This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
(I receive no compensation from any entry on this blog.)
There is a reason the Russians are smiling. They have successfully breached the stealth technology which COMPROMISES the USA and any ally that purchased those jets.
The CEO of a Russian technology firm (click here) has claimed that his company's radar product enabled the Iranian military to identify and track American stealth fighter jets during the standoff that followed the assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani in January.
Alexander Stuchilin, the CEO of the Rezonans research center, told Russia's state-backed Tass news agency Monday Iranian forces used the Rezonans-NE radar system to track American F-35 aircraft; fifth generation jets that are the most advanced in the U.S. arsenal.
"At the beginning of 2020 this radar identified U.S. F-35 planes and tracked them," Stuchilin claimed on the sidelines of the Army-2020 military technology forum in Moscow....
Some county authorities are doing their level best to protect voters. High risk for contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus resulting in COVID-19 should vote by mail. There is no doubt about it. Voting by mail is the safest method and it begins soon if not started already. Masks work. Handwashing and good hygiene are very important. Don't touch the face without the very least washing hands with hand sanitizer.
With two months left (click here) until he faces voters, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has pledged to take a different tack to leading his city.
Speaking behind a podium in an empty City Hall chamber Wednesday, the mayor issued a mea culpa of sorts, promising to lead both better and more visibly. Wheeler said he felt he hadn’t been focused enough on the crises facing the city and had failed to engage with Portlanders “enough or in the right way.”
“Frankly, I have not been focused enough on the two issues that are the most important to the city of Portland,” he said. “And right now, that is ending the nightly violence and getting our community back on its feet. And number two, it’s about economic recovery, both for our households and our small businesses. I need to focus like a laser beam on those two issues.”
The mayor said he planned to start this new direction with two meetings.
The first would take place Wednesday evening with the police bureau, when he planned to ask if they needed more resources to bring protests to “a peaceful conclusion.” Wheeler said he also wanted to see what ideas the bureau has to hold officers accountable “in real time” rather than through the city’s Independent Police Review, where a complaint against an officer can take months to work its way through the system. The mayor did not specify with whom he was meeting inside the bureau.
Having grievances answered in real-time will provide the protesters with less reason to protest. The protests are happening for real reasons. The resolve by police and citizen leadership has to be just as real as the grievances. Democracy is about people, not the ultimate control of them. Every one of those protests wants peaceful lives, but, it is interrupted by real reasons to protest.
The police violence toward protesters is not helpful when it is simply violence due to power and not governance.
The second meeting will be Thursday with “key stakeholders” from the business community to ask what the city can do to help downtown. The announcement comes on the heels of Williamette Week reporting that a prominent downtown property owner had delivered a heated letter to the City Council saying they were abdicating their duties and endorsing lawlessness in the area....
The police, especially those in Portland, have found a new word in their vocabulary to justify violence against protesters.
A riot - when six or more persons engage in tumultuous and violent conduct,”
Here again, the police are identifying police work and definitions without addressing the grievances of the protesters. So long as there is a complete breakdown of accountability by the police that causes the protests, there is every indication they will continue. The police chief needs to identify the reason for the protesters' grievance and what is going to be done to end police brutality. This is nothing more than justification by the police to attack people with real grievances.
It has gotten to be a regular event with both sides expecting the worst from each other. That is dangerous for a democracy. The civilian mayor and council has to take up the grievances of these people and provide a real reason to enact change of policy by police officers.
It is unrealistic to believe police will never be needed in any city in the USA, but, there MUST be an address of grievance in real ways that brings about the end of police brutality.
While Chicago-based United still hopes furloughs can be avoided if the federal government gives airlines additional funding to help cover labor costs, “we need to prepare and plan for the future should an extension not be granted,” Bryan Quigley, senior vice president of flight operations, said in a message to pilots Thursday....
There were no protests until the wrongful use of a gun against a black man. That is the direct responsibility of the police and Chief Miskinis has not addressed that police brutality yet.
August 28, 2020
By Dan Hinkel, John Keilman and Stacy St. Clair
Kyle Rittenhouse, (click here) who is charged with shooting and killing two men during this week’s violent demonstrations in Kenosha, will remain in Lake County for another month after a judge on Friday allowed a delay in the court process that could send him to Wisconsin to face the allegations.
Meanwhile, Kenosha police Chief Daniel Miskinis on Friday defended police after they allowed Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, to leave the scene of Tuesday’s deadly shooting in the protest-wracked city even though the teen was holding a rifle and had his hands up in what many interpret as a gesture of surrender.
In another development, an attorney for Jacob Blake (click here) told CNN that handcuffs restraining Blake, who is in a Wisconsin hospital, have been removed.
The shooting of Jacob Blake was blatantly wrong. That degree of dangerous police handling of an arrest is what upsets people. The people are right to be upset. The Chief of Police in Kenosha needs to address the loose handling of guns. Make no mistake, the uprising of the people was directly due to police brutality and the wrongful use of guns.
While the police are talking about police work and putting their own understanding "out there," that is as inappropriate as the repeated gunshots that have disabled Jacob Blake. The police officer was wrong and gratefully Blake is still alive. But, the Chief of Police has to address the blatant wrongful use of a gun against an unarmed black man and WHAT IS BEING DONE TO END THAT VIOLENCE AGAINST UNARMED BLACK MEN.
Blake, who is Black, was shot by Kenosha police on Sunday, and it was during protests over that shooting that Rittenhouse allegedly shot three people, two of them fatally. Police have been criticized for failing to apprehend Rittenhouse sooner.
“There were a lot of people in the area, a lot of people with weapons, and unfortunately, a lot of gunfire,” Miskinis (Chief of Police) said at a news conference Friday. “What the officers were ... driving into was a shots fired complaint, not a shooting, not a person down complaint. We have had many of those over the course of this unfortunate event.
“They’re responding to that, they see someone walking toward them with their hands up,” Miskinis said. “That, too, isn’t out of the ordinary given all the events going on. ... We have armed individuals out protesting, or counterprotesting, or simply walking around exercising their right, (who) will put their hands up. It might have been abnormal two weeks ago. It’s no longer abnormal. There’s nothing to suggest this individual was involved in criminal behavior.”
The USA military needs to carry out the extraction of the USA troops being surrounded by Russian soldiers. The USA has a "No Fault" policy when it comes to military traffic incidents.
I don't care who's fault it is. Russia can have Syria and the USA military needs to extract it's soldiers from the area. I think a good place for the troops is Jordan and/or Saudi Arabia so they can find a ride home to see their families.
The Kurds can go back to northern Iraq. Someone needs to give them a ride home to Iraq.
The boys have roughed up each other enough. Time to break it up and go home.
August 27, 2020
The Russian and US governments (click here) have blamed each other for a collision between Russian and US armoured vehicles in north-eastern Syria in which several US troops were injured.
Video of the collision was broadcast by a Russian nationalist website, Rusvesna.su, then widely retweeted.
The video appears to show a Russian military vehicle in a desert convoy ramming a US armoured car, as a Russian helicopter flies low overhead.
Russia says the US obstructed a patrol.
A US defence official told BBC partner CBS News that Russian forces had entered a "security zone" that they had agreed to stay out of.
The White House said the vehicle's crew sustained minor injuries in the collision....
Russia has been Syria's ally for a long time. Russia is attempting to stabilize Syria and this is the result. Russia is interested in "stable states." They don't fuss about the leadership so long as Russia has control over STABILITY. Until Russia has that reassurance in the era of Daesh, it will be a continuous struggle for any force attempting to overrun Assad. The USA is not needed in Syria. If the USA wants to provide a homeland for the Kurds, they need to give them a safe ride back home to northern Iraq.
5 March 2020
By Jonathan Marcus
...He decided early on to deploy air power (click here) to prevent the collapse of the Syrian regime. And, once the position of President Bashar al-Assad was stabilised, Russia used its air power to help the regime to recover territory from the rebels. Idlib is now the last major battleground.
Unlike Western interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Russians had a clear vision of what they wanted to do in Syria and were willing to be single-minded enough (some might say brutal enough) to achieve it....
Trump is putting on a show for the sake of votes. Trump has already done all the damage he is going to cause. People are dead and the land was lost. Trump retreated; the retreat needs to be completed and now he is putting on a show for what might be votes. It is time the USA concludes its business and bring the Americans home. Russia has Syria when it comes to stabilizing it during a very long and deadly civil war.
November 14, 2019
By Uri Friedman
...The same official noted that Syrian Kurdish forces (click here) have been partners in the U.S.-led multinational military campaign against the Islamic State, and that “what happens [in Syria] is being called ‘other people’s business’ even though ‘other people’s business’ will affect in all likelihood America’s European allies.” Then the official posed the fundamental question raised by the U.S. position, one that will linger over the gathering of anti-ISIS coalition members in Washington, D.C., this week: “What does that mean for our confidence that in a time of crisis or challenge we will have the backing of our American allies?” (The official, like several others in this article, asked to speak about the situation in Syria on condition of anonymity.) “It’s too early to say how this will play out. It will depend on whether the risks can be curtailed. But it’s a question that is the writing on the wall right now.”...
Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the CDC, has vacillated on CDC recommendations regarding testing for the SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, the website is inconsistent with his latest statements in returning to testing of those believed to have contact with anyone with COVID-19.
Why the inconsistency? And also important is insurance company responsibility with the testing. If the CDC website states testing is not important the insurance companies will see that as a reason not to pay for it which will suppress people from testing when it should continue to increase the testing rate to better understand the spread of the virus.
According to the Chicago Tribune the New York Attorney General Donald J. Trump gained income in the amount of $100 million when his high interest lender, Fortress Credit Corp. agreed to a $48 million payoff on a $150 million loan. That unpaid loan is income. It is very, very taxable.
It looks like three other properties are in question besides the Trump Tower in Chicago.
If this is Trump’s methodology to obtain and maintain his million-billions, he will be on the hook for a whole lot of money to the tax collectors at all levels of government.
You know, the Robert’s court is wrong in denying the US House, responsible for the US budget, access to Trump’s tax records. The USA has a right to examine records under confidentiality laws income due the US Treasury.
This case in New York State is only the beginning. There will be more and more interest and requests for more and more records from many other sources. Trump is a criminal and guilty of tax evasion. That was the weakness in the untouchable Al Capone.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 achieved far higher winds when in the Gulf. But, Laura (click here) is sustaining it's high winds where Katrina did not. The storm surge of Katrina was also historic at 20 feet. The interesting aspect of Hurricane Laura is the fact it's winds and rain reach up to 200 miles into the interior of the USA. Another hurricane named Hugo had winds reaches up to 250 miles. Laura has it all, high winds, high storm surge and reaches into the interior of the USA up to 200 miles. Those characteristics are sincerely historic in their combination.
I am certain that everyone has been rescused and that would be historic. The authorities had plenty of time to rescue and FORCE EMERGENCY AND MANDATORY EVACUATIONS. I haven't heard the word MANDATORY in any of the warnings.
Governor Whitmer is absolutely correct and good for her in recognizing the harassment based in politics. If the DOJ was seriously interested in the elderly and the danger due to COVID-19 it would have asked for the information from all 50 states.
It is shameful to the degree the Trump administration uses power for political purposes and not governance.
August 26, 2020
By Dave Boucher
The U.S. Department of Justice (click here) wants Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and three other states governed by Democrats to turn over data related to nursing homes and COVID-19 deaths.
The governor agreed to provide the data, but blasted the request, labeling it a partisan stump aimed at helping President Donald Trump's re-election bid.
In a news release Wednesday, the department said the requests were sent to states "that issued orders which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents."
Whitmer defended her actions, arguing the letter relies more on politics than health policy....
The abuse of power never stops. Trump so much cares about himself the most, he is causing life-threatening circumstances for Americans. Getting health information and actual medications through the mail is a very popular choice. And what about the families that are looking for food to be delivered through the service of the USPS?
Using the USPS is still the most economical way to access communication and distribution of products in the country. What does that say about respect for Americans and their small businesses? Does Trump actually care about the USA economy, because, small businesses have been the backbone of the USA economy? If not mistaken, before Trump, the small businesses in the USA was 50% of the USA economy.
The suit asks the court to declare the Postal Service changes unconstitutional, and to block any substantial, nationwide changes to service from being implemented without first seeking an opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission.
Hawaii, New Jersey, New York City and the City and County of San Francisco joined the suit filed in federal court in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.
"This USPS slowdown is nothing more than a voter suppression tactic," James, a Democrat, said in a statement. "Yet, this time, these authoritarian actions are not only jeopardizing our democracy and fundamental right to vote, but the immediate health and financial well-being of Americans across the nation."...
The country of North Korea had an obligation to its people to have a live showing of Kim Jong Un. I think pictures and only pictures is an avoidance of what might be tragic news. The people have a right to know if their leader is well or not.
...regarding self-quarantine to those entering the country. That is a curiosity to me, except, many other countries are not having a problem with COVID-19 as the USA. Two weeks quarantine is a long time for a business traveler, all in all the revised recommendation is worrisome.
The new recommendation to go without testing if asymptomatic but believed to have been exposed only makes sense if the tests themselves are in short supply.
I cannot state strongly enough that the safest place is to “Stay at home.” A lot of people especially those at highest risk are avoiding contact. It works. If people wear masks when outside the home they will improve the ability to stay safe.
WEARING MASKS OUTSIDE THE HOME REMINDS OTHERS TO WEAR ONE AS WELL. I have witnessed that for myself. When going out to run routine errands and wearing a mask, others that simply see me put on their mask as well. It is true that human nature includes mimicking in a social setting and wearing masks is a good thing to mimic. Social mimicking is about acceptance. Wearing masks in social settings is an excellent mimic and so is social distancing.
I have noticed as well that babies and young children are in the strollers without a face covering while the parents are wearing theirs. I think the American people are getting mixed messages about face masks and the vulnerability of children and infants. Pediatricians should be advising parents about facial covers/masks for their children. I cannot say I have noticed special masks or face coverings for children for sale either.
Kyle Rittenhouse went to the protests intending to be an opposition to the protesters. He did so with a gun. He brought the gun to use. But, when it comes to charging him in taking down others he will declare seld-defense. The video has the potential to validate that because protesters were approaching him as he fired into the crowd. Rittenhouse got away with his life and that doesn't matter if others died while he is alive.
The lack of action by the police at the scene is due to the fact Rittenhouse had a gun and could retaliate against the police officers.
I also don't know who Rittenhouse or his family might know to give him permission to kill unarmed protesters. We are seeing domestic terrorism to raise it's ugly head in the USA as protesters are practicing freedom of speech.
There needs to be as much outrageous at the charges and court proceedings as the shooting itself.
By Eric Levenson, Alisha Ebrahimji and Christina Maxouris
A 17-year-old Illinois resident (click here) connected to an overnight shooting during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was taken into custody Wednesday morning, according to police in Antioch, Illinois.
Wisconsin authorities issued an arrest warrant charging Kyle Rittenhouse with first-degree intentional homicide, Antioch Police said. He is in the custody of the Lake County Judicial System pending an extradition hearing to transfer him from Illinois to Wisconsin. Antioch is located about 15 to 20 miles from Kenosha, just across the state border.
Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis confirmed that a 17-year-old Antioch resident has been charged in a shooting incident and said that the man "was involved in the use of firearms to resolve whatever conflict was in place."...
The Department of Justice (click here) has identified the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times as seven-year veteran Rusten Sheskey.
Attorney General Josh Kaul said during a press conference Wednesday that Sheskey was the only officer who shot Blake last Sunday. He did not say whether Sheskey is facing criminal charges in the officer-involved shooting, which has sparked outrage across the nation, called thousands of protesters back onto the streets and inadvertently led to violent unrest including looting and vandalism....
I think the police unions are a big problem. Rusten Sheskey believed leveling seven bullets into the body of Jacob Blake was appropriate. Part if not all that comes with the permission of the police unions. Year after year, the police members want to know what their new contract has brought to keep them in their uniforms and protect their lives even at the cost of others.
Time and time again the idea of justice in regard to officer-involved shootings falls to the civil courts and monetary settlement. But, real justice, the kind that removes police from their jobs and ultimately faces criminal charges just doesn't gel. Why? More than likely because of police contract wording that exempts police from the very justice this like to say they uphold.
The members of major ball groups, be it basketball or baseball, is one that can bring action to their own grief. The professional ballplayers need to demand to know what and why JUSTICE is eliminated in police union contracts.
I don't recall any police-involved shooting when findings state the police are not at issue, have been successfully appealed. The idea a police union has more power over the Rule of Law is not only dangerous as putting one American above the law that causes other Americans to live in fear, it is highly unconstitutional. The problem is the charges of the police officer(s) never make it to court to even appeal the verdict because it is dismissed by a rather irreverent judge that finds contract more important than the Rule of Law. the best example of that is the death of Freddie Grey. The judge dismissed all the charges of officers before a case could be made to argue the death of Freddie Grey was heinous.
To left Freddie Grey and his increasing disability and ultimate death while in police custody.
Professional ballplayers have resources to organize to investigate judges and those that let police walk. There have to be lawyers that can get a police charge past "dismissal" and into an actual court case. That means examing prosecutors, assigned or elected, as to why they let police walk.
It is a matter of taking this to the next level. WHO IS COMPETENT AND HONEST ENOUGH TO SUCCESSFULLY PROSECUTE POLICE. Professional ballplayers calling for justice isn't enough anymore, there has to be an action group to look into corrupted government, and the decisions reached due to wrongful police contracts. Why do such unions believe they should be producing contracts that place the police above the law? I don't know any better people able to bring real justice to our minority communities than professional ballplayers who are looked up to by everyone.
During Trump’s 2016 campaign he stated to minority voters, to vote for him because “ What have you got to lose?” Realizing he actually said that to minority voters he should have doing double time to end the assault on those families by SARS-CoV-2. That also goes for his hate speech and ridiculous policies and defense of police brutality.
...relies on people like Senator Tim Scott that holds the best of us as the soul of America. I hear his speech was resoundingly different than many of the others that would seek to divide the country to create a new and very different reality while indulging in harsh and exaggerated rhetoric about Democrats, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Just let me remind Senator Scott what a real Democratic economy looks like. In 2000, George W. Bush inherited from President Bill Clinton a treasury surplus. It would have been nice to have that still yet today while suffering through a pandemic. Then when President Obama came to office the USA was shedding 100,000 jobs PER DAY. It is notable that job losses continued AFTER then President Bush installed T.A.R.P. a huge bailout of the banking system while the Secretary of the Treasury Paulson logged more hours in China than at his Treasury Department Office.
President Trump has ridden the coattails of President Obama while issuing tax cuts to Wall Street. There was no need for it, the USA was doing just fine. But, Trump and Mnuchin wanted their dream of low or better yet no taxes for Wall Street. And that is exactly what occurred.
In many ways Senator Scott reflects what is best of this country but he doesn’t discern the radical right as a problem.
The radical right of the Republican Party must be rejected. The USA is best when there are at least two HEALTHY parties that put forward candidates with great values and morality. The RNC under Trump has no solid moral values, heck, it’s campaigns are being funded by the US Treasury compliments of Trump’s border wall.
There are clear distinctions between the Republicans and Democrats. Make no mistake that while Senator Scott talks a good game he fumbles when it comes to holding his party accountable for tha lawbreakers among them.
I saw an Op-Ed stating Biden-Harris are regressive candidates. They can’t be regressive if there is no progress. That was no progress under Trump-Pence. The USA’s GDP has never been lower and unemployment only dwarfed by the HEIGHT of the global economic collapse. The USA has lost standing in the world. Biden-Harris are the opportunity candidates that will build back everything that has gone wrong with Trump-Pence.
The GDP and unemployment is directly related to the WRONGFUL handling of SARS-CoV-2.
The earliest example of that was Spring Break 2020. There was plenty of time to change the trajectory of the virus.
This country has been hurt by the current administration in many ways.
From the beginning the USA decentralized its authority out of need for a strategy at all. Trump had no clue regarding the closing of borders to stop SARS-CoV-2 from reaching the USA and closed the eastern border with Europe and southern Florida with Brazil far too late.
Today, Spain is an exacting lesson proving that decentralized authority in response to SARS-CoV-2 only increases human tragedy. It also proves opening borders is hazardous to containment.
Now, the historical significance of the Rose Garden at the White House has been ruined.
Amazing the entitlement all of them believe they have to create their own world in attempts to erase loyalty and love to the historic past of so many that came before them.
