So.

Formerly Secretary Powell stated he had similar decisions to make about information with the State Department. A man of many years in the military was able to find his way to accomplish the impossible realizing the federal government had no consistent way or no sophisticated equipment to accomplish sequestering material that was classified.

Now.

Former Secretary Clinton decided differently. Maybe. Supposedly the material redacted within her emails is now classified. 

She found a different way to have a system that worked for her. It doesn't make any difference if she HAD THOUGHTS in her emails about whether or not The Clinton Foundation could help. I have already stated The Clinton Foundation is a unique entity on planet Earth and it would be NATURAL for her to think of helping on all fronts. After all she is a former First Lady and a former US Senator. She also was the Former First Lady of Arkansas. She is a brilliant woman that would bring excellence to the Office of the President of the United States.

I am tired of hearing how Hillary Clinton didn't figure out her email services well.

THE FACT IS:

Her email server was always and remains secure. The emails being released from the US State Department are coming from the US State Department and nowhere else.

THERE IS NO PROBLEM, except, the bloodsport surrounding her run for office.

THERE IS NO PROBLEM, except, the almighty pressure editorializing her statements to Andre Mitchell to make it sound as though it is an apology to the people. 

THAT ISN'T WANT SHE SAID.

She said she apologized for the confusion. Now, why doesn't the press explain why she said there is confusion within this subject. Afraid of being helpful to her?

She is a woman that is more qualified to be President than the rest of the people within this race. She is not a baphoon and she never compromised USA national security. She is allowed to have her own ideas of perfection and her methods in achieving it. 

Former Secretary Powell gave a great interview today. Thank you.

That sounds about right. Russia is definately bulding up Syrian forces.

September 5, 2015

US Secretary of State John Kerry (click here) has expressed concern to Moscow over reports of Russian military build-up in Syria, the state department says.

US media reports said Russia has sent advisers and hardware to Syria, in what Washington fears is an expansion of its support for President Bashar al-Assad.
Any such development would "escalate the conflict", Mr Kerry told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Russia has been a key ally of Syria throughout its four-year civil war.

Sure enough. Now, I want to hear how the USA thinks that President Assad who was re-elected recently is worse than Daesh. I doubt the USA can make a statement actually backing Daesh. And there is something like 60 Syrian rebels trained by the USA, right?

President Putin has already stated the re-elected President Assad is willing to work with a power sharing agreement. In order for that to begin, Daesh has to defeated. Assad has been leading a war against them and now he will have an infusion of new weaponry. That weaponry will provide a conventional force for Syria and end the cruelty of poverty warfare and chemical weapons. Let's all hope it works as well as we want it to. 

I suppose the USA can try for another resolution at the UN Security Council, but, that won't be passed. Russia will veto it along with China and most probably Great Britain and France as well. Now, that would be interesting to see. The USA the only permanent member all by itself. 

Congratulatoins to those that received their marriage license.

Well, Ms. Davis is simply omnipotent as if God herself. She is in jail. A person in jail loses their constitutional rights and that is why she is jail. Removing an elected official requires a reason to stop their authority from acting against the law. Ms. Davis was breaking the law. She is in jail to remove her authority and the people can be served by the law.

September 4, 2015
By James Higdon

MOREHEAD, Ky. – An attorney (click here) for jailed Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis said Friday that the marriage licenses issued by her deputies to several same-sex couples are invalid.
“They are not worth the paper they’re written on,” Mat Staver said outside the Carter County Detention Center, where Davis is being held on a contempt charge.
Speaking at an afternoon news conference in Grayson, about 35 miles from the Rowan County Courthouse, Staver said: “Our position and the position of the clerk of Rowan County is that those licenses are void.”
The licenses issued to same-sex couples Friday aren’t valid, Staver argued, because they were issued under the county clerk’s authority — but Davis hasn’t granted that authority.
The marriage forms issued Friday did not bear Davis’s name because of her refusal to endorse them. Instead, the clerk’s office included a space for a deputy clerk to sign his or her name.
U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning sent Davis to jail and ordered the deputy clerks to issue licenses in her absence. A representative for Bunning could not be reached for comment Friday....

An appeal is not going to recind any marriage license issued after Judge Bunning ordered it. Who does she think she is?

August 31, 2015
By AFP and Times of Israel staff

Christian schools in Israel (click here) threatened to stay closed for Tuesday’s start of the academic year over a financing dispute with the government, an official said. 

 Some 33,000 students attend some 45 Christian schools, which employ 3,000 teachers.

The director of schools overseen by the Custody of the Holy Land, Abdel Massih Fahim, said Monday the shutdown was being planned to demand equal treatment with other schools in Israel.

He said the schools had yet to receive a response to their demands from the Education Ministry....

The extremists elected recently in Israel have a very surprising agenda. They have stated Arabs are not legitimate members of the Knesset and now Christian students have to provide their own funding. By chance a majority of these Christian students are also Palestinians.

Where are the Christian politicians of the USA when Israel decides to victimize Palestinian children?

September 3, 2015

By Claire Hopkin

The remaining 60% of students (click here) are from Christian families. Nearly 33,000 pupils, mostly Palestinians, have had to stay at home due to a funding dispute with Jewish authorities.
“All the schools are closed after a call for an open-ended strike,” said the spokesman for Christian schools in Israel, Botrus Mansour.
In the past Christian schools received roughly 65 percent of their budgets from the state, with the balance paid by parents – and sometimes private organizations or local government – as is the case with institutions that are recognized by the Education Ministry, but are not considered state schools.
The schools have a history predating Israel’s foundation in 1948 and are run primarily by the Roman Catholic Church.
“For a year and a half, we have been holding talks with the Israeli authorities and several figures have intervened, even the Vatican”, said Mansour....

Iran removed the Shah from power because of human rights violations, hunger and poverty.

The USA backed the Shah, but, even today it's extremist members of Congress wants to continue to deprive the Iranian people of quality of life. There is absolutely no reason to delay sanction relief for the people of Iran and if the USA is not a partner to the agreement it needs to be registered as a human rights violation. The Iranians have suffered enough and it is time they become a country with a future to end the understanding the Shia have to forever fight for survival.

Senator Corker doesn't belong in government. He challenges every aspect of established policy within the international community. He chronically attempts to reinvent the wheel. He is hideous to USA policy to consider him seriously. Thank goodness he has only one vote in the Senate.

He is politicking the Iran agreement hearings. Those in the Senate session is more than willing to speak to all the talking points of Corker. He continues to mistrust the officials before him. 

The United Nations has a level of security to insure there is no mistrust between countries that can bring them to war. The UN is vital to this agreement and their security protocol has to be respected. 

The war mongering commercials circulating through the USA state Iran would receive $100 million US back to carry out terrorism. That is a lie. There is $100 billion in the records of the USA, but, there is only $50 billion that is liquid and UNSPENT that will be available to Irna. And don't jump to conclusions the best is yet to come.

Mr. Adam Szubin from the USA Terrorism and Financial Security Commission states Iran will use a percentage of the $50 billion domestically and some will be left within the banking sector to keep as international reserves for transactions between Iran and others. Keeping reserves in central banks is a common practice between all countries.

Mr. Szubin states the sanctions has caused a great deal of damage to the oil capacity of Iran. The oil industry in Iran requires approximately $200 billion in repairs to provide an income to the country.

So, in that $50 billion it is already spent and not on munitions for the country.

Ms. Wendy Sherman has stated at least four times now that all the information the USA has will be shared in a secure setting. This is nonsense. They are literally photo ops for politics.

This article is not outdated. The current conditions under international sanctions are just as poor as it ever has. But, this article spells out how the Shah, the ruler the USA recognized caused the suffering of the Iranian people. There is every reason. regardless of the willingness of Iran to seek international recognition and change, there is a section of the USA political segment that will never let Iranians a quality of life they seek. That has to stop.

Iranian Studies, Volume 29, numbers 3-4, Summer/Fall 1996. (click here)

It sounds right to me. The world has to solve the problem of Daesh as security partners to each other.

The global community can share intelligence and begin the process of trusting each other to end the charismatic threat of Daesh. 

September 4, 2015 

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin (click here) said on Friday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is ready to hold snap parliamentary elections and could share power with a "healthy" opposition.
Russia, along with Iran, has been Assad's principle international ally in the war that has raged in Syria for four-and-a-half years and has claimed a quarter of a million lives.
Moscow has made clear it does not want to see Assad toppled and has seized on gains made by Islamic State in Syria and Iraq to urge his foreign foes, including the United States and Saudi Arabia, to work with Damascus to combat the common enemy.
"We really want to create some kind of an international coalition to fight terrorism and extremism," Putin told journalists on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, saying he had spoken to U.S. President Barack Obama on the matter....

What is occurring in Yemen is classic of the 'natural enemies' found in the Middle East. I also mentioned this potential in a previous entry on this blog. In order to defeat Daesh and reclaim the land they currently occupy it is necessary for all countries, including Iran, to set aside old paradigms and work to a common goal to bring peace to the Middle East.

It is very easy for Daesh to divide and conquer through internet connections and propaganda campaigns that call up a holy war between the different religious sects and ethnicities. Daesh has the ability to defeat it's enemies by calling on chaos and a holy war. The countries in the Middle East have to end any tensions among the people and focus on the sincere enemy. I am astounded there is such fighting in Yemen. It should not exist. Saudi Arabia is correct in protecting it's borders, but, Iran should not be arming rebels.  

Iran has a very different war on their hands and that is to defeat the hostile propaganda of the USA Republicans. They are calling Iran a country that sponsors terrorism. Anyone involved with international dynamics realizes Iran has conducted a covert war from the times of the Shah. There was a reason for that, but, today is a different age and The West is out of Iraq, except for some advisers. Iran gained respect by the major powers in the P5+1. It is time for Iran to build on that new legitimacy and find paths to peace that also insures the safety of the Shia spread across the region. 

Causing war where peace should exist will lead to a greater opportunity for Daesh. Iran knows who the Shia are in the region and should bring those people to the peace table. Iran has a legitimate reason to back groups of Shia including Hezbollah and the Houthis because they are not part of a governing body unless they take the power away from existing governments. That legitimate interest is categorized with terrorist intent. If the Middle East is a place where all countries are safe and sovereign, there has to be an understanding that the Shia groups have a right to exist and are not a threat. 

As a rule where Iran has an interest in conflict between Shia and Sunni the war is localized. There is no vast plan by Iran to be the "Shia Deash." There is no direct threat by Iran to any country, except, where the Shia are involved. The groups Iran has backed have to stop warring. The future of their children rely on peace and prosperity. War is not going to resolve Shia groups to having success for their children. If Iran is to lead Shia interests in the region, the war has to stop and Daesh has to be dissolved. 

There is something like 118 separate Shia groups in the Middle East. If there was war with every one of them, Daesh would have an easy path to domination. Iran should rely on Russia to bring an understanding to end wars and bring peace to the people to defeat Daesh. A lasting peace is the goal. Pilgramages are important and the Muslims of the Middle East have to be able to carry out their religious worship in peace and safety. 

Is Iran a signator to the Small Arms Treaty?

September 4, 2015

Twenty-two soldiers (click here) from the United Arab Emirates have been killed in Yemen while fighting Houthi rebels as part of a Saudi-led coalition, state media say.

The military statement did not specify the circumstances of their deaths.
The Abu Dhabi-based newspaper, The National, reported that they were killed by explosions at an ammunition store in Marib province.
Houthi sources told the Reuters news agency that the blasts were triggered by a rocket fired at a coalition camp.
The UN says some 4,500 people - including at least 2,110 civilians - have been killed in fighting on the ground and by coalition air strikes since late March.

Peace talks between all the parties including Saudi Arabia and a representative from the coalition. Iran has to be a partner to peace in Yemen as well. Yemen as well as Syria and Iraq have many ethnicities between them. That means there needs to be representatives from all ethnicities are included in the peace talks. The region talks to end hostilities have to include their military forces as well, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iran. There is no excuse for a conflict between the Sunnis and the Shi'ites. A peace between them will result in a greater stability to the region.

The UN is stating their are 1500 civilians dead. Other sources state over 3000 are dead. The peace has to engage with the understanding peace exists between the two majority ethnic groups of the region. This is ridiculous. The enemy is Daesh, not each other!

A Yemeni militiaman in the ruins of the house of a commander loyal to the Houthis after it was hit by two airstrikes allegedly carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in Sana’’a. Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPA 

7 July 2015
By Kareem Shaheen

The shrapnel wounds and burns (click here) are now a familiar sight for the doctors ensconced without respite in the Sheikh Othman hospital in Aden.
The latest victims were 30 civilians, who streamed into the clinic on Monday after a Saudi airstrike on a livestock market in province of Lahj, not far from Aden. The air raid claimed 50 lives in one of the deadliest days in Yemen’s three-month-long war, which has devastated the Arab world’s poorest country.
“This is the most terrible conflict I’ve seen so far because it never ends,” said Thierry Goffeau, head of mission for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Yemen, a veteran of Somalia and Gaza who was on hand to treat the Lahj victims. “Every day, every day, there isn’t a single day of truce. Every day screams and dead people.”
On Tuesday, the United Nations’ human rights office said the number of civilians killed in the violence had risen above 1,500. According to other estimates, however, the mounting death toll exceeds 3,000 civiliansIn one of the bloodiest days of the campaign, air strikes on Monday claimed the lives of more than 120 people, according to local media....

Donald Trump needs to make a foreign policy speech and prepare for the rest of the debates. 

Given the other candidates and the intractable position of the House and Senate Republicans, the speech needs to at least touch on Iran, North Korea, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine and Cuba. I believe he has sufficiently discussed his focus with China and Mexico.

September 3, 2015
Contact Patrick Murphy

...When Republicans (click here) and Republican-leaning voters are asked who they would support for the GOP nomination for president, Donald Trump leads the pack at 30%, which is up 4 points from early August before the first debate. Ben Carson (18%) has increased his vote share by 13 points and now holds second place. Jeb Bush (8%) has dropped by 4 points and now stands in a tie for third with Ted Cruz (8%). Following behind are Marco Rubio (5%), Carly Fiorina (4%), and Mike Huckabee (4%). 

Scott Walker (3%), who held third place in Monmouth’s August poll, has dropped 8 points since then. Chris Christie, John Kasich, and Rand Paul each get 2%. The remaining six candidates included in the poll score no higher than 1% each....  

...As with Monmouth’s August poll, Trump continues to dominate all Republican demographic groups in voter support, with Ben Carson now placing second in most cases:

Ideology – Trump (28%), Carson (20%), and Cruz (17%) are the top vote getters among very conservative voters; Trump (29%) leads Carson (21%) among somewhat conservative voters; and Trump (34%) has a commanding edge over Carson (14%) and Bush (11%) among moderate to liberal voters.

Tea Party – Tea Party supporters back Trump (36%) by a wide margin over Carson (19%) and Cruz (15%). Non-Tea Party supporters give Trump (28%) a narrower edge over Carson (17%).

Age– Trump (34%) has a clear lead over Carson (17%) among voters under age 50 as well as an advantage (28%) over Carson (18%), Cruz (11%), and Bush (10%) among those age 50 and older.

Gender– Trump holds a wide lead over Carson among men (37% to 18%) and a smaller lead among women (23% to 18%).

The Monmouth University Poll also found that GOP voter opinion of Donald Trump has ticked up another notch in the past month....

The USA needs to do better with minority employment.

In August, (click here) the unemployment rate edged down to 5.1 percent, and the number of unemployed persons edged down to 8.0 million. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were down by 1.0 percentage point and1.5 million, respectively. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for whites declined to 4.4 percent in August.The rates for adult men (4.7 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (16.9 percent), blacks (9.5 percent), Asians (3.5 percent), and Hispanics (6.6 percent) showed little change in August. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.) 

I would guess USA minorities do not have the training to fill current jobs that have openings. There needs to be a jobs bill to train these folks and provide a regular income for them.

The number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks decreased by 393,000 to 2.1 million in August. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) held at 2.2 million in August and accounted for 27.7 percent of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed is down by 779,000. (See table A-12.)

In August, the civilian labor force participation rate was 62.6 percent for the third consecutive month. The employment-population ratio, at 59.4 percent, was about unchanged in August and has shown little movement thus far this year. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in August at 6.5 million. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)

The long term unemployment numbers haven't changed because there is enough job training. These folks are unable to fill the positions that are open with an unemployment rate of 5.1.

The idea that two years of college/community college is free is a solid way of opening opportunity leading to employment. 

The opportunity to attend college for two years free leading to a job would be helpful to those only employed in part time employment.

...Among the marginally attached, there were 624,000 discouraged workers in August, down by 151,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.2 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in August had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16).... 

They either don't have a skill set that will employ them or they need experience. These folks need to be able to access career councilors at local community colleges for advice and a clear direction forward to work.

During this speech, but not on this video, Vice President Biden noticed there were a larger number of freshmen in the room.

Vice President Biden also proposes a way of paying for two years of free college.

 

Joe, it is okay. We love you.

I'll tell you something, I worry about everyone. Every Democratic candidate is making their best run for the nomination and I don't ever see anyone taking a break. I think the least we can do for our candidates is ask them to take a break once in awhile. 

I tell you what. I'll make every effort to make it to any rally that comes to my area to cheer everyone on. I think the people have to make as much an effort as the candidate themselves. They should never feel exhausted or they are the only one that can actually bring voters to the polls. It is an enormous task and it has to be shouldered by workers in the field.

So, that said. I would like all the candidates to make an effort to rest a bit before the first debate in October. No one has to be superhuman this season. The field workers need to clock as many hours as they can to bring the voters to the polls. It is why we have to hold fund raising for local efforts to hand our flyers and pamphlets to bring people to awareness of the issues and their best resolve.

Grassroots. A tired candidate is a compromised candidate. We need them on their best game every time they make a speech.

With that, I really want Vice President Biden to know he is admired and he has conducted incredible support for the Middle Class during the time he has been Vice President. We miss Beau, too. In some ways he could be stumping for his own nomination to the Oval Office. That won't happen. He loved life. He was bigger than life in everything he did. 

It's okay Joe. We'll be fine. We want you and the family to be fine, too. Realizing how deeply the loss of Beau has brought a burden to you, honors him. He was something. He is a loss we all feel. Take the time to be okay. We insist.

I wouldn't testify either. You've got to  be kidding me. The way the US House has manipulated and twisted the truth. What number are we up to on Benghazi? Not in a million years would I testify before Congress. 

September 3, 2015
By Kate Knibbs
 

The FBI is investigating (click here) whether Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email compromised national security. And now the staffer who set it up is planning to stay silent during questioning to avoid incriminating himself.

Bryan Pagliano, the Clinton IT staffer who set up the private email server for Clinton in her Chappaqua home, first attempted to fend off the subpoena from Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) to testify before Congress....

Iraq just wasn't enough.

7 August 2015

How much has the United States (click here) spent to train that whopping force of 60 Syrian rebels to take on the Islamic State? Well, according to basic math, about $4 million for each of them.
POLITICO has learned that of the $500 million requested last year for the “train-and-equip” program, roughly half has been spent.

“About half of the $500 million has been obligated thus far, mostly on equipment required to train the Syrian fighters,” said a congressional aide who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The fact that the Obama administration has spent so much on a program that has yielded so few vetted fighters makes clear just how difficult it is to find “moderate” Syrian rebels who can make it through the stringent screening process — and are willing to prioritize the fight against ISIL over the civil war against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The figure also provides new ammo for Republican critics of President Barack Obama’s strategy for dealing with ISIL, with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday blasting the president’s Syria plan as “delusional.”

It took Russia limiting the instability in the region for Turkey to finally close borders. Amazing.

It looks like Turkey likes being a member of NATO. It is a preferred status for Turkey. It has been a preferred status for Turkey for a long, long time. And guess what? The majority religion is Muslim and they practice democracy.

2 September 2015

Turkey (click here) has begun to close some of its border crossings with Syria after about 130,000 Kurdish refugees entered the country over the weekend.
On Sunday Turkish security forces clashed with Kurds protesting in solidarity with the refugees. Some protesters were reportedly trying to go to Syria to fight Islamic State (IS).
Most refugees are from Kobane, a town threatened by the advancing militants.
IS has taken over large swathes of Iraq and Syria in recent months.
Before the latest influx, there were already more than one million Syrian refugees in Turkey. They have fled since the start of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad three years ago.
Some of the new arrivals are being sheltered in overcrowded schools, as Turkey struggles to cope with the influx....

I find it odd Afghanistan would have refugees coming along the same route as Syria.

1 September 2015

...Some 3,000 people (click here) are expected to cross into Macedonia each day in the coming months, according to the UN.
Many then cross into Serbia, which says it has seen 90,000 migrants so far this year, and head for Hungary - a gateway to the EU's passport-free Schengen zone.
In July alone, 34,000 migrants were detected trying to cross from Serbia into Hungary.
Faced with that influx, Hungary has built a controversial 175km (110-mile) razor-wire fence to keep migrants out. It plans to fortify it over the coming weeks.
It has also urged EU partners not to send back migrants who have travelled on from Hungary.
After hundreds of migrants crowded onto trains bound for Austria and Germany at a central Budapest station the Hungarian authorities decided to close it to migrants on 1 September....

The money is too much. Afghanistan was corrupt under Karzai. The reason there has been this level of corruption is because it is simply too much money. It isn't too much money for private contractors, but, the bribery that goes along with being a private contractor is ridiculous. The more money the USA throws into these countries the worse the conditions are. 

What in Afghanistan can possibly cost $1 billion?  

3 September 2015

...Almost $1 billion (click here) in support from the U.S. government has done little to stem a refugee crisis in Afghanistan that has reportedly displaced millions of people from their homes and now accounts for tens of thousands of deaths abroad each year. In fact, corruption is so endemic among the local institutions tasked with solving the problem that even a precise number of refugees is unknown.

A new report released Thursday from the congressionally mandated office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction finds the local Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation has made little progress in implementing a strategy to bring home refugees and allocate land where they can live. As many as 2.5 million Afghans are living in Pakistan, according to U.N. estimates, 1.5 million of whom are declared refugees, and roughly 950,000 are living in Iran. The U.N. is unable, however, to confirm these numbers with those countries, according to the SIGAR report, hampering the State Department's ability to request corresponding funds from Congress....

Russia is moving into Syria.

September 2, 2015
By Jonathan Marcus

Just how far is Russia (click here) prepared to go to back the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad?
Recent sightings of brand new Russian armoured vehicles in Syria, of types never previously supplied to its ally, suggest that with the Assad regime suffering serious reverses, Moscow is intent on redressing the military balance.
On 20 August, a heavily-laden Alligator class landing ship of the Russian Navy, the Nikolay Filchenkov, was seen passing southwards through the Bosphorus.
On board, according to experts who have analysed the images, were trucks and armoured vehicles.
The ship was believed to be on its way to Syria.
Subsequently, the Syrian army has released video material that shows seemingly brand new BTR-82A infantry combat vehicles in action or on exercises - a variant of the vehicle that has never before been supplied to the Syrian military.
The vehicles appear to be in a Russian paint scheme and thus may have been taken straight from Russian army stocks.
Separate images have emerged of Russian Tigre military utility vehicles; again a type that has not been exported to Syria before....

It is doubtful the Middle East will ever be a place where democracy works with the exception of Israel.

The attempts of democracy has failed in the Middle East. 

The USA experiment into Iraq stood the region on it's head. Bush's invasion completely destabilized the region. The only answer the political right wing can come up with was to permanently station US troops in Iraq for a forever war.

The WMD has been removed from Syria and now Russia is providing modern equipment to the Assad government. Russia has made it clear removing Assad from power was not an option. 

The Iraqi government has been a failure. It cannot stabilize it's borders and provides a void for extremists to establish a base of operations. Arming the Kurds along the Turkey border proved to be a waste of time as Turkey has engaged in a border war that cost Kurds their lives. There is no cohesive commitment to any type of regional stability. The politics in Turkey is not going to allow a Kurdish territory in northern Iraq.

The idea the USA would fight a forever war was the failure of George W. Bush. Did he think the longer the Iraq war was taking the longer the American people would see the benefit of a forever war? When the USA left Vietnam there was no looking back. The disorder left behind has taken decades and today the people of Vietnam have a government they can live with. 

The mideast region is becoming more chaotic and unstable. There is every reason Russia and China would take up efforts to rearm the regimes. We already know Russia has had words with Iran to set limits on mischief.  

To leave the region's stability to the USA's next War President is nothing but foolishness. It would create more problems simply by the principles the USA would demand of Iraq and potentially Syria. Democracy doesn't work in the Middle East. War is not the way to create stability. War by definition destroys any previous government and begins a new system of order and society. Iraq had over ten years to establish that new order and society. Nothing worked. The USA tried it's methodologies and it was the worst thing that happened to the region. 

Abrupt destruction of a society in order to 'nation build' has proven over and over and over that it is not a viable solution to despotism. We know that. Ask any scholar without political leanings how a country has to move into greater freedom and ultimately democracy. There is no war that is going to change a country overnight. Twelve years later and the USA is still trying to prop up Iraq. It'll never happen through nation building.

If Iraq and Syria is to maintain their borders as they existed while Saddam Hussein was in power there has to be a dictator. Does that mean there is chronic civil war? Maybe. Northern Ireland fought for hundreds of years before it finally made peace with Great Britain. Sovereignty is not a simple thing. The PEOPLE have to know their land, their needs, their government and the will to move in a different direction to secure their country's borders. 

Freedom and democracy happens with education and generations of changing the face of a country, but, it has to be the people with the will to change that it finally occurs. 

Do you know what is wrong with Iran? The USA is the problem. It has placed a despotic leader that smiled nice for pictures in control of Iran. When Iranias had enough of poverty they marched upon the Shah and the government collapsed. What replaced it was a theocracy. A theocracy is easy in that region of the world. Religion is a default setting. The rules are made for 'good faith living' and sets the laws into play as soon as the collapse occurs. Iran has been sophisticated enough to actually have elections that instill a government while the Supreme Leader remains the last authority. The elections brought Iran to the diplomatic table to end sanctions and their nuclear program. 

Russia is currently rearming Assad. It has a right to do so. I hope it brings about stability to more of Syria other than just the corner where it is safe enough to build a theme park. 

Since when does a political party have the right to dictate who is on an election ballot? Priebus can't limit Donald Trump from placing his name on any ballot. He can pledge to follow whatever rules apply to debates, but, there is no law stating a party can limit a candidate from the ballot. That is ridiculous. He can pledge all he wants, but, who is to say without his ability to run independently the RNC will continue to treat him fairly? In his early days there is every indication that wasn't going to happen.

It is no different than the tax pledge, it is about votes and the extreme conservative demands on a candidate. There is no law stating they have to maintain any pledge.  

July 10, 2015
By Paul Singer

It is a quirk of American democracy: (click here) Your choices for president depend on which state you live in.

For instance, voters in Colorado and New Mexico who do not want to vote for Mitt Romney or Barack Obama for president will have the option to vote for Virgil Goode of the Constitution Party, Libertarian Gary Johnson or several others — but those candidates will not be on the ballot in neighboring Oklahoma.

While Republicans and Democrats are campaigning already, third parties are scrambling this summer to master the intricacies of ballot-access laws in each state just to get their presidential candidates on the ballot.

"The time, money and energy spent getting on the ballot is more than the time, money and energy spent once we are on the ballot in most of these states," said Phil Huckelberry, co-chairman of the Green Party's ballot access committee....

I'd be worried he would run as an independent in 2020 if he is dissatisfied with the outcome in 2016. Donald Trump needs to run on his own terms this primary season. It is the only way to establish his ability to carry a constituency. The ballot for 2016 is not set and there is nothing saying he would drop out of the debates only to run as an independent. Priebus is causing a problem far greater than if he was allowed to run without special pledges. I hope the rest of the candidates are being asked to sign a certain pledge to the RNC. 

The RNC needs to make this a part of their platform so this pledge is a part of their requirements for debates from now forward. If it is not included in a platform, this election is rigged.

The upside of such a pledge to the RNC is that when Trump is the nominee no one else in the current field can run against him. 

Fines alone would not resolve the problem with Ms. Davis.

Her deputies called to the court stated they would issue marriage licenses but haven't because they are afraid of her. Issuing fines alone to Ms. Davis would not have resolved the problem. Taking out of her capacity was the only way to end the contempt of court.

Judges aren't interested in being punitive for the sake of being punitive, they want to resolve problems, especially if such actions by defendants are in opposition to prior orders of the court. The judge in this case had to solve the problem and it was obvious Ms. Davis would have sustained any fines and continue with opposition to the judges order. Fines would not matter in any way to end the contempt Ms. Davis was carrying out.

It is unfortunate she wasn't able to appeal to the church for dispensation regarding her work or for her faith leaders to come forward to provide her comfort to keep her job. It is not unusual for faith leaders to grant forgiveness to a patron of the church when unable to carry out their faith to the letter of the charter due to work. It must be an orthodoxy. 

September 3, 2015
By Ian Millhiser

In an interview with the Kentucky Trial Court Review, (click here) Rowan County Attorney Cecil Watkins expressed exasperation with Kim Davis, the anti-gay clerk who has refused to issue marriage licenses due to her objections to marriage equality. Davis, Watkins said, “does not represent” the county or its values, and he added that he told Davis that he “will not and cannot support” her in her refusal to obey the Constitution.

Perhaps most significantly, Watkins also says that he learned that Davis’s deputy clerks would issue marriage licenses to all couples legally entitled to one, but that they are too afraid of Davis to do so. If Judge David Bunning, the federal judge who is expected to hold Davis in contempt after a hearing Thursday morning, orders Davis’s deputies to issue marriage licenses, Watkins says, the deputies will comply....

The hearing for Davis and her staff won't be a pretty picture today.

There is already one decision against her. The hearing today will most likely identify her as a martyr. I'll be surprised if she doesn't get jail time.

Decision from August. (click here)

Ms. Davis has been in this position of clerk about one year after her mother served in that capacity for 37 years. (click here) The background noise is probably about the preaching of a particular church and holy man. This law breaking clerk is mostly a religious martyr.

“Our Constitution (click here) . . . intending to establish three departments, co-ordinate and independent that they might check and balance one another, it has given—according to this opinion to one of them alone the right to prescribe rules for the government of others; and to that one, too, which is unelected by and independent of the nation. . . . The Constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please.” (Letter to Judge Spencer Roane, Sept. 6, 1819)

The political right wing hangs onto opinions written in the early years of the democracy as if law. They continual state the judiciary is out of control as if a tyrant panel. The right wing will hold onto personal opinions of Jefferson and Lincoln when it serves their purpose, but, they are also the first to demand legislative measures or governor actions be appealed to the courts. The entire right wing paradigm is inconsistent in their behavior regarding USA law and judicial decisions. 

I'd prefer the judge today issue the marriage licenses and not delay marriages any further when this is obviously a matter of martyrdom and stonewalling any potential for licenses to be issued. This could go on forever and that is what Davis and her supports are hoping. In cases of martyrdom the judges should take the necessary steps to issue the marriage license as well as hand down jail time to the clerks.

In a judge issuing marriage licenses, which is within their preview, Davis and her supporters will call it a victory because their names are not attached to the license. SO WHAT. This is about marriage and not martyrdom. The right wing can carry on in their own universe all they want. 

Friendliness can't be litigated. 

I have a problem with the fact marriages have been delayed. People go through a great deal of detail when getting married and the day they are married becomes their mark in time to celebrate. It is called an anniversary. 

My parents were married on July 3rd, 1954 because July 4th was a federal holiday and there was no one willing to officiate on that day. But, that is the level of detail couples devote themselves in deciding a day and year to be married. Ms. Davis is ruining the joy involved in 'the marriage.' That is egregious. The people being married are not martyrs, they are a couple waiting for their special status to each other. 

It must have been difficult getting the President's picture from such a distance.

2 February 2015
By Phil Stewart

Five Chinese Navy ships (click here) are sailing in international waters in the Bering Sea off Alaska, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, in an apparent first for China's military that came as U.S. President Barack Obama toured the U.S. state.
Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said it was the first time the United States had seen Chinese navy ships in the Bering Sea. "We respect the freedom of all nations to operate military vessels in international waters in accordance with international law," Davis said. The appearance of the ships is an example of the expanding reach of China's navy and overlapped with a three-day visit by Obama to Alaska as part of his efforts to raise awareness about climate change....

What a very stark difference between Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina

July 28, 2015
By Karl Mathiesen

Clinton’s first climate change policy pitch (click here) – for renewables to provide 33% of the nation’s electricity by 2027 – is bold, but the US must look beyond solar for a clean energy revolution
On Sunday, Hillary Clinton took a first swing at the many-headed carbon hydra. By the end of her first term, she said, the US would have seven times more solar energy capacity than it does today. And by 2027, renewable energy would supply a third of the nation’s electricity.
Clinton’s announcement, which the campaign said would be the first of many on climate change from the presidential hopeful, extends the carbon-saving ambition in a significant sector of the economy. Burning fossil fuels for electricity accounts for 31% of US greenhouse gas emissions. One estimate found Clinton’s 33% renewable target could slice another 4% off the US’s existing pledge to cut emissions by 26-28% by 2025.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s Americas chief, Ethan Zindler, said the ambition was high, but within reach. “It appears to be on the upper end but it’s entirely doable given the rapidly improving economics of renewables generally and solar particularly.”...

One of the first policies Hillary Clinton carried from her campaign to potential voters was that of our source of energy and the future that included the well being of children's future.

Tonight on "All In with Chris Hayes" a spokesperson who claimed to be a part of the Fiorina campaign did nothing but complain about how Democrats didn't build reservoirs in California and that is why there is a drought. Amazing. A young woman can't even come to terms with the fact the entire planet named Earth has a problem. The entire planet and not simply California has a problem with drought, fires and danger to human lives.

A young woman could not find the deaths over the years due to the climate crisis as an important FACT to the future of energy.

President Obama has stood at the foot of what was once the terminus of glaciers only to realize how high the grass was growing. A young woman didn't care. She only wanted to complain and carry on as if her words were some kind of political truth that is profound for all to hear to change the course of energy in the USA. 

A young woman didn't see the importance of the policies of Hillary Clinton, but, only wants to return to old ways and old thinking. 

Hillary Clinton is finding a path forward to a brave new world with technology that will create jobs and sustainable lands for the USA. 

The climate crisis is a tragedy. It has been allowed to grow and increase temperatures and drought the lands of the USA. There has been gross negligence of the lives of Americans and their deaths from danger due to the climate crisis. And yet, a young American woman can only see a political victory and completely disregards the fact that human beings are responsible for this tragedy of climate. She sees no responsibility for unwinding the danger or the damage. 

There is a candidate for President that sees the future as the challenge that it is and she is dedicated to her policies. I look forward to the world Hillary Clinton has as a vision. It is incredible to realize she is the only candidate with such a vision with policies already written.