To some countries falsifying government records IS the style of government.

August 19, 2016
By Casey Michle

...Saparmamed Nepeskuliyev (click here) was picked up, according to Turkmenistan’s authorities, for possession of banned medications. Salidzhon Abdurakhmanov, if we’re to believe officials in Uzbekistan, was arrested for transporting over 100 grams of marijuana. And Muhammad Bekjanov, said Tashkent, not only failed to keep his slippers “in the proper place,” but was guilty of “incorrectly peeling carrots.” All of them – all of these Central Asian journalists – were, as a result of these spurious charges, jailed or had existing sentences extended....

Protecting journalists from a government inquiry saves lives.

What is to stop any country from impinging on the journalistic right to protecting sources? What will prevent Russia and China or Iran from indicting American journalists for information. Cutting deeper into the right to protect sources is removing a vital right to the journalist's practice. Journalism is a profession, no different than the law and in many ways needs the same professional standard as lawyers.

August 19, 2016
By NYT Editorial Board

...The legal questions (click here) raised in Mr. Bonie’s case have received less attention. But that case represents a more imminent threat to freedom of the press. In that proceeding, a Manhattan appeals court backed a trial judge who ordered a reporter for News 12 the Bronx, a cable channel, to turn over unaired segments of an interview with Mr. Bonie. Unless that decision is overturned by the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, prosecutors will have greater authority to compel journalists to produce information gathered during the reporting process that was not published or broadcast.

That would put a dent in New York’s shield law for journalists, one of the strongest in the nation. It would have a chilling effect on news gathering, by routinely burdening journalists with subpoena requests. And it could create the damaging perception that news organizations are an investigative arm of the criminal justice system....

The American journalist is invaluable in providing the truth and chronically speaks truth to power. Let us not forget the US Senate pays attention to the number of Pinocchios awarded the false face of politics.

More importantly, journalism is the one place where information and the people interface. It is extremely important. The fact a journalist can be tapped as if a spy weakens the profession and removes the 'best truth' from access to the public.

Let us not forget "the source" takes on great risk and inevitably will suffer when discovered even under the best Whistleblower laws. A sources right to speak without infringement is important.

The USA has made remarkable gains in public awareness through journalists and their practice; it should not be tampered with. 

Forgotten from our memories are the journalists wrongly charged and imprisoned in Egypt.

August 17, 2016
By Bill Kaufman

...Fahmy, (click here) who was imprisoned for 438 days in Egypt on trumped-up terrorism charges while a reporter for Al Jazeera English, said his experience led him to draft a charter that would ensure Ottawa to aid journalists detained abroad.

“We wrote up a protection charter partnering with Amnesty International and one of the main points was the need for a new law obligating the government to help journalists imprisoned,” Fahmy, 42, told a Globalfest Human Rights Forum audience.

“I’m hoping the government will respond.”...

The USA sets the standard. Journalists globally know what a dream come true "Freedom of the Press," is cherished. For journalists in the USA and abroad the highest professional standard should be allowed their discretion, except, perhaps when they hack into a person's mobile phone.

The need for confidential sources is a long lived necessity for newspapers and their journalists. Today, there is a far greater danger and that is the invasiveness of computer hacking of electronic media.

These court cases are minor compared to the larger need for protecting sources. I am sure the judges involved have not yet explored other methods of truth telling like asking to have detectives placed on their need to know. The law is best when it works without getting lazy. If a journalist has information, it is easy to demand their cooperation. That is not professionalism of the court, it is the laziness of law enforcement.

The game of "Justice for personal politics" is the USA's favorite national blood sport.

This is one for the US State Department. I think we owe the gas station owner a door.

August 18, 2016

By Ben Rohrbach

...During multiple interviews (click here) with members of NBC’s Today show, Lochte has stood by the robbery story.

“We got pulled over in our taxi and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge,'” Lochte told the Today show’s Billy Bush in a taped interview Sunday. “No lights, no nothing, just a police badge. They pulled us over, they pulled out their guns. They told the other swimmers to get down on the ground. They got down on the ground. I refused. I was like, ‘We didn’t do anything wrong,’ so I’m not getting down on the ground. And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and said ‘get down. I put my hands up. I was like ‘whatever.’ He took our money, he took my wallet.”

Speaking with Today host Matt Lauer Wednesday, Lochte reiterated, “We wouldn’t make this story up. We’re victims in this and we’re happy that we’re safe.” However, the six-time Olympic gold medalist altered details about his original story during Wednesday’s conversation with Lauer, saying the they stopped at the gas station to use the men’s room and the gun was pointed in his “general direction.”

Gutman’s report on Thursday morning appears to contradict Lochte’s account of the alleged robbery.

Bentz, Conger and Feigen are all cooperating with Brazilian police, according to the USOC. Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee spokesman Mario Andrada issued the following strange statement:

Official statement (click here) from IOC #Rio2016 spokesman Mario Andrada on #LochteGate. It's amazing.

"I do not regret for having apologized. No apologize for him or the other athletes are needed. We have to understand these kids came here to have fun. Let's give these kids a break. Sometimes you make decisions you later regret. They had fun, they made a mistake, life goes on." 

Counting the dead and finding genocidal killers can be accomplished enough to reign in such aggression at the Hague.

London — In barely a generation, air power has shifted from indiscriminate to discriminating. Thanks to advances in precision guidance, American bombs and missiles now generally get to where they’re intended. But human or machine error, bad luck or faulty military math still lead to unforeseen civilian deaths. And as the United States and its allies continue their bombing campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, many more noncombatants are perishing than they seem prepared to admit.

During July, the number of reported civilian casualties from coalition airstrikes reached the highest level since the air war began in August 2014. On July 19, 78 or more civilians were reported killed near the Islamic State-occupied city of Manbij, Syria, many of them women and children. In the successful battle for Manbij alone, at least 200 civilians were reportedly killed.

The United States and its allies have taken care to mitigate harm to civilians, and the United States Central Command is investigating the July 19 incident. But with the fight moving deeper into the towns and cities of Iraq and Syria — where millions remain under the Islamic State’s thumb — the risk is rising. Denmark, a member of the coalition, recently warned that civilian deaths might be “unavoidable” in this new phase of the war. Yet the allies appear poorly equipped to properly assess the numbers already being killed....

War is not a mistake or accident, it is a deliberate act. The militaries involved should do everything possible to prevent and end the deaths of civilians, but, war requires only reparations after the surrender.

The invasion into Iraq never had an accurate body count of the civilians involved. There never will be one. If there are still official records of birth certificates before the invasion, those lost before their time could be discerned, but, it is my guess the official birth records were housed in a building that would be destroyed early on in the invasion.

The Geneva Conventions (click here) do not spell out a formula for war and counting the dead to the first decimal (1.0), but, it allows for a country to have assistance returning from the conflict. A peace treaty must be signed and honored. The USA is directly responsible for the issues that exist today in Iraq and Syria, but, not in it's entirety. The Iraqi people have to maintain their own defense forces and deploy them when needed. 

I have stated this before. If the coalition of countries bombing Daesh's strongholds, training facilities and oil tankers expect to be able to prevent civilian causalities, they are delusional. There is no turning back. Every person should be given every affordable chance to leave the war zone, but, where there are people acting as human shields there is no good way to avoid those deaths. 

The clock can't be turned back. The danger of Daesh is being felt everywhere. It has to be destroyed. There is no alternative. If there was an alternative the global community has already tried it. When someone enters a home with intent of killing the occupants they have already determined their own fate.

The body count in Syria and Iraq will be known only when civilization takes on the effort after the war ends. 

There was a time when the USA did not issue birth certificates to all Americans and the family kept track of their family members inside a bible. There are ways of finding the truth. Population trends in Iraq and Syria before the wars began can be discerned and the actual trajectory known. The difference between the two numbers will begin the knowledge the global community may seek. In both these countries the ethnicity populations were known as well. 

The question sincerely is, "Was there genocide?" And, who is being held responsible? The Hague has the capacity to decide in absentia. 

Money isn't going to solve the problem, a resolve to the cholera to save lives is the first priority.

Case management (click here)

Efficient treatment resides in prompt rehydration through the administration of oral rehydration salts (ORS) or intravenous fluids, depending of the severity of cases. Up to 80% of patients can be treated adequately through the administration of ORS (WHO/UNICEF ORS standard sachet). Very severely dehydrated patients are treated through the administration of intravenous fluids, preferably Ringer lactate. Appropriate antibiotics can be given to severe cases to diminish the duration of diarrhoea, reduce the volume of rehydration fluids needed and shorten the duration of V. cholerae excretion. For children up to five years, supplementary administration of zinc2 has a proven effective in reducing duration of diarrhoea as well as reduction in successive diarrhoea episodes. In order to ensure timely access to treatment, cholera treatment centres should be set up among the affected populations whenever feasible.

I take it this occurred through contaminated food. Was there a crime committed here by intentional contamination? I am surprised the United Nations would be so remiss to allow contaminated food into any mission in the world, yet alone Haiti.

I suggest strongly the United Nations have transparency of this occurrence. The cholera first needs to be contained through quarantine and victims administered treatment.

The WHO and the UN know what to do. I suggest they carry out a mission to end the spread of cholera. The families with lost members need to be recognized and compensated to allow their well being to continue. The sad issue here is the fact there may be entire families effected with many dead. The Haiti government needs support in ending this and to bring resolve to the people.

If this is an oversight failure, it has to be dealt with in a way that eliminates those most responsible.

Compensation to the families that have lost cholera victims is required. The United Nations will maintain it's mission and purpose only by allowing itself to recognize this tragedy and rightful compensation to the victims. The 10,000 dead have to be recognized financially, but, the treatment of the cholera is the primary focus.

New formulation of Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) with reduced osmolarity (click here)

Background: Two decades ago diarrhoea was responsible for around 5 million deaths annually. Through major public health efforts primarily aimed at preventing and treating dehydration this figure has decreased to around 2 million deaths. Prevention of dehydration is primarily achieved by ensuring that children with diarrhoea are provided with more fluids than usual, and/or increased frequency of breastfeeding, during the acute episode. The combination of increased home fluids and the use of Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) for the treatment of dehydration have proven to be a very powerful intervention for the prevention of childhood deaths from diarrhoea.

Entire town evacuated.

30 inches of rain.

Some of the most sensitive areas in the world are facing drought and faminine.

August 1, 2016

Low water levels (click here) on Mozambique’s Lago de Cahora Bassa betrayed signs of stress in late July 2016.... 

...Roughly 18 million people there urgently need food assistance, leading the United Nations World Food Programme to declare the region its highest-level emergency. Plunging water levels also threaten the area’s key power source: its hydroelectric dams.

Images from the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 satellite show water levels dropping in the Lago de Cahora Bassa between July 2014 and August 2016. The lake is part of the Zambezi River Basin, which also supplies water to Zimbabwe and Zambia. Water levels on Lago de Cahora Bassa have dropped more than than five meters below capacity.

The light-colored “bathtub ring” around the reservoir’s shores and islands in 2016 indicates exposed sediments that were underwater in 2014 before the water receded. Pronounced changes in water depth also show up in the lake’s color, with deep, emerald shades turning milkier as the reservoir empties. Some features have emerged from the lake as water levels has receded; in the second image, a former island has filled out into a peninsula.

There is no bathtub ring visible around Lake Kariba (to the west) because the lake is much narrower and deeper. But that reservoir now stands just 31 percent full. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aquasatellite captured a wide view (below) of Kariba and Cahora Bassa on August 1, 2016. Both reservoirs are home tomassive hydropower dams that supply the region with electricity....

Mozambique police have come under scrutiny (click here) in the past two days for killing six civilians. The media is under attack as well.

August 13, 2016

Mozambique’s National Union of Journalists (SNJ) (click here) has condemned an attack on a group of journalists who were ambushed by gunmen from the opposition party Renamo on Friday.

The victims of the ambush were a team of reporters travelling to Macossa, in the central province of Manica, to cover President Filipe Nyusi’s visit to the district. Two cars belonging to Radio Mozambique and public television broadcaster TVM were fired upon as they drove through Chiuala, in Barue district, resulting in a journalist receiving a minor injury from shards of glass.

The union’s General Secretary, Eduardo Constantino, condemned the attack as a war crime on the grounds that it broke the third Geneva Convention on press freedom....

Africa's rebel groups are famous for surviving and hostilities for natural resources. Water is quickly taking on the characteristic as being a natural resource to covet.

August 14, 2016

Fighters of former Mozambican rebel movement Renamo receiving military training. (JINTY JACKSON, AFP)

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi (click here) on Sunday expressed his solidarity with the journalists who were attacked by gunmen from the opposition party Renamo on Friday.

The victims of the ambush were a team of journalist travelling to Macossa, in the central province of Manica, to cover the President's visit to the district. Two cars belonging to Radio Mozambique and TVM were fired upon as they drove through Chiuala, in Barue district, resulting in a journalist receiving a minor injury from shards of glass.

Speaking to reporters, President Nyusi said that this type of incident, which has also targeted women and children, must end....

August 16, 2016

Maputo - Six people have been killed in an attack (click here) by Renamo rebels in Mozambique, police said on Monday, the latest in a string of violent skirmishes between opposition fighters and government forces.

Two unidentified survivors claimed that government troops had staged the attack, but police laid the blame squarely on rebels.

"Armed men from Renamo ambushed a vehicle on Friday, firing at it until it caught fire," police spokesperson Daniel Macuacua told AFP.

"Six people were burnt to death." All the victims were civilians, though their identities have not been released.

"We are still looking for any potential survivors who may have escaped," Macuacua added.

'Lined up and shot'

But two survivors told the country's independent television channel STV on condition of anonymity, that the government troops were behind the attack....

Really, Roger? I don't have to comment, the affiliation is simply obvious.

August 16, 2016
By John Santucci and Candane Smith 

Former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes (click here) is advising Donald Trump on his debate preparation, but does not have a formal role in the campaign, sources told ABC News.

The two men, who are longtime friends, met last Sunday at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminister, New Jersey, according to senior level campaign sources. Trump has also gone to Ailes for advice on debates and the two have continued their relationship through phone calls.

Campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks denied any connection between Ailes and the Trump campaign.

"He is not advising Mr. Trump or helping with debate prep. They are longtime friends, but he has no formal or informal role in the campaign," Hicks told ABC News in a statement....

Turkey needs to stand down from bombing near it's border. The global coalition remains strong.

The Kurds of northern Iraq needs reassurances there will be no targeting of their people or their military.

It is called ending the Daesh power bases. Russia can accomplish what the Syrian military cannot. Russia is an ally to both Iran and Syria. There is nothing to worry about. Russia is acting in the best interest of all countries to end the genocide of Daesh.

August 16, 2016
The Associated Press

Beirut — Iran allowed Russian warplanes (click here) to take off from its territory to bomb targets in Syria on Tuesday, an unprecedented move that underscores the deepening cooperation between two powerhouses heavily invested in the Syrian civil war.

The Iranian deployment increases Russia's foothold in the Middle East and widens Moscow's bombing campaign in Syria, bolstering President Bashar Assad's government ahead of a new round of peace talks the United Nations hopes to convene in coming weeks.

The long-range bombers took off early Tuesday near the Iranian city of Hamedan, 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of the Iranian capital, and struck targets in three provinces in northern and eastern Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said....

The beauty of the USA and its athletes.

4:13 pm TODAY
By the AP

Rio de Janeiro  -- The Simone Show went out in style. And gold. Again. (click here)

Simone Biles put the finishing touches on one of the greatest Olympics by a gymnast, capturing her fourth gold of the games with an electric performance in the floor exercise on Tuesday....

28 Golds
     16 Swimming
      4 Gymnastics
      3 Track and Field
      1 Tennis
      1 Judo
28 Silver
      8 Swimming
      6 Gymnastics
      4 Track and Field
      1 Tennis
      1 Judo
27 Bronze
      9 Swimming
      2 Gymnastics
      4 Track and Field
      1 Tennis

They did us all proud!

The Hillary Clinton e-mail story is over !

She is not responsible for mistakes made by lawyers.

The FBI over stated it's JUDGEMENT of the handling of the Hillary Clinton e-mails.

Hillary Clinton did not lie when she stated, "There was no marked classified information on my emails." She had an understanding about the emails when her attorneys handled the emails to ready them for submission to the US State Department.

There were FOUR. ONLY FOUR. There were four emails out of tens of thousands that had PARTIAL. That was PARTIAL. There were partials portions of FOUR emails that were marked with a (c) for classified. The lawyers were viewing tens of thousands of emails that had absolutely no notation about any classification. The four partial emails marked with a (c) were scanned and never read by the lawyers preparing the Hillary Clinton emails for submission to the US State Department. 

THE FOUR PARTIAL EMAILS MARKED AS CLASSIFIED WAS MISSED BY THE ATTORNEYS INVOLVED. 

Clients, be they you or me or Hillary Clinton has a fiduciary relationship with lawyers. It is called trust. Hillary Clinton trusted her attorneys to prepare her emails for submission to the US State Department. The attorneys believed they acted 'IN GOOD FAITH' to the directives of the Hillary Clinton emails to the US State Department. 

The attorneys acted in good faith to the US State Department. Hillary Clinton acted in good faith when asking attorneys to prepare her emails for the US State Department. The US State Department acted in good faith when they released the emails they could to the public.

THERE ARE NO LAWS BROKEN. THERE IS NO PERJURY. THERE IS NO LAW THAT COMES INTO PLAY WHEN discussing the Hillary Clinton emails. 

End of discussion. 

Does anyone really want me to state what I think of the STUPID Republicans right now that are practicing politics and not congressional oversight. Maybe those reading about the Hillary Clinton emails can draw their own conclusions for once in the history of Hillary Clinton servicing this country.

Write your House of Representative member and tell them exactly what a voter thinks of wasting millions upon millions of US Treasury dollars on politics and not governance.

Rudy Giuliani should be a better historian. The media should not really nurture this path of hate.

The first attack by extremist AMERICAN Muslims was in 1972 in New York City. Richard Nixon was president at the time. The Nation of Islam carried out killings until 1980 when the first foreign Muslim student killed his neighbors in Sioux City, Iowa. 

May 11, 2012
By Anne Barnard

Stirring emotions (click here) that date back 40 years to days of violent tension between African-American Muslims and the police, a Harlem community board is weighing whether to name a street after a police officer who was shot in 1972 inside a renowned Harlem mosque. People in the neighborhood wonder whether the gesture will reopen old wounds or help heal them.

On April 14, 1972, Officer Phillip W. Cardillo was one of five officers who entered the mosque, at 116th Street and Lenox Avenue — then the New York headquarters of Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam — responding to a report of a police officer in trouble inside.

It was a particularly incendiary alarm at a time of high-profile murders of police officers by radical groups around the country and crackling tension between the police and residents of black neighborhoods after riots had convulsed many cities in the preceding years....

The point is there have been violent attacks throughout the USA's history, including domestic terrorists that are anti-abortion terrorist and racist of several varieties of the KKK.

In 1989, in St. Louis, Missouri a married couple committed an honor killing when their daughter dated an American. 

The list is long and does not deserve the attention Americans will give it due to the propaganda of Rudy Guilani. He says many things that will never take shape because they are unconstitutional. He has the right to freedom of speech, but, his inflammatory dialogue with the right wing in the USA does cater to racists and hate mongers. 

This is exactly what Guilani wanted and it works:

...Giuliani also (click here) offered a heavy dose of criticism of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and called Trump "our only hope for change in the way in which we approach radical Islamic terrorism."...

Rudy Guiliani has an agenda when he comes before the media and it is hate mongering. Why reward that by recognizing his mess of political dogma. Rudy Guilani does not deserve the attention he gets as the 911 Mayor. His emergency responders died because they never received the updates to their hand held radios.

"To the VIKTOR goes the spoils."

Roman Empire. Caesar, I think. To that understanding Rome became very wealthy and Ceasar stole Egypt's Queen to live in Rome on her own island.

The Roman Empire was also known for putting their soldiers, "On the dole." 

Before Donald Trump actually makes statements that belong to an empire that began in 27 BC, he should realize modern civilization confronts war differently. Today, when there is war it is suppose to defend a country's sovereignty. In the 20th and 21st centuries the country winning the war PAYS for reparations to rebuild the country losing the war to support the people. 

It is called "The Geneva Conventions." (click here)

The Geneva Conventions is longer than three pages, so Republicans may be at a disadvantage in knowing how exactly they should conduct themselves with the military power of the USA.

Not forgiven either. The damage done to the USA reputation since the Iraq invasion has yet to turn around. Anyone doubt that? Ask the Libyans who they trust and why their peace is not established yet.

I said to myself, "Self, why is it that Milwaukee is so upset?" Yep.

All Americans see from their living room's easy chair is a bunch of black people (probably most with rap sheets) making a fuss over police simply trying to their jobs.

RIGHT?

Just say yes, because I already now how insulated those passing judgement on people legitimately upset exist and are in their easy chair for a reason. THEY DON'T HAVE THESE PROBLEMS IN THEIR TOWNS.

Black men are being killed. IT MUST STOP!!!!!!

End of discussion.

January 4th, 2015
By Steven Elbow

Above photo: Dontre Hamilton’s mother, (click here) Maria Hamilton participates in a protest Monday, Dec. 22, 2014, in Milwaukee. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced earlier in the day that there would be no charges against former police office Christopher Manney in the fatal shooting of Dontre Hamilton. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Has Milwaukee out-Fergusoned Ferguson?

Writing in Slate, Michael Carriere argues that the real story isn’t that former Milwaukee police officer Christopher Manney won’t face charges in the April 2014 shooting death of Dontre Hamilton. It’s the Milwaukee Police Department’s decades-long history of brutality against African Americans.

And, Carriere writes, the Hamilton case might very well expose a police culture that is more egregious than the one that led to national protests over the Aug. 9 police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

“While the Hamilton case has not received as much media attention as the Michael Brown shooting, it may very well out-Ferguson Ferguson,” Carriere writes.

Hamilton’s case is only the latest in a string of incidents of Milwaukee Police Department brutality against African Americans stretching back decades, he writes....

Fourteen year olds are suppose to be in schools preparing to contribute to the greatness of their country in peace.

The USA did create Daesh and I am confident Hezbollah is not happy about it. Daesh is the old Ba'athists. Hezbollah didn't have much use for them either.

Wiki: The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (also spelled Ba'th or Baath, "resurrection" or "renaissance"; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي‎‎ Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-'Arabi Al-Ishtiraki), also referred to as the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath movement, was ^{[dubious – discuss]} a neo-Ba'athist political party headquartered in Baghdad, Iraq.

Imagine that, Saddam led a bunch of socialists. The Ba'athist of today called Daesh sure don't act like socialists.

This is from Reuters: This is not Earth shaking stuff. These groups have been around for a long time. What brings instability is the dissemination of authority to THESE LEVELS of organization. When groups have authority, there is no controlling the outcome.

December 11, 2015
By Isabel Coles and Ned Parker

...He is 14. (click here)

The teenager is one cog in the intelligence network Islamic State has put in place since it seized vast stretches of Iraq and neighbouring Syria. Informers range from children to battle-hardened fighters. Overseeing the network are former army and intelligence officers, many of whom helped keep former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party in power for years.

Saddam-era officers have been a powerful factor in the rise of Islamic State, in particular in the Sunni militant group’s victories in Iraq last year. Islamic State then out-muscled the Sunni-dominated Baath Party and absorbed thousands of its followers. The new recruits joined Saddam-era officers who already held key posts in Islamic State....

Why the carnage? Because 14 year olds work for Daesh. Will any military opposing Daesh allow 14 year olds a chance to report to Daesh?

There is no trust. Anywhere. That is why a power sharing government would bring more stability to Syria. If the partners have control of their military and can uphold a cease fire, the next step is a power sharing government that would end the carnage and distrust.

I don't understand why the Syrian military continue to use barrel bombs and still attack hospitals. The Syrian forces are creating an international understanding of their carnage and not their ability for restraint.

I hope Secretary Clinton is ready for the debates. I remember President Obama's first debate with then billionaire, offshore, put American workers out of work Romney. Obama thought he could ace the debate with one hand tied behind his back.

NOT!

Secretary Clinton should prepare for her debates.

August 15, 2016
By Clare Malone

...A spot of polling news out Monday (click here) will satisfy those who have been champing at the bit to know, amidst this hazy August sea of vacation and relaxation, exactly what polls the Commission on Presidential Debates will use to decide who makes the cut for this fall’s televised verbal sparring matches.

The pollsters that will determine who gets to be on stage come September and October are ABC News/Washington Post, CBS News/New York Times, CNN, Fox News and NBC News/Wall Street Journal. Seems about right, given that these outfits are well respected, the fab five of polling, if you will (and I will). All get solid grades in our pollster ratings. (In order to make the cut, the commission has stipulated that candidates must be polling at 15 percent.)

What’s interesting, though, is that these polls all tend to show Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein doing a tad better than in polls not being used by the commission....

All clergy, religious leaders and spiritual advisers need to be careful of their movements. This is tragic and should never be repeated.

August 15, 2016
By Thomas Tracy, John Annese, Ellen Moynihan, Ross Keith, Rocco Parascandola and Stephen Rex Brown

As a point of order, I think in this case "Maulama" or "Mawlama" is a title and not a first name.

The killer (click here) who crept up behind an imam and his friend near a Queens mosque and shot both men in the head may have been settling a score in a feud between Muslims and Hispanics, police sources said early Monday.

I find it very odd a leader of a Mosque would be involved with gang warfare.

And he may have left behind another victim who unwittingly held the clue that solved the crime, the sources said.
The suspected killer was taken into custody Sunday night but had not been charged or identified, according to the sources. Police officials would not confirm whether a suspect was nabbed.
Video of the horrific Saturday afternoon murders of mosque leader Maulama Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 65, at Liberty Ave. and 79th St. in Ozone Park showed the brazen crime to be a planned execution....

Morning Papers

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

Mr. Manafort needs to consult with an attorney, if he hasn't done so already, and offer to turn state's witness to the FBI in regard to the hacking of Democratic e-mails. He is too involved to believe he won't be facing charges in regard to this manner. Even if this was an unsolicited friend, there is concern.

This has no reflection on his abilities as a campaign manager, quite the contrary. But, he was involved with the Yanukovych regime in Ukraine.

Mr. Manafort is completely compromised in issues of conflict of interest. The hacking into the DNC emails was obviously someone connected with Viktor.

It may or may not be the Russian government, but, it definitely was linked to Viktor with or without his knowledge. The foreign policy of Donald Trump with Russia and Ukraine is completely violated and compromised. Mr. Manafort needs to resign and speak openly to the FBI on the condition there will be no prosecution of him.

August 14, 2016
By Andrew C. Cramer, Mike McIntire and Barry Meier

...Mr. Manafort’s involvement (click here) with moneyed interests in Russia and Ukraine had previously come to light. But as American relationships there become a rising issue in the presidential campaign — from Mr. Trump’s favorable statements about Mr. Putin and his annexation of Crimea to the suspected Russian hacking of Democrats’ emails — an examination of Mr. Manafort’s activities offers new details of how he mixed politics and business out of public view and benefited from powerful interests now under scrutiny by the new government in Kiev.

Anti-corruption officials there say the payments earmarked for Mr. Manafort, previously unreported, are a focus of their investigation, though they have yet to determine if he actually received the cash. While Mr. Manafort is not a target in the separate inquiry of offshore activities, prosecutors say he must have realized the implications of his financial dealings.

“He understood what was happening in Ukraine,” said Vitaliy Kasko, a former senior official with the general prosecutor’s office in Kiev. “It would have to be clear to any reasonable person that the Yanukovych clan, when it came to power, was engaged in corruption.”

Mr. Kasko added, “It’s impossible to imagine a person would look at this and think, ‘Everything is all right.’”...

It would be a perfect opportunity for a new President to re-evaluate the USA policy with Ukraine and favor Russia over the Kiev government. The relationships Mr. Manafort fostered in Ukraine is legitimately his to conduct, but, to have such an event brings about questions as the meddling of a foreign interest in USA elections. It can't stand. Sorry. I thought Mr. Manaford was doing a wonderful job actually, 

I am sure the Trump campaign feels somewhat compromised at this point. They can recuperate. As a matter of fact, this gives them an opportunity to begin again.

"Good Night, Moon"

Waxing gibbous

11.5 days old

88.1 percent lit

Property values near or on lakes all over the state of Michigan will be negatively impacted by fracking. The property values will fall into question when the mineral rights have been sold to the petroleum industry. Who wants to take the chance of having a fracking well leak deadly chemicals, oil and methane into the lake? That is true across the USA.

August 14, 2016
By Dennis Mammana

...During dusk (click here) — if you have a low horizon to the west — cast your gaze in that direction. There, you’ll find the bright planet Venus, and just above it will appear the fainter worlds Jupiter and Mercury. Follow the approximate arc of these three worlds toward the east, and when you reach the southern sky, you’ll encounter the red planet Mars, along with Saturn.

You may notice that the moon also travels close to this path as it swings through our evening sky this week. This should not surprise you, for it, too, is part of our solar system and travels along roughly the same path. I say roughly because the moon’s orbit is actually tipped by about five degrees to the plane of the ecliptic, so it does appear to stray slightly above or below it. And that’s why we don’t experience eclipses every time there is a new or full moon.

If you’re out on Sunday night, Aug. 14, you’ll notice that the moon lies east of Mars and Saturn, and it will drift increasingly farther to the east as the week goes on. By Wednesday night, Aug. 17, the moon will have reached its full phase and will rise in the east at sunset. The arc of the ecliptic will then stretch completely across the heavens.....