't seeks to destroy it's tribal identity to the people. Dubai is extremely generous to it's people. They are wealthy has hell and can take care of their people.

What happened in Iran was going to happen in Iran. Does everyone believe The Shah was actually viewed as the real leader of the people? Seriously?But, The West in it's denial of sincere authority in Iran ended up with hostages for 444 days. Hello?

How many examples has to be flown in the face of The West before they finally 'get it?' 

Nuclear proliferation in the Mideast is nothing more than a profound tragedy waiting to happen. Nuclear annihilation of ethnicities will occur if the technology is allowed to proliferate weapons. The hated is too deep and the alliances with God to profound to expect that inevitability to be denied. This is not about politics, it is about peace, non-proliferation and quality of life to people so they value their lives. The West has to love the people as much as The Saudi King and the Princes of Dubai love them. They will die for their God. They subscribe to that path. The West has to live with that reality and stop killing them. They have to be allowed to govern themselves into benevolence.

 His belief that government spying on American citizens without due process is an acceptable practice.

The Patriot Act and the overreach by the NSA.

 The disregard he showed for other Republicans in their attempt to prevent further erosion of our second amendment rights. 

Pro-gun rights without respect for life.

There is a mixed focus, some are extremist views while others are anti-war. Basically, these are the Libertarians.  

Did you set your clocks back?

A double recessive allele. If Zebras didn't have a recessive white allele they would not have white stripes. In this case, the zebra inherited a double recessive and was born an albino, blue eyes and all.

Why the zebra?

Diversity. It is the way species survive and when it is limited a species has a higher chance of extinction, except of course, for the effects of humans.

This is not a message about liberty. The danger of being killed with a gun is high in the USA and that is not a liberty.

With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, the National Association for Gun Rights is now the fastest-growing and most effective grassroots gun rights organization in the country. 

Our 100% no-compromise message is ringing a bell with gun owners and activists nationwide -- and scores of them are jumping on board and joining up as members of NAGR every day.

Members of NAGR receive exclusive up-to-the-second gun rights updates via email, our quarterly newsletter "The Gun Activist," exclusive gun giveaway offers, and if you join today . . . 

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We'd love to call you a member of the NAGR grassroots gun rights army!  Click on the image below and join today!

For Freedom,

Dudley Brown
Executive Vice President 

By Richard Winton and Brian Bennett

November 2, 2013, 9:37 a.m.

The man suspected (click here) of opening fire at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, killing a TSA agent, was shot in the leg and head, making it difficult for authorities to gather information, a law enforcement official told The Times.

The suspected shooter, identified by police as 23-year-old Paul Anthony Ciancia, was hospitalized in critical condition. He was wounded by an LAX police officer and sergeant as he shot his way through Terminal 3 shortly after 9 a.m., authorities said.

KCAL-TV footage appeared to show the bloodied gunman handcuffed to a gurney as he was wheeled out of the terminal. He remained in critical condition at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center as of 8 a.m. Saturday.

The incident Friday began, police say, when Ciancia entered Terminal 3 through the main door, pulled an AR-15 assault rifle out of a bag and "began to open fire."

He then walked up a flight of stairs to the entrance of the security checkpoint, where at least three Transportation Security Administration officers were shot, officials said. One of them, Gerardo I. Hernandez, 39, was killed....

The gunman is always mentally ill. There are approximately 75 million Americans with mental health problems on any given day. It is impossible to police 75 million people or build a data base to exclude them from gun ownership. There is only one way to end this and that is to control the guns and/or have every other American own and wear body armor all the time.

The guns used are ALWAYS THE SAME, they are assault weapons with military capacity.

Pakistan, the two headed serpent.

We need to leave Afghanistan and cut defense spending, too.

The Khyber Pass is a lifeline for NATO trucks to the allied forces in Afghanistan and the news this week reflected exactly the extent this road has proved to create a war zone all by itself.

by Taha Siddiqui, Correspondent 
January 30, 2013 

Clashes (click here) between rival militant groups in the tribal region next to the Afghanistan border has reportedly claimed more than 70 lives since fighting broke out last week. The area lies near the Khyber Pass, a main route for NATO supply trucks to Afghanistan, making it pivotal to the US war effort there and to Pakistan's revenues....

Hakimullah Mehsud is a legendary Taliban leader. He was believed to be killed by a US drone twice before, but, the assessment was proved wrong. This time the US is stating he is actually dead. This guy used a Toyota pick up and an AK47 to defeat the USA at the Khyber Pass. He and his band merry men. It's fascinating to realize 12 years after bin Laden used USA infrastructure to attack the civilians these goons are still succeeding in disrupting any USA war with basically rag-tag infrastructure. I shake my head to realize how completely vulnerable the troops are to local militias. 

But, at any rate, Mr. Mehsud is stated to be dead this time and the Taliban is seeking revenge. That is something new?

2 November 2013 Last updated at 05:39 ET
 Hakimullah Mehsud: Pakistan forces on alert after death (click here)

A spokesman told the BBC all security measures were now being taken.
Pakistan media say Mehsud's funeral has taken place at an unknown location in the tribal area of North Waziristan.
A Pakistan government minister said the drone strike had destroyed attempts to hold peace talks with the militants.
Mehsud was killed along with four other people - including two of his bodyguards - when four missiles struck their vehicle in the north-western region of North Waziristan, a senior Taliban official told the BBC.
The Taliban's ruling council met on Saturday to choose a new leader. Unconfirmed reports say regional commander Khan Said Sajna has been elected to the top job.
As well as Mehsud, the previous Pakistan Taliban leader was killed in a drone strike, in 2009... 

The USA and allies in Afghanistan could go on like this forever, because the warlords are the ones running the show, not the USA.

The other warlord is Pakistan itself.

By Brian Sapper   

October 24, 2013

 

Obama Won't Cut Aid to Pakistan, Even Though the Problems Are Mounting (click here)

On Wednesday, President Obama met the prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, to discuss relations between the two countries. The meeting came at a time when there is sharp criticism for both the U.S. providing Pakistan with more than $1.6 billion in aid, and the ongoing drone campaign in the region. It is the latter issue that Prime Minister Sharif has been especially critical of. However, those expecting any major development on either of these issues will likely be disappointed. The U.S. is in a position where it would be more beneficial in the short term to continue aid, while Pakistan is almost dependent on it.
The U.S.' military and economic aid has long been the subject of controversy. Politicians like Senator Rand Paul have pushed for cutting all aid to Pakistan, claiming that the country is not a true ally. More alarming, there have been numerous accusations that the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's main intelligence agency, is secretly providing support to insurgent groups in Afghanistan, including the Taliban and the Haqqani Network. 
The claims that Pakistan is potentially working with the insurgency behind the U.S. back are still up for debate; most of the accusations are still based off of hearsay and secondary sources rather than any concrete evidence. Still, it can't be denied that relations between the two countries have become increasingly strained within the past couple years. Tensions have flared up due to incidents such as the closing of the Khyber Pass supply route in 2010, the U.S.' raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbotabad in 2011, and especially the continuous drone strikes in Pakistan. U.S. drone strikes are so hated in Pakistan that the cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan gained a significant amount of local support and international attention for his demands to halt all the drone strikes....

Pakistan states it holds the drone strikes in ridicule while at the same time sells it's air space for drone flights. I love the part in this continuing drama that states the USA is best to carry out these strikes now while Pakistan is financially dependent on the USA. When was Pakistan not?

Look, this entire mess the USA is now entrenched in is a non-winnable war. There is not going to be an end to all this mischief. The USA has to spend it's monies on it's own Homeland Infrastructure and forget this stuff. Send over a flight once in awhile to burn the poppy fields to cut off the financial wealth to al Qaeda and the Taliban, but, this war is going nowhere very fast. 

Then there is this. A drone to end all other drones. Lockheed Martin is creating drones that can destroy other drones because the science is no longer secret. I mean it is so much not secret I sometimes wonder if the strikes in Pakistan are actually those of the USA.

Published time: November 02, 2013 04:19 

Aircraft experts and military aficionados have cause to rejoice now that Lockheed Martin has debuted the SR-72 unmanned spy plane, the long-awaited successor to the SR-71 Blackbird and potentially the first hypersonic craft to enter service.
Plans for the SR-72 drone were first unveiled Friday in an Aviation Week article which revealed that Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works advanced development program has drafted plans for a plane that could fly as fast as Mach 6 - twice the speed of the Blackbird. 
The SR-72 would have the ability to gather intelligence, conduct surveillance and reconnaissance, and launch combat strikes at an unprecedented speed. The plane is designed to fill what is considered in military circles to be a gap in capabilities between the spy satellites orbiting Earth and the manned and unmanned technology meant to replace the SR-71. 
The original Blackbird, which was introduced in 1966 and served until 1999, was primarily used by the US Air Force and NASA to collect intelligence through the Cold War. Along with flying at speeds fast enough to outrun a surface-to-air missile, the Blackbird also avoided enemy radar by flying at low altitudes. A total of 32 aircraft were built and, although 12 were lost to accidents, not a single one was lost to enemy combat.... 

This is accurate reporting. This is the Lockheed Martin website (click here).  

Integrated Sensor Is Structure (ISIS) is a disruptive Command & Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C2ISR) extremely large dual-aperture radar capability integrated in a fully autonomous stratospheric unmanned airship. This solar and regenerative fuel-cell powered, electric propulsion, extreme endurance stratospheric airship provides broad-area coverage using a dual-band (X- & UHF-Band) radar capable of detecting and tracking Air Moving Tracking Indication (MTI), Ground MTI, Dismounts MTI and Maritime MTI targets of interest; in addition prosecuting targets beneath foliage and Camouflage, Concealment and Deceptive (CC&D) cover with its UHF-Band FOPEN (Foliage Penetrating) abilities. Operating at 70,000 feet the inherent look-down CONOP becomes a low observable (LO) buster and increases combat identification of operating and inbound targets. 

There is 5280 feet in a mile. So this is about 14 miles above the Earth. Mount Everest is about 6 miles high. 

The hypersonic weapon is stated to be able to:

Key Features  (click here)
Low observable shaping
Dual mode ramjet for efficient, long range hypersonic cruise
Lightweight, compact design

The USA is spending huge amounts of money when their own enemies are riding around in Toyota pick up trucks and winning. 

No clue.

These weapons are all very interesting from the perspective of spying, but, the USA is still seeking to develop weapon SYSTEMS when it doesn't have any enemies to require this level of operations.

Russia is not an enemy. Russia and China are forced to 'deal with' the USA's weapons race, but, they are not the enemy. We are not at war with Russia and China, we are at war with the militias living and thriving in the mountains of Pakistan.

These weapons will never be used, unless, the tensions THEY CREATE gets out of control. These weapon systems are not necessary and cause more problems than they solve.

The reason the USA is spending huge amounts of money on the military is because "We are at war." These military projects' that can be defeated by Chinese Computer Hackers and Third World Militias. So, the idea the USA is a Superpower is a lie. The USA is as vulnerable as any First World Nation. We need to stop this and return to a peaceful existence on a planet where the petroleum industry is obsolete and USA interests demand fair pricing for the Disney Land In Moscow yet to be built. 

So long as the USA is willing to pay countries for war, it will be at war and the enemies will continue to be spawned out of the sheer need to survive the weapon systems of the USA. We need to stop this. 

By Margaret Talev and David Lerman  
November 01, 2013

....Maliki, 63, (click here) prime minister since 2006, is in Washington seeking more weapons as bombings and suicide attacks in Iraq have killed more than 5,000 people this year, the most since 2009, according to the United Nations. He’s asking for additional assistance amid criticism from some U.S. lawmakers that Iraq’s government is fueling violence by failing to bridge differences among sectarian groups....


When the USA was in Iraq we were the henchmen for the central government. The civil war is still blazing because the central government is working against the people. If the central government continues to be at war with it's own people, what good is arming them? The people of Iraq do not want a central government. The USA again is creating Saddam Hussein with a different name.

What was that about nation building? Want to remind me one more time why the USA does this, exactly. 

Oh yeah, that's right, this time it is different. 

Amnesty for a Whistleblower.

Jesse Singal, Special for USA Today
November 1, 2013

BERLIN — Germany (click here) may open a discussion with accused spy Edward Snowden to find out what he can tell them about U.S. espionage on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told Germany's Die Zeit newspaper Friday that "we will find a way, if Mr. Snowden is willing to talk." His spokesman Jens Teschke confirmed the comments, saying, "We want clarification, and we want further information," adding that he assumed such a meeting would be in Russia.
The minister's statement comes a day after leftist parliament member Hans-Christian Stroebele of the opposition Green Party met with Snowden in Moscow, where Snowden has been granted temporary asylum from a U.S international extradition warrant....

Taking Germany hostage to demands for the USA to end it's extradiction and charges isn't going to work. The USA is not the aggrieved party, the German Chancellor is and the USA won't drop charges to allow Mr. Snowden to reinforce and/or expand on what Germany knows. 

Mr. Snowden needs to build a concensus among countries in decent of USA policy to expand his acceptance and those that can advocate for him. He needs to think this through, the charges by the USA are wrong. They will state Mr. Snowden was an enemy to Germany and other nations because he leaked information regarding them. In other words they should be demanding justice, too. But, they never allowed the NSA to gather the information in the first place and they are as victimized as Mr. Snowden. Supposedly, Carlyle is above using information against other governments as leverage. So, why gather it in the first place, these are allies.

So, if Mr. Snowden wants to reverse the USA's ambition to try him for treason or whatever they want now, he has to build a consensus among these nations to bring them together in an understanding Mr. Snowden acted to stop policies that hinder alliances and provide overreach to the USA it should never take without the knowledge or treaty of the other countries. Basically, he has to testify to them the USA invaded their sovereignty.

The USA has been enjoying overreach for nearly a decade now since the Bush White House declared The Global War on Terror. This is a stance created by Bush through very loose interpretation of USA laws and international treaties. This is a chance to close those doors again and even stop rendition and drone attacks. It rattles the imagination to realize the USA is still carrying out drone attacks over foreign soil without the consent of Congress nearly a decade later.

Mr. Snowden has to realize he is alone on a very big planet full of countries disgruntled with the NSA spying. He has to find a way to join with them so they can come to terms with the past and current practices of the USA. In other words, Edward Snowden needs to be valuable and innocent and worthy of a nation's advocacy, as Germany. There is a lot at stake in this and Germany knows it has a responsibility in asking a wanted treasonist of the USA for the very information he is wanted for. 

Edward Snowden needs to be magnanimous and not obstructive. No sovereign nation will abandon the honesty he can bring them and disregard the importance of his actions. It is a matter of honor and national sovereignty for them. This is bigger than just demanding leverage over the USA. It is a matter of diplomacy with sensitive information that can free him. He can't disregard the integrity of other nations when dealing with their representatives. He has a chance to be a hero and not a traitor. He should be looking for amnesty in the relationship with Germany and any other nation while asking the same for those he advocates.

The media is suppose to teach as well as propagandize, but, teaching is boring and doesn't get ratings.

October 30, 2013
Posted by Amy Davidson

...There was something else (click here) that was scary, though. Obama also had to speak because of what he called the “latest flurry” in the news. It was a little more than that. He had to square something that he had repeated often and unambiguously—“If you like your plan, you can keep your plan”—with the news that people are getting letters from insurance companies saying that their coverage was being cancelled because of the Affordable Care Act. Yesterday, NBC ran a report saying that millions of people would lose their existing coverage. Although the numbers are in dispute, this was not, as Jonathan Cohn and others have noted, a surprise to people deeply versed in the A.C.A. But it was for a lot of people who got those letters....

What President Obama should have said, as if I am someone to tell the President what to say, is "If you have a legal and not a substandard plan, you can keep your plan."

President Obama spoke extensively about the clarification needed regarding the hottest deception currently in the media. So, he is best to straighten it out and I think he did a great job of doing that. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is law. It doesn't permit substandard health insurance anymore. All the policies existing that are substandard will be cancelled. That was known a long time ago when the law was first written. That is a no brainer. 

The reason those policies are cancelled as of January 1, 2014 is because they are dangerous. They are dangerous for the people subscribing to them, the healthcare market and the fallout for the country in having to subsidize cheap health care insurance policies. 

Everyone in the country needs to get on board to a healthier tomorrow by subscribing to a qualified health care policy. Many of the states are having exceptional enrollments and much to their relief. Governors are happy they are getting the response knowing their citizens will no longer be a burden to the hospitals that STILL EXIST in the USA. If one recalls during the Bush Years hospitals closed at record rates. That is not a good thing. With The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act all patients are covered by qualified policies and hospitals will not have to carry the cost of the uninsured and won't bankrupt. 

So, with that reality check, President Obama says it far better than I.
 

Republicans are going to lie, deceive and propagandize their rants based in lies and deception.

America is changing and shedding the Old Guard. The GOP has a lot of Old Money to support it's candidates. The GOP isn't going to change, but, Robert Reich has some sincere insight. 

Mr. Reich brings up a very interesting point. The GOP is more interested in State elections. If one considers they want to dismantle and destroy the federal government, it completes the puzzle. It explains government shutdowns and brinkmanship of the federal debt. There are a lot of anarchists in the GOP base. My words, not Mr. Reich. 

The deception is unbelievable. The claim "Mitt Romney Killed My Wife" was due to the closing of a plant by Bain Capital.

Romeny was the Governor of Massachusetts when the law passed, but, in all honesty Senator Ted Kennedy was instrumental in helping Democratic State Congressional members pass the law. Why do people bitterly deceive the public? It doesn't pay to deceive. I don't believe any Right Wing / GOP claim about the number of people providing numbers outside HHS. They don't know, but, they will pretend they know.