The Flint River Water Project is ongoing.

February 10, 2017

By Bill Laitner and Ann Zaniewski

State officials (click here) have decided to end the state-funded subsidies that since 2014 had helped Flint residents pay their water bills after the city's water system became contaminated with lead.

Word of the subsidies' impending cutoff surfaced Thursday after a senior adviser to Gov. Rick Snyder sent a letter to Flint’s interim chief financial officer, saying the subsidies will stop after Feb. 28, according to a news release from the City of Flint.

The reaction of Flint's mayor and other city officials was mild, characterizing the governor's decision as a sign that the city's water quality had improved although they stopped short of saying it was entirely safe. But vehement objections followed quickly from community leaders in Flint, as well as from critics of the state's role in the water crisis including prominent Democratic Party politicians. All said the cutoff of subsidies was premature, and some said it was an example of  Snyder trying to downplay the seriousness of the crisis.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver issued a statement voicing concern at the abruptness of the cutoff but said it was a welcome sign that Flint's water is improving....  

Everything about this Governor has been abrupt. The much needed repair of the cities water pipes has to be concluded in at least three years.

February 10, 2017

By AP

Flint — The state of Michigan (click here) plans to provide Flint residents with water filters and replacement cartridges for about three more years amid the city’s crisis with lead-tainted water.

The Flint Journal reports the timeline was noted in a letter to a Flint official from Richard Baird, a senior adviser to Gov. Rick Snyder. The letter also gave the city notice that credits to ease the cost of Flint water bills will stop at the end of this month.

The filters and replacement cartridges will be provided as officials work to replace lead pipes and some other water service lines throughout Flint. The letter also said the state would continue to provide access to bottled water.

The city is looking to replace service lines at 6,000 homes this year....

Laws like this are no different than changes in salary; to take place with the next Governor election at the very least. I don't know of any other state senate that confirms a governor's cabinet. This is right wing extremism at work in North Carolina.

February 8, 201

Raleigh, N.C. -- A North Carolina court (click here) temporarily blocked a new state law on Wednesday that stripped the new Democratic governor of some of his powers.

The law, passed by the GOP-controlled legislature, required Senate confirmation for the governor’s Cabinet members, which previous governors have not needed. The law was approved in December, two weeks before Roy Cooper took over. It was criticized by Democrats who called it a partisan effort to undermine the new governor’s authority.

A three-judge panel released its decision Wednesday as state senators were scheduled to question Cooper’s pick to lead the veterans’ affairs department.

Cooper appointed eight of his 10 Cabinet members before the legislature came into session in January and they were sworn in. Cooper said they are the Cabinet heads and are working at their jobs....

The Middle Class needs focus by Democrats. The fiduciary relationship is still intact in real estate last time I checked.

January 24, 2017
By Lucia Mutikani

U.S. home resales fell more than expected in December (click here) as the supply of houses on the market dropped to levels last seen in 1999, but the housing market recovery remained intact against the backdrop of a tightening labor market.

The National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday existing home sales decreased 2.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.49 million units. In addition to the lack of properties to purchase, rising home prices and mortgage rates also likely sidelined some buyers last month.

The drop in sales followed three straight months of increases and probably does not signal impending housing weakness, with the labor market near full employment and the economy strengthening....     

It is stated there are fewer homes sales because there aren't enough new homes. Well. There is conflicting information about that.

If the Democrats are not the experts on how the USA Middle Class is doing than shame on them. The local economies today are strong and should have clear understandings of how their economies are doing. There should be no doubt what so ever how the Middle Class is fairing as compromise from the White House damage their lives.

May 24, 2016
By Lucia Mutikani

New U.S. single-family home sales recorded their biggest gain in 24 years (click here) in April, touching a more than eight-year high as purchases increased broadly, a sign of growing confidence in the economy's prospects.

Tuesday's report from the Commerce Department, which also showed a surge in new home prices to a record high, offered further evidence of a pick-up in economic growth that could allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates soon.

"Consumers are taking the leap and buying the biggest of big ticket items of their lives and this speaks to confidence. The Federal Reserve can raise rates at their June meeting without fear the economy is going to slow," said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York....

Wall Street breaks from the Oval Office needs to trickle down to real improvements of quality of life of Americans.

The Democrats need to get serious about controlling the carnage of the government; Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are on the agenda. The Republicans intend to destroy this government and as a result the people will be facing danger in their lives.

Airlines met at the White House, that interprets into "Fly at your own risk." What changes are taking place at the NTSB; no more maintenance logs?

Watch for roll backs of "noise pollution" and barriers around airports.

I hope the impeachment pens are at work because Trump is building momentum into promoting his personal agenda to serve his own wealth. Once all these issues find a full head of steam the USA is lost and the wealthy have no end to their greed.

Democrats should be keeping an active log leading to impeachment. They should be building their own head of steam to impeachment and the obvious dangers opening up to the people. They need to build their own populous that is based in fact and agenda.

The unions need to realize there are no more reasons to reduce wages, cut back on benefits or hurt pensions. Wall Street is getting all sorts of gifts from the Oval Office. The cost of operations across the board is going to far less. There is no reason to oppress the influence of unions and worker productivity. That productivity needs to include SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENTS and not slip shod practices allowed by Trump.

Trump has promised to make American great again, that includes union members and the protections they afford.

February 10, 2017
By Reuters

The Republican chairman (click here) of a key House of Representatives committee has laid out his plan to roll back Wall Street rules and consumer protections conceived after the 2008 financial crisis, a step that will largely define the financial deregulation debate in the Trump era.

Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, outlined his legislation to clear away many rules bankers say have hobbled investment and economic growth in a staff memo seen by Reuters on Thursday.

The plan comes after President Donald Trump on Friday signed a largely symbolic executive order that outlined an intention to ease banking rules, which he and other critics of the Dodd-Frank reform law passed after the financial crisis say hinder lending.

Under Hensarling's plan, the largest U.S. banks would face less oversight—though not as little as they had been hoping for—while startups would have easier access to investors....

I believe the Trump travel ban serves the Ultra White's agenda in making the USA a white christian country.

Trump's travel ban is based in religion and not ethnicity. Any passage of the travel ban by the Supreme Court is a direct attack on the First Amendment and the freedom of religion.

February 9, 2017

A Los Angeles (KABC) - A Los Angeles man (click here) is outraged after he says his girlfriend, who has a valid visa and is not from one of the seven countries listed in the travel ban, was wrongfully detained and deported....

The exclusion of MUSLIM is the focus of the executive order. If that executive order is allowed to stand it will give permission for the USA to exclude any religion it wants. 

I do not believe Muslim used in the Executive Order was a mistake.

The order by FDR after the attack on the USA was directed against A SOVEREIGN POWER. Japan attacked the USA and we were at war with them when the Japanese were put in detention camps. I am not saying it is correct, but, there was a far different focus and context of the Japanese Camps. They were not deported either.

Bush v. Gore was suppose to be a one time order. It has been used again and again. If this travel ban is upheld there is nothing that can stop the banning of any religious identity in the world. What next Hindu, Buddhist, any minority religion?

The best reason I have to believe this is a priority of the Ultra White is the fact there have been no foreign nationals that have attacked the USA since September 11, 2011. There is no real reason for Trump to do this, except, for the agenda of those that voted and funded him. There is no valid reason. 

Fort Hood was a Palestinian with a dual citizenship. Palestine is not listed. 

The attackers of September 11, 2001 were Saudis. Saudi Arabia is not listed. 

The shooter in Orlando was a Palestinian with a dual citizenship.

The San Bernardino murders were carried out by an American and his wife from Saudi Arabia. 

What has being Muslim got to do with this? If USA intelligence cannot point to specific people that will cause these tragedies it is the problem with more than Muslims, it is a problem with USA intelligence and the number of guns on the street.

Criminal histories need to be purged to allow people freedom to seek a prosperous future.

Any criminal record can disable the ability of people to achieve work and a future that is productive. The USA has many problems in that respect. Not just in gay convictions, but, also people that have been found innocent still have quite a rap sheet in their background checks.

If countries, including the USA, want to eliminate recidivism in any crime it needs to change it's reporting. When prisoners have served their time, their background checks follow them. In the USA, it is called, "Ban the Box." But, less than half the states have that law. 

In my opinion, efforts such as "Ban the Box" is still a superficial effort. New Zealand, in this instance, is legislating an application to end the record all together. In some states in the USA, a person can expunge their record at the age of 50, but, that only provides relief for a short time of a productive work life. 

Better fixes need to be put in place to encourage a return to work and a future rather than being pulled back into old patterns and more crime.

9 February 2017

New Zealand (click here) has said it will move to quash historical convictions for consensual sex between men.

Justice Minister Amy Adams said an application process will be introduced and cases will be judged individually.

In 1986 when the Homosexual Law Reform Act was passed, sex between men above 16 years old was decriminalised.

But convictions for consensual sex between men prior to that still appear in criminal history checks and may have to be disclosed in job applications.

Ms Adams said the government intends to introduce legislation to implement the scheme in the coming months. About 1,000 people could be eligible to apply, according to New Zealand media reports....

The survivor claims it was yoga that saved his life.

February 8, 2017

An Australian man (click here) has survived spending hours struggling to keep his nose above water after his excavator rolled into a waterhole.

Daniel Miller, 45, had been riding the machine at his remote property 300km (180 miles) north of Sydney.

When the edge of the dam gave way, the farmer was pinned down by a bar on the three-tonne excavator.

Mr Miller said he adopted a yoga pose - arching his back for air - until a neighbour 500m away heard him shouting.

"I was trapped and had to keep my head up above water using my arms, I guess it was the cobra position," he told Sydney's Daily Telegraph.               

Do I understand that Jeff Sessions is involved in the hacking of the Democratic Committee?

I don't understand why Sessions hasn't recused himself from the Attorney General slot knowing he is a focus of suspicion. This only defines more how Jeff Sessions cannot discern the good practice of law from the bad practice of law. He is not in service to the American people. He is ambitious for his own purposes. Truth means nothing to Sessions.

January 7, 2017
By NORML

Sen. Jeff Sessions, (click here) Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, stated on the floor of the Senate last April, “Good people do not use marijuana”, and in doing so, Sessions defamed countless people. Individuals who are Good People and whom, by the millions, have said, “YES” to responsibly consuming marijuana here in America.

Through the ballot box, nearly a quarter of America’s citizens have regained their marijuana freedom. Their message to the federal government at this moment is loud and clear, exactly the same as was our forebears’ message, fighting for our life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

I take Sessions’ demeaning public statement is an insult to my sweet wife of 46 years, Ann, who uses cannabis salve for the neuro-muscular aches and pains of an active life and uses cannabis tincture as a sleeping aid most nights. Annie served as business manager of our small county fair for a decade. She was superintendent of our rural school district in eastern Washington. She is mother of 4 and grandmother of 9. Annie is the very definition of “good people”, Sessions’ ignorant, arrogant and insulting sentiment stating otherwise is wrong, dead wrong....

Trump's twitter account is good service to hide his sincere agenda.

February 11, 2017

George W. Bush looked into Vladimir Putin’s eyes (click here) and thought he saw his soul. He was wrong. Barack Obama attempted to “reset” relations with Russia, but by the end of his term in office Russia had annexed Crimea, stirred up conflict elsewhere in Ukraine and filled the power vacuum that Mr Obama had left in Syria. Donald Trump appears to want to go much further and forge an entirely new strategic alignment with Russia. Can he succeed, or will he be the third American president in a row to be outfoxed by Mr Putin?

The details of Mr Trump’s realignment are still vague and changeable. That is partly because of disagreements in his inner circle. Even as his ambassador to the UN offered “clear and strong condemnation” of “Russia’s aggressive actions” in Ukraine, the president’s bromance with Mr Putin was still smouldering. When an interviewer on Fox News put it to Mr Trump this week that Mr Putin is “a killer”, he retorted: “There are a lot of killers. What, you think our country’s so innocent?”...         

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Senator Blumenthal is a highly respected member of the Senate by his peers and the people he represents, unfortunately, Mr. Trump cannot say the same. Mr. Gorsuch is only the latest member of Trump's entourage that have abandoned his agenda and made it known they do not abide by his Ultra White values.

Donald Trump has no diplomatic skills and is a chronic campaigner. He is lost in the world of DC and strikes out on Twitter to gain what he believes he control. It is unfortunate. He will never know the sincere workings of global politics and will be HANDLED by those he has chosen to hire, fire and nominate.

BORING!!!

I find it more laughable that Mr. Gorsuch needs to separate himself from Trump in order to be taken seriously as a nomination to the Supreme Court.

On a far better note, Pason James is traveling to New Zealand to concert in a country without the Joker as a president. The good news, a trade agreement wasn't necessary!


February 5, 2017
By Ella Wilks

Parson James, (click here) the New York based singer who went 2 x platinum last year with his single 'Stole the Show' is escaping the current political upheavals in his homeland to headline Big Gay Out in Auckland on Sunday.

'What's going on in my country at the moment, I think it's going to be great to be so far away from home and still be able to unite with people that I'm not really that familiar with and just feel that pride and feel that energy 'cause it's kind of bleak back where I'm from.'

'I feel like we're going through a really tough time but it's also beautiful that so many people are uniting together and showing solidarity.'

Along with performing as part of the Auckland Pride Festival James has teamed up with New Zealand's own Stan Walker to record a goosebump inducing version of the American country classic 'Tennessee Whiskey'....

More racism, more human rights violations, more falling oil prices

More cronyism. Just stop to think about the land use violations behind more hubris by Trump. This isn't about oil or prices; it is about the blatant disregard for American Indian culture, values and right to clean water.

The article states the pipeline is valued at $3.8 billion, but, never once is there a mention of priceless sacred land, priceless peace of mind and the clean water that accompanies it.

That is what is so wrong about this action by the Executive Branch. It is about the loss of land with many coveted meanings other than Wall Street money. Intangible treasures such as clean water and precious land aren't valued anymore. 

This is a new legal document that reflects the disregard of the value of the land and water. There isn't a legal instrument to stop it?

February 8, 2017

By Valerie Volcovici and Earnest Scheyder

Washington/Houston (Reuters) - The U.S. Army (click here) will grant the final permit for the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline after an order from President Donald Trump to expedite the project despite opposition from Native American tribes and climate activists.

In a court filing on Tuesday, the Army said that it would allow the final section of the line to tunnel under North Dakota's Lake Oahe, part of the Missouri River system. This could enable the $3.8 billion pipeline to begin operation as soon as June.

Energy Transfer Partners <ETP.N> is building the 1,170-mile (1,885 km) line to help move crude from the shale oilfields of North Dakota to Illinois en route to the Gulf of Mexico, where many U.S. refineries are located....

This is permanent health damage. It is shortened longevity. It is wrong!

January 25, 2017
By Erin Brodwin

An in-depth report in 2010 (click here) from Worcester Polytechnic Institute that looked at the effects of three major oil spills found increased incidences of cancer and digestive problems in people who had ingested the oil directly (in drinking water) or indirectly (through eating the meat of livestock exposed to the oil).

In addition, people who had used contaminated water for bathing or laundry appeared to experience more skin problems, ranging from mild rashes to severe and lasting eczema and malignant skin cancers....

"The final report" (click here)

This is not making America great again.

The ice condition report is from Norwegian scientists that were on the ice as they are usually when making these measurements. fIt isn't on this computer. I actually think it is on my phone.

The scientists were unable to establish their usual cites without suddenly moving the equipment and jump with the equipment to safety. Literally, the ice was destabilizing under their weight. That has never occurred before.

When I run across it, I will post it.

HEAT STRESS is Australia's number one natural killer.

4 September 2014

Heatwaves (click here)have killed more Australians than all other natural hazards combined. It's a situation that has the community sector calling for action....

January 16, 2017

By Shea McDonald

People of all ages (click here) are being urged to stay cool during this week's heatwave after a 30-year-old Brisbane man died of heatstroke while out dirt bike riding.

Temperatures are tipped to climb as high as eight degrees above average as the second heatwave in as many weeks makes its way across much of the east coast of Australia.

Matthew Hall died of heatstroke in the Beerburrum State Forest on the Sunshine Coast on Friday after a day of dirt bike riding with a friend.

A Queensland Police spokeswoman said Mr Hall stopped for a "breather" about 2pm while his friend rode ahead.

"When he came back he (the friend) located the deceased lying on the ground," she said.

"At that stage he was still conscious and breathing."

The friend called an ambulance and attempted to cool Mr Hall down by pouring water on him.... 

It isn't just the amount of ice, it is the deteriorating condition of the ice.

I need to locate the report I read about two weeks ago. The ice is in very poor condition.

Arctic sea ice extent (click here) for January 2017 averaged 13.38 million square kilometers (5.17 million square miles), the lowest January extent in the 38-year satellite record. This is 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 square miles) below January 2016, the previous lowest January extent, and 1.26 million square kilometers (487,000 square miles) below the January 1981 to 2010 long-term average.

Ice growth stalled during the second week of the month, and the ice edge retreated within the Kara and Barents Seas, and within the Sea of Okhotsk. After January 16, extent increased at a more rapid pace, but the rate of ice growth was still below average for January as a whole. For a few days towards the end of the month, the extent was slightly greater than recorded in 2006, a year which also saw many record low days in January, but by the 30th it was tracking below 2006....

Earth's heating this time is different than any other time in history. The greenhouse gases are produced by an artificial source (human activity). We are still living with residual cold, it won't last forever. 

This is an article from "Nature," but, I read a far more detailed reporting about the condition of the Arctic Circle ice.

08 February 2017
By Julia Rosen

As the Arctic (click here) slipped into the half-darkness of autumn last year, it seemed to enter the Twilight Zone. In the span of a few months, all manner of strange things happened.

The cap of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean started to shrink when it should have been growing. Temperatures at the North Pole soared more than 20 °C above normal at times. And polar bears prowling the shorelines of Hudson Bay had a record number of run-ins with people while waiting for the water to freeze over.

It was a stark illustration of just how quickly climate change is reshaping the far north. And if last autumn was bizarre, it's the summers that have really got scientists worried. As early as 2030, researchers say, the Arctic Ocean could lose essentially all of its ice during the warmest months of the year — a radical transformation that would upend Arctic ecosystems and disrupt many northern communities....

Australia has been experiencing a horrible oppressing heat.

There have been blackouts in Australian cities. After the first blackouts the utilities started a rolling black out plan. 

February 9, 2017

Following Sydney's soaking (click here) on Tuesday the summer sunshine will return at the weekend with some regions predicted to reach an unseasonably hot mid-40s (equivalent 104 F).

Residents of Sydney, Australia, are preparing for another heatwave with temperatures forecast to sizzle into the 40s over the next few days.

The mercury is expected to reach 34C (equivalent 93.2 F) on Thursday, but climb to at least 40C on Friday and across the weekend.

Parts of NSW will endure temperatures of 45 degrees (equivalent 113 F) or hotter on Saturday, elevating temperatures and fire risks across much of the nation's south east, the Bureau of Meteorology said....

...Even if Sydney misses out, the scale and longevity of the abnormal heat is likely to break heat records either for February, or for any month.

Three NSW towns are also in the running to beat the current record of 50 days above 35 degrees: Walgett, Moree and Mungindi, Martin said.

The largest area of scorching conditions during the current heatwave may come on Saturday....

The heating is unrelenting. This is the third year in a row with increasing temperatures. This is a steady escalation in heat and it won't be changing. Chicago has reported this year it's lowest snow fall in its recorded history. The ice in the Arctic Circle is all "first year ice" and is showing evidence of instability.

In it my opinion Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is leading the Ultra White attack on the American democracy.

Senator Edward Kennedy was a member of a family that have lead strong opposition to racism. They are heroes, everyone of them. When US Senator Warren read a letter once held dear to the Kennedy leadership on the floor of the US Senate is was far more appropriate than Mitch McConnell could ever hope to be.

November 22, 2016
By Christina Prignano

Three decades before Senator Elizabeth Warren (click here) was calling for the rejection of Senator Jeff Sessions for a federal post, the late Senator Ted Kennedy was doing the same.

In 1986, when Sessions was under consideration by the Senate for a federal judgeship, Kennedy made a fiery statement slamming Sessions’ ultimately unsuccessful nomination.

The controversy over Sessions, now President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for US attorney general, centered then around remarks Sessions allegedly made to an African American former assistant US attorney. Thomas Figures alleged that in the 1980s Sessions called him “boy” and warned him to be careful about what he says to “white folks.” Sessions has denied the claim....

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) is not the reason for rising health costs.

The bloated costs in the USA was built by wealth leaving the poor without healthcare or substandard healthcare.

We are now faced with the same wealthy that created the bloated system in the first place.

2011

Rising health care costs (click here) are a problem across the industrialized world, but they are higher and rising faster in the United States than in other industrialized countries.  The Commonwealth Fund, a non-profit foundation which researches ways to improve health care, produced this chart showing the rise in health care costs in 11 leading industrial countries.  Even though we Americans spend more per person than the other 10 countries, these countries have broader coverage than we do.

An estimated 42 percent of Americans last year went without health care they thought they needed because of cost.  This included 68 percent of those without health insurance, and also 31 percent of those who supposedly have adequate health insurance....

Her voice will not be silenced. The greatest Senator of our time.

The Ultra White is in power. They are the American Plutocrats. It is now known. They demand the silence of the minority.

The Ultra White was able to be covert, but, no more. It is obvious and their hatred of our country, our diversity and their thirst for power should be the concern of all.

February 8, 2017
By Mark Katrov

The words were those of Coretta Scott King, (click here) widow of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

But they resulted in a rarely-invoked Senate rule being used to formally silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

On the Senate floor yesterday Warren was reading from a letter Scott King wrote in 1986 objecting to President Ronald Reagan's ultimately unsuccessful nomination of then-U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions to a federal district court seat.

King wrote that Sessions used "the awesome power of his office to chill the pre-exercise of the vote by black citizens."

Now-Sen. Sessions, R-Ala., is President Trump's nominee for U.S. attorney general. Warren was speaking in the debate leading up to Sessions' likely confirmation Wednesday....

There are three African American billionaires and none were tapped for service to the USA.

Michael Jordan, $1.14 billion (click here)

American, Basketball

Basketball’s greatest player is the majority shareholder of Charlotte Bobcats and enjoys lucrative deals with the likes of Gatorade, Hanes and Upper Deck. His biggest pile comes from Brand Jordan, a $1 billion (sales) sportswear partnership with Nike.

Ms. Oprah Winfrey or Mr. Michael Jordon would have equally qualified, if not more so, and excellent Secretaries of Education. They are just not Trump cronies.

Oprah Winfrey, $3.1 billion

American, Television

Oprah, once the queen of daytime TV, is still the richest African-American person in the world. Her once struggling cable channel, OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) is now cash flow positive and is enjoying soaring ratings on the back of a series of successful sitcom and drama collaborations with director Tyler Perry. She also owns a 10% stake in Weight Watchers.

I am quite certain Mr. Robert Smith is equally, if not more qualified, as any Goldman Sachs hire.

Robert Smith, $2.5 billion

American, Private Equity

Smith is the founder of Vista Equity Partners, a private equity shop that has an impressive portfolio of leading enterprise software companies such as Websense, Applied Systems and Mediaocean.

Mr. Trump likes to line the halls of the White House with billionaires, just so long as they are Ultra White.

February 7, 2017

Russia and Turkey have both been conducting air strikes on al-Bab 

ISIL is now surrounded by Syrian army (click here) from the south and by Turkish-backed rebels from the north, monitoring group says.

Syrian government forces have advanced on the ISIL-held city of al-Bab, cutting off the last supply route that connects it to the armed group's strongholds further east towards Iraq, according to a monitoring group.

ISIL fighters in the area are now effectively surrounded by the Syrian army from the south and by Turkish-backed rebels from the north, as Damascus and Ankara race to capture the largest stronghold of the armed group in Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.

The British-based war monitor, which tracks developments in Syria's conflict, added that the army and allied militia had made gains southeast of al-Bab overnight and fought ISIL there on Monday.

Backed by air strikes, they severed a road that links the city to other ISIL-held territory in Raqqa and Deir Az Zor provinces, it said.

A military commander in the alliance fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad said ISIL, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and is also known as ISIS, was now encircled.

"There is one narrow passage left out of al-Bab," the commander told the Reuters news agency. Government forces now had most of it "within close firing range", he said....

The Muslim Ban has no purpose in the year 2017. The attacks within the USA are by lone wolves. Some are 2nd generation in this country and are conflicted with their dual citizenship.

I am sure the scholars are having a great deal of fun and interesting sparing over the theory and the law, but, there is absolutely no reason for this ban. In order for a Presidential Order to be relevant it has to have a purpose.

The Muslim Ban is hubris without a real purpose. There are grounds for lawsuits by individuals and class action lawsuits.

HE IS DEAD. THERE IS DNA TO PROVE IT. HOW LONG DO MUSLIMS HAVE TO PAY FOR 911?


May 2, 2016
By Nick Rasmussen

Five years ago, (click here) I watched in the Situation Room along with President Obama, Vice President Biden, and members of the President’s national security team to see if U.S. Special Operations Forces could deliver the justice that every American had been waiting for for a decade. 

In the three-plus months leading up to the operation, the White House’s National Security Council staff organized over two dozen inter-agency meetings to oversee preparations and consider all of the attendant issues: the evaluation of the emerging intelligence, possible operational courses of action, the consequences and implications of both success and failure. 

What struck me most about that process was the absolute attention to operational security, discretion, and secrecy. Very few individuals beyond the most senior officials were involved in the policy piece of this operation. Extraordinary measures were taken to limit information flow, and those involved maintained an incredibly high degree of discipline.


The Trump administration is falsifying information to the public. They are lumping all kinds of stuff together to make a list look impressive to justify their inflammatory administration.

February 8, 2017
By Avi Selk

...Then, yesterday, (click here) both families saw their children's murders in a White House list of terrorist attacks that hadn't got enough attention, and Ayliffe said she felt she needed to set down words again.

"My daughter's death will not be used to further this insane persecution of innocent people," she wrote in an open letter to US President Donald Trump

.Her words were joined by the parents of the attack's second victim, Jackson, who expressed their disbelief in an email to the White House and elsewhere.

"I'm pretty sure he and his advisers know full well - or could very easily verify - that Tom and Mia died not as the result of an act of terror but rather through the actions of a disturbed individual," Les Jackson wrote on Facebook.

"Of course, that doesn't suit his agenda."...