There is no more quitting on climate. Our youngest and most precious are dying.

Welcoming (click here) the adoption of United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/70/1, “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in particular its goal 13, and the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the third International Conference on Financing for Development and the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction,...

As with most international dialogues leading to protocols and agreements there is an accumulation of documents over time that supports continuation of priorities among countries.

Preamble (click here)

This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom. We recognise that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. All countries and all stakeholders, acting in collaborative partnership, will implement this plan. We are resolved to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and want and to heal and secure our planet. We are determined to take the bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path. As we embark on this collective journey, we pledge that no one will be left behind. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets which we are announcing today demonstrate the scale and ambition of this new universal Agenda. They seek to build on the Millennium Development Goals and complete what these did not achieve. They seek to realize the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.

The Goals and targets will stimulate action over the next fifteen years in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet:...

Guys. I just don't know. Boys will be boys. Indeed.

...By the pulse of freedom
buried in the ground

Father Earth will swallow you
lay your body down

Find the cost of freedom 
buried in the ground

Father Earth will swallow you
lay your body down

The international history of the climate crisis began in 1979. We had plenty of time to reverse the greenhouse gas emissions.

The "Framework Convention on Climate Change" is the overriding authority assembling the meetings that sent the standards, definitions and expectations.

It was in 1992, the issue of the climate crisis took on a serious international platform.

Essential Background: (click here)

In 1992, countries joined an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to cooperatively consider what they could do to limit average global temperature increases and the resulting climate change, and to cope with whatever impacts were, by then, inevitable.

By 1995, countries realized that emission reductions provisions in the Convention were inadequate. They launched negotiations to strengthen the global response to climate change, and, two years later, adopted the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol legally binds developed countries to emission reduction targets. The Protocol’s first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. The second commitment period began on 1 January 2013 and will end in 2020.

There are now 195 Parties to the Convention and 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in the international climate change negotiations, particularly the Conference of the Parties (COP), the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties (CMP), the subsidiary bodies (which advise the COP/CMP), and the COP/CMP Bureau (which deals mainly with procedural and organizational issues arising from the COP/CMP and also has technical functions). For a brief depiction of how these various bodies are related to one another, please see Bodies.

The question of what happens beyond 2020 was answered by Parties in Durban in 2011. For more information on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, click here.

Climate change is a complex problem, which, although environmental in nature, has consequences for all spheres of existence on our planet. It either impacts on-- or is impacted by-- global issues, including poverty, economic development, population growth, sustainable development and resource management. It is not surprising, then, that solutions come from all disciplines and fields of research and development....

The IPCC has been conducting it's work for a very long time. Decades. I am not sure when the climate crisis became American political fodder, but, it never should have. 

1991 — First meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) takes place.
1990 — IPCC's first assessment report released. (click here) IPCC and second World Climate Conference call for a global treaty on climate change. United Nations General Assembly negotiations on a framework convention begin.
1988 — The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is set up. More about the science of climate change.
1979 — The first World Climate Conference (WCC) takes place.

I will say this about some prominent citizens in the USA. They get tired of suffering the damage of the climate crisis.

Take heart, we are not alone.

When Hurricane Sandy (click here) struck the Northeast in 2012, Bloomberg Businessweek didn’t mince words.

“It’s global warming, stupid,” the magazine boldly declared.

In its detailed report on the storm , the National Hurricane Center was similarly plain-spoken about the bizarre and far-reaching extreme impacts:

…houses were washed from their foundations, boardwalks were dismantled or destroyed, cars were tossed about, and boats were pushed well inland from the coast....

Let me be plain. Corruption of the US Congress by their cronies is preventing action on climate. There is no morality when Senator Inhofe takes to the US Senate floor and throws snowballs around the audience. He is simpleton. He is a hideous person that should not be in power.

So, there are many people including those within power that stand with us when we demand action against the greenhouse gas emissions causing such horrible outcomes for American citizens.

The one country that had to make a huge impact on the reversal of emissions of greenhouse gases QUIT.

December 25, 2006

Negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (click here) were completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse gases.” The Protocol entered into force on February 16, 2005, and its emissions reduction requirements are binding on the 35 industrialized countries that have ratified it; the United States disengaged from the Protocol in 2001 and has not ratified it.

As structured in the negotiations completed in 1997, this treaty would commit the United States — if it were to ratify the Protocol — to a target of reducing greenhouse gases by 7% below 1990 levels during a “commitment period” between 2008-2012. Because of the fact that “sinks,” which remove and store carbon from the atmosphere, are counted and because of other provisions discussed in this report, the actual reduction of emissions within the United States that would be required to meet the target was estimated to be lower than 7%.

The United States signed the Protocol on November 12, 1998. However, the Clinton Administration did not submit the Protocol to the Senate for advice and consent, acknowledging that one condition outlined by S.Res. 98, passed in mid-1997 — meaningful participation by developing countries in binding commitments limiting greenhouse gases — had not been met. In late March 2001, the Bush Administration rejected the Kyoto Protocol. The United States continued to attend the annual conferences of the parties (COPs) to the UNFCCC, but did not participate in Kyoto Protocol-related negotiations. In February, 2002, President Bush announced a U.S. policy for climate change that will rely on domestic, voluntary actions to reduce the “greenhouse gas intensity” (ratio of emissions to economic output) of the U.S. economy by 18% over the next 10 years.

The protocol was ratified only after Russia agreed to it.

Following the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by Russia in November 2004, it entered into force on February 16, 2005,...

From the text of the 2015 agreement:

...decision 1/CP.17 (click here) on the establishment of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action,

The Climate platforms are nearly as difficult to understand as the science itself. So, I will try to make sense of it. 

The Conference of the Parties (click here) serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, Recalling Articles 5, 7 and 8 of the Kyoto Protocol, Also recalling decisions 2/CMP.6, 2/CMP.7, 3/CMP.7, 4/CMP.7, 1/CMP.8 and 2/CMP.8, Being aware of decisions 11/CMP.1, 13/CMP.1, 15/CMP.1, 16/CMP.1, 18/CMP.1, 19/CMP.1 and 27/CMP.1, 1. Decides that, for the purpose of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and pending the entry into force of the Doha Amendment, contained in decision Annex I to 1/CMP.8, any references in this decision and decision 2/CMP.8 to Annex A, Annex B, Article 3, paragraphs 1 bis, 1 ter, 1 quater, 7 bis, 7 ter, 8, 8 bis, 12 bis and 12 ter, and Article 4, paragraphs 2 and 3, unless otherwise specified, shall be understood as referring to those Articles and Annexes as contained in the Doha Amendment, and that, upon the entry into force of the Doha Amendment, such references shall be read as references to the relevant Articles of the Kyoto Protocol as amended;...

CMP shows up as supporting and inclusive documents. CMP is Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

The climate has been a concern for a very long time. I am sure everyone remembers the Kyoto Protocols. 

The Kyoto Protocol (click here) is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.

Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities."

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2001, and are referred to as the "Marrakesh Accords." Its first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012....

Before there can be an understanding of the 2015 Climate Summit there are DEFINITIONS.

Those frequenting this blog knows when it comes to reading documents I am a stickler about clear definitions.

Glossary of climate change acronyms (click here)

Even chemical abbreviations can be found here, such as CH4, which is methane.

Recovering from Earth's warming is everyone's responsibility.

Teresa M. Thorp has written a book that seeks to interpret all the actions of the climate community to bring about a livable climate.

The book is entitled "Climate Justice, A Voice for the Future" (click here)

Yes, Google has information from the book online. This is not an old book. It is a preview not the entire book. 

On page iv it states "Teresa M. Thorp, 2014." The information is very current.

The book is inclusive of all documents upto the date of it's publication. Beginning on page 348 of this review are the notes used to compile this book. 

Misogyny is frequently used to hold women responsible for their husband's wandering.

dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women: "she felt she was struggling against thinly disguised misogyny"

A woman is responsible for her own behavior. She is not responsible for her husband's behavior.

While Hillary Clinton has had a variety of official titles there is still only one Mrs. William Jefferson Clinton.

That matters.

It's Sunday Night

"Woodstock" written and performed by Joni Mitchell from her album "Ladies of the Canyon" (click here)

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, where are you going
And this he told me
I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm
I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band
I'm going to camp out on the land
I'm going to try an' get my soul free
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

Then can I walk beside you
I have come here to lose the smog
And I feel to be a cog in something turning
Well maybe it is just the time of year
Or maybe it's the time of man
I don't know who l am
But you know life is for learning
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation
We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

It can be prevented with full funding to these agencies and those that staff the Rangers.

October 31, 2007
By Andres Thompson

Large wildfires in the western United States (click here) can pump as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in just a few weeks as cars do in those areas in an entire year, a new study suggests.
As forest fires devour trees and other plants, they release the carbon stored in the vegetation into the atmosphere.

Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of California used satellite observations of fires and a computer model to estimate just how much carbon dioxide is released based on the amount of vegetation that is burned. The results of the study are detailed in the online journal Carbon Balance and Management....

The US Congress with Republican majorities assist arsonists and poachers.

We know for a fact when federal forest and national parks are patrolled by federal trained and armed rangers, the poaching and fires are averted. It is far more efficient to fully staff the federal agencies responsible for our forests than to allow fires to burn out of control endangering citizens and cities.

The poaching of our forests since the 2008 global financial collapse now includes trees and not just animals by cutting into major 'aged' forests such as the Sequoias and Redwoods for lumber. Unique lumber that demands higher prices than forests where federal authority allows PLANNED logging.

The American people value their forests and the wildlife within them. They need to demand full funding for these vital agencies. I remind there have been deaths of firefighters that cannot be forgotten. While Congress might be willing to fund firefighters as a separate agency, that does not place rangers in the forests to prevent those fires in the first place.

October 23, 2011
By "Times Picayune" staff

Dan Ashe, (click here) director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, tells it like it is concerning the fierce budget cuts some in Congress are aiming at fish and wildlife conservation programs: "This is not deficit reduction. These are policy and political objectives dressed up as deficit reduction by those who seek to get those pesky fish and wildlife agencies -- federal and state -- out of the way of development. Never mind that America's outdoor recreation economy generates 8.4 million, nonexportable U.S. jobs, most in rural areas, generating over $100 billion annually in federal, state and local taxes." Ashe also pointed out: "Now the legacy of a century of conservation -- indeed the future of the North American model of wildlife conservation -- is threatened by the prospect of draconian cuts to conservation programs. These programs, though only a sliver of a percentage of the federal budget and largely inconsequential for deficit reduction, have been disproportionately singled out by some in Congress and their supporters." You can read the entire piece at fieldandstream.com....

The arsonists are being touted as having great character. Not.

Where does anyone get the idea arsonists should be allowed to walk free to do it again? Is there any misunderstanding because I recall the west coast being on fire in ways no one expected.

A few years ago a US Forest Service employee set fire to a forest. I do believe she is in prison.

So long as people put on cowboy hats and boots they are above the law. I don't think so.

If Mr. Bundy has such great empathy for the Hammonds he should offer to service in prison for them. The Feds might give Mr. Bundy a good deal and allow him to serve his time consecutively with those as the Hammonds. The three can work off the fines Bundy owes the federal government and the people of the USA. 

Members of the Hammond family (click here) post outside a ranch building on their property in Harney County in this undated photo. Steven Hammond, second from left, and his father, Dwight Hammond Jr., center, are due to report to federal prison on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016.

December 31, 2015
By Les Zaita

...Their arrival in prison, (click here)  scheduled for Monday, won't quiet the controversy that has swirled around their case for years.
The men were convicted of arson, but under a provision of an expansive federal law punishing terrorism. They each served prison terms that the sentencing judge thought just, only to be told by appellate judges they had to go back to serve longer.
Their case heightened debate about how the federal government runs its lands. The United States of America holds deed to three-fourths of Harney County. Ranching done for a century and more is under pressure from environmentalists, recreationalists, and hunters.
Across the country, there is deepened concern about how authorities apply justice. And the issue of how to use federal land affects anyone who has been to a national forest or a federal wildlife refuge....

October 7, 2015

...The jury convicted both of the Hammonds (click here) of using fire to destroy federal property for a 2001 arson known as the Hardie-Hammond Fire, located in the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area.  Witnesses at trial, including a relative of the Hammonds, testified the arson occurred shortly after Steven Hammond and his hunting party illegally slaughtered several deer on BLM property.  Jurors were told that Steven Hammond handed out “Strike Anywhere” matches with instructions that they be lit and dropped on the ground because they were going to “light up the whole country on fire.”  One witness testified that he barely escaped the eight to ten foot high flames caused by the arson.  The fire consumed 139 acres of public land and destroyed all evidence of the game violations.  After committing the arson, Steven Hammond called the BLM office in Burns, Oregon and claimed the fire was started on Hammond property to burn off invasive species and had inadvertently burned onto public lands.  Dwight and Steven Hammond told one of their relatives to keep his mouth shut and that nobody needed to know about the fire....

This a problem that has existed since 1994, using tactics seen with other right wing extremist issues. The death threats that let to the arson.

These are very dangerous people. They can't be indulged of their fantasy regarding the rights of the people of the USA. Evidently the Hammonds have rights that no other person in the USA has. I don't know of an arsonist that can simply call out for the arrival of a militia and hope to get away with arson. 

For all the reporting of this there is no mention of the firefighters' lives in the path of danger, the cost in fighting the fire, the acres involved and what it cost to restore the burned forests.

October 3, 1994
By Kathie Durbin

Burns, Ore. - The arrest of Dwight Hammond, (click here) a hot-tempered eastern Oregon cattle rancher, has galvanized a nasty campaign of retribution against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

It all began when federal agents arrested Hammond and his son Steven, Aug. 3. That turned a long-simmering dispute over cattle, fences and water on the Malheur Wildlife Refuge into a bizarre Old West showdown.

Federal officials and a fence-building crew were attempting to build a fence to keep the Hammonds' cattle from trespassing on the refuge. When Hammond and his son obstructed federal workers, they were taken into custody by nine federal agents, five of whom were armed.

The Hammonds were charged with two counts each of felony "disturbing and interfering with" federal officials or federal contractors. The Hammonds spent one night in the Deschutes County Jail in Bend, and a second night behind bars in Portland before they were hauled before a federal magistrate and released without bail.

On Aug. 10, nearly 500 incensed ranchers showed up at a rally in Burns featuring wise-use speaker Chuck Cushman of the American Land Rights Association, formerly the National Inholders Association. Cushman later issued a fax alert urging Hammond's supporters to flood refuge employees with protest calls. Some employees reported getting threatening calls at home.

Cushman plans to print a poster with the names and photos of federal agents and refuge managers involved in the arrest and distribute it nationally. "We have no way to fight back other than to make them pariahs in their community," he said....

16.9 percent of federal prisoners are arsonists. Did they have a militia to threaten the lives of Americans and federal employees. Does the USA have to worry about still yet another fire being set if the Hammonds are given a pass on prison time? It think it is unfortunate sons are dragged into problems that belong to their father.

September 24, 1995
By Richard Cole

San Francisco — Arsonists are torching America's national forests for profit, (click here) making money on everything from fire equipment leases to burned timber.
And legislation passed by Congress in July could add even more fuel to the billion-dollar fire sale, critics say.
Americans don't realize the extent of arson in forest fires, said Michael Francis, director of national forest programs for the Wilderness Society in Washington.
"They think most fires are accidental, or caused by lightning. They'd be shocked," he said.
In the Southeast, 90% of the forest fires on federal land are deliberately set, said Allen Polk of the U.S. Forest Service. The figure is lower in the West, where lightning is a major factor--but that doesn't tell the whole story.
In California, only 12.8% of fires on state-controlled land are arson--but they account for 71.5% of the dollar damage, said Karen Terrill of the state forestry department.

How endearing, the FOX 5000 militia made a New Year's Resolution.

Such great Americans.

January 3, 2016

A group of militiamen (click here) on Saturday occupied the headquarters of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon in support of two brothers who are slated to report to prison on Monday on arson charges, the Oregonian newspaper reported.
"We're planning on staying here for years, absolutely," Ammon Bundy, one of the occupiers, told the newspaper via telephone.
Militia members at the refuge claimed to have as many as 150 supporters with them. The Malheur National Wildlife refuge building, federal property managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was closed for the holiday weekend.
Bundy said that while the occupiers, who included his brother Ryan Bundy, were not looking to hurt anyone, they would not rule out violence if police tried to remove them, the Oregonian reported.
The occupation came shortly after a few hundred marchers paraded through Burns, Oregon, about 50 miles (80 km) away, to protest at the prosecution of father and son Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond, who were ordered returned to prison by a federal court which ruled their original sentences were insufficient.

The Hammonds had served time after being convicted in 2012 of setting fires on public land to protect their property from wildfires....

There is a larger picture, too. Oppression has been an increasing strategy between the USA government and the American people since September 11, 2001.

...There are five ways that an "architecture of oppression" (click here) has already grown publicly and been normalized since September 11, 2001.

1. The Patriot Act
The big daddy of reactionary power grabs, (click here) the Patriot Act was put before Congress on a rare fast-track by Attorney General John Ashcroft just nine days after September 11. It was passed in a whirlwind of jingoistic fervor with only two hearings in the House and none by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) was the only senator who voted against it.
The Patriot Act made a variety of significant changes to law. It defined or redefined terrorism, domestic terrorism, cyberterrorism, and established or modified existing laws that indict those crimes. The powers of the US Attorney General and the Secret Service were expanded to eliminate barriers to investigating terrorism. Surveillance abilities were enhanced including weakening restrictions on wiretapping and other stored communications like voicemail. The power of the Treasury Department to regulate financial transactions and importantly foreign corporate or personal transactions was also broadened in an effort to crack down on financing terrorism....

The climate crisis matters.

January 1, 2016

...Human-Caused Climate Change (click here)

For a lot of people on this mountain, California's historic drought has been a glimpse of what skiing might be like with climate change.

Extreme snowboarders like Jeremy Jones began noticing the changes here as early as 2003.

A few years later, he founded a group called "Protect Our Winters," where by professional skiers and riders like him lobby Congress on climate policy and try to raise public awareness about human-caused climate change.

"If we do get to a point where we can't operate a ski area, the least of our problems is gonna be us skiers and snowboarders riding down these mountains," Jones says....

No racing here: A grassy, snowless, competition slope in Levi, Finland, in late November, when it is normally covered in snow.

25 November 2015
By Daily Mail Reporter
 
This year Scandinavia (click here) is not its frozen self, with unusually warm weather delaying the onset of winter in northern areas normally decked in white. 
 
The lack of snow has been bad news for winter sports — World Cup ski races have been dropped, or held on artificial snow, and mountain ski resorts are unable to open.
There are even reports of bird song and blooming gardens in some places typically entering the winter freeze at this time of year.

'Some flowers, like roses, have actually begun to blossom for a second time,' said Mats Rosenberg, a biologist in Orebro, south-central Sweden. 
 

Weather experts say this autumn is on track to become one of the warmest on record in northern Scandinavia, where the start of winter has been delayed by more than a month in certain locations....

"Black Lives Matter" successfully let the malpractice of a prosecutor be known.

Protesters gather to demand that Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty not be relected in March. Photograph: Afi Scruggs for the Guardian 

January 1, 2016

Anger over the decision (click here) not to charge the police officers involved in the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland has reached the neighborhood of the prosecutor who handled the case.
Holding pictures of Tamir and wearing signs declaring “Fire McGinty”, about 100 protesters marked New Year’s Day by marching to the home of Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty. Once there, they lay prostrate on the sidewalk for four minutes: the time the boy lay unattended after he was shot on 23 November 2014.
The message was clear: McGinty must not be re-elected.
“It’s very important for the community to understand that we are doing a rally cry, and vote McGinty out of office,” said Latonya Goldsby, Tamir’s cousin and the spokesman for his family....

Prosecutor and Judges should not be elected. They should be confirmed by state legislatures after being nominated by Governors. Malpractice is a reason for impeachment. Malpractice can be litigated by the federal government.

Injustice should not be possible due to a prosecutor favoring a particular outcome. 

The prosecutors are scared of increasing crime if police officers are successfully brought to justice. That is enforcing oppression as a method of law enforcement which increases victimization. USA law enforcement is using oppression as a strategy? That is astounding and has to be addressed.

So, let me get this right. It is necessary, once in awhile, to kill a black man as an example of effective law enforcement. That is the equivalent of a hanging in the public square. 

IF THERE IS AN INCREASE in crime after a police officer is successfully prosecuted, then the law enforcement police never had an effective method in the first place.

If oppression is the only method for law enforcement to decrease crime statistics, then our democracy is lost. To realize law enforcement is defending oppression as a method creates the opportunity for corruption.

The "Black Lives Matter" movement need to organize with more sophisticated messages. I understand the outrage of injustice at the deaths of innocent black men, however, the messages by an organized minority movement has to be sophisticated and concise. Sorry, if that seems racist in itself, but, a nation of people have to hear a clear message to end this violence against innocent black men. In particular, Tamir was a child. 

What is the possibility a Caucasian or Hispanic child could be a victim? Tamir was the victim. He and his family are entitled to victim rights. The death of this child cannot be ignored as a profound problem with law enforcement.

One other thing. The DEFINITION Law enforcement statistics should be standardized and reported regularly. In Chicago, we witnessed manipulation of statistics through a shifting baseline of definitions. So, in the USA there is every reason to believe crime statistics are grossly inaccurate and prove nothing. The people of the USA have no idea of what crime actually looks like.

I would think inaccurate police statistics would relax the demand of citizens for more guns in their hands. Very odd. That hasn't happened. The increase of demand for guns in the USA provides a very clear picture of a real disconnect between the reporting of any reduction in crime rates and demand for guns. 

It seems to me the groups seeking responsible policies and laws for guns, need to have a resource regarding accurate crime statistics and a campaign to the TEACH the American people they are far safer than ever realized before. Even realizing the gun statistics in the USA are manipulated for political purposes does not negate the view that there is a real disconnect between crime statistics and guns. 

In examining 'the surge' for gun and ammunition purchases after mass shootings is bizarre to the reality of such crimes. If we are to believe the survivor of the WDBJ murders, Vicki Gardner, in that response to such attacks disabled by the surprise of the violence; then the increase of sales of guns after such attacks is meaningless. "The response" comes after the realization of the gun and it will always be late. There will always be deaths. The 'surprise' of the presence of the gun is the enemy. 

Currently, the only response that works is assaulting the murderer between changing of the gun clips. That can be documented. The idea a victim would no longer be a victim if they were concealed carry is a myth to mass shootings. The only effective way to minimize and end gun violence is control the opportunity to access of a gun.

Realizing the facts about mass murders and concealed carry is a myth, the messaging of the gun groups has been propaganda for sale and endangers lives. People are dying in gun violence in the USA for gun profits due to the fear generated by propaganda.

It is treason. Saudi Arabia has been experiencing the Arab Spring. It is war.

January 2, 2016
by Alastair Jamieson and Charlene Gubash

The Middle East (click here) was braced for sectarian violence Saturday after Saudi Arabia said it had executed 47 prisoners, including a prominent Shia cleric who had organized anti-government protests.
There were warnings of a backlash against the ruling Al Saud family after Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was named on list of prisoners carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
Al-Nimr was a central figure in protests that erupted in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring, and his execution may spark new unrest among the oil powerhouse's Shia minority.
Scores marched through Nimr's home district of Qatif shouting "down with the Al Saud" and, in the neighboring country of Bahrain, police fired tear gas at several dozen people who gathered to protest the news, the Associated Press reported. 

The King has every right protect the country. Below is a video showing the clash between a well armed Saudi Arabia and the Houthis rebels. It is wrong for Iran to continue to support violence. Iranian shipments of munitions have been intercepted. 

These outbreaks of war across the middle east only provides opportunity for Daesh. Iran's support of the Houthis provides for destabilizing in the region. Iran has an interest in ending the opportunity for Daesh. Iran is just as susceptible to instability as any other country. 

Iran should be seeking peace initiatives to bring not just stability, but, survival of the Shia. Iran has a purpose for it's sovereignty. In that sovereignty lies a far greater purpose to end the violence and save the lives of the Shia.

If I recall, don't USA tanks usually fight in a column and not as a single unit in conflict with a handful of rebels? It looks as though Saudi Arabia could use some advice. It is swatting at flies by allowing single tanks to attempt to end scattered rebel groups. The rebels would be forced to fight as a unit if the tanks were together and carrying out successful movement across the region. Minimizing the scattering of rebels provides for a real front that can end any idea of guerrilla attacks. The rebels cannot conduct a real war, so much as an opportunistic war. End the opportunities for violence.

With a war front, the Yemeni military (if there is such a thing) can come from behind to isolate the rebels along that front.