Someone in the USA Congress finally 'gets it.' And he is a Republican.

President Obama is actually going to give Congress a pass before the election and relying on his Presidential powers to conduct war. Well isn't that interesting. But, of course, immigration is not approachable by Presidential powers. What has happened to my country?

MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) – The United States (click here) is not in a position to police the world when it comes to fighting the Islamic State (IS) group in the Middle East and requires allies to step up their actions, Congressman Walter Jones said, responding to Obama’s August campaign against the IS in Iraq.

“I want the allies, whether they be in Europe or the Middle East, to start stepping up instead of America stepping up,” Jones said in interview with RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

“We are what’s called a debtor nation. We cannot pay our bills without raising the debt ceiling so we can borrow money from foreign governments. I would like to see the rich dropping bombs.” Jones, a strong opponent of the Iraq War and American military action without congressional approval, said that “We cannot police the world.”

“I want to do everything possible to defend this country against ISIL or any other jihadist group,” said Jones. “We think we can always dictate to other counties... We cannot. Let’s defend our own country.”

Jones and Representative Jim McGovern were the lead sponsors of a July resolution which called on the President to seek authorization from Congress prior to the further deployment or maintenance of US combat forces in Iraq.

While members of Congress were on recess, Barack Obama authorized approximately 150 airstrikes in Iraq. Obama briefed members of Congress on his strategy for dealing with the Islamic State on Tuesday and will deliver a speech to the American people on Wednesday.

Jones is a representative of North Carolina and sits on the House Armed Services Committee.

From the Arab News: 232.08 carat white diamond found in South African mine.

• Finds “exceptional” 232.08-carat white diamond at Cullinan (click here)
• Four analysts say stone could fetch between $10 million—$16 million
• Shares rise as much as 7 percent

From the Gulf News:

Dubai: Residents in Emaar communities (click here) are planning to launch a social media campaign to voice their anger after vans of a popular local ice cream company were banned from entering their communities.

For six years, UAE-based Desert Chill has been delivering ice cream in Emirates Living and Arabian Ranches in purpose-built vans. But last week, developer Emaar shut the door on them, saying they are reviewing the list of vendors who would be allowed in their communities.

Desert Chill said the ban came unexpectedly and is a big blow to their business. “The news has come suddenly and without warning after six years of serving the communities and without any incident or issue. We are in communication with Emaar to try and rectify the situation but as of now we have not been successful,” reads a message on Desert Chill’s Facebook page....

The Jordan Times:

September 9, 2014

AMMAN — Iraqi Ambassador (click here) to Jordan Jawad Hadi Abbas recently returned to Amman after nearly six weeks since he was called home following a conference held by Iraqi opposition figures in Amman. 

Minister plenipotentiary of the Iraqi embassy Tahseen Alwan told The Jordan Times over the phone on Tuesday that Abbas returned early this month to resume his diplomatic duties. 

The ambassador was recalled by the former government of Nouri Al Maliki on July 19 for urgent consultations days after a gathering was held in Jordan for Iraqi figures representing Sunni and tribal leaders and businessmen, who launched their first unified coalition calling on the international community to boycott the Maliki government.

But Alwan refused to say there was a diplomatic spat between Amman and Baghdad over the conference, stressing that the ambassador was on a holiday. 

“There is no political stance against Jordan,” he said, adding the two neighbouring countries have always enjoyed good ties. 

But the Iraqi News Agency said at the time that recalling the ambassador came as a response to Amman’s allowing the opposition’s gathering....

The Daily Star (Lebanon - the country with the invasion by Israel against goat farmers):

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama (click here) told congressional leaders Tuesday that he had the authority he needed to take action to destroy the militant group ISIS, signaling again that the White House would not ask Congress to vote to approve his plan.

Obama met with top Democratic and Republican leaders ahead of a speech Wednesday evening to lay out his plan to fight the group, also known as ISIL.

“The president told the leaders that he has the authority he needs to take action against ISIL in accordance with the mission he will lay out in his address tomorrow night,” the White House said in a statement.

“He reiterated his belief that the nation is stronger and our efforts more effective when the president and Congress work together to combat a national security threat like ISIL.”...

It must be comforting in the Middle East to conduct business as usual while the USA sustains the costs and deaths of military personnel to keep the peace within their borders. To hell with what is happening to the USA's sense of well being, it is paramount no other nation feels they have problems.

So the USA is entering another war while the Mideast continues to scrutinize Gitmo. Real good. But, that is not an election issue. Of course not.

MIAMI: At about 155 pounds, (click here) the Syrian prisoner is gaunt for a man over 6 feet tall. He is pale and weak, so lethargic at times that one of his lawyers said he had to lie on the floor when he met with her one day this summer at the prison on the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The hunger strike that 43-year-old Abu Wa’el Dhiab started 18 months ago to protest his indefinite confinement without charge was supposed to be over by now. He was told in the spring he would be resettled in Uruguay, along with five other Guantanamo prisoners. But as the months have dragged on and the transfer put on hold, his standoff with military officials has only deteriorated, at times turning violent.

“Everyone who has seen him recently is alarmed,” said Alka Pradhan, one of his attorneys.

The prisoner has been engaged in a tense struggle with guards in recent months, according to documents filed in federal court in Washington, where Dhiab, who has been fed through a nasal tube to prevent starvation, is challenging some of the tactics used by the military to deal with prisoners on hunger strike....

The USA is on the job in the Middle East. There is absolutely no implications for USA national security, but, what the heck we are so welcome to conduct war there it serves the purpose for the Republican political machine. The GOP is so lucky to have the Middle East as a place for their agenda. 

So all the American polls regarding a return to war in Iraq is favorable.

NO KIDDING.

And of course the media won't take responsibility at all for those polls, right? They favor Republican outcomes this election, but, the media is not responsible at all for those polls.

DENIAL.

The polls before the aired beheadings and the culture of fear instilled throughout the nation is not the fault of an inflammatory media. 

Right. The USA media drives war. There is no reason for the USA to enter Syria or return to Iraq at all. Gee, "W"'s Iraq is falling apart. What a shame.

Ms. Palmer needs to leave the relationship and if the confrontation is explained away it will occur while the partners work at strengthening their relationship while apart.

Ms. Palmer stayed. Many women and abused men are looking at her and listening to her rational and finding a reason to stay as well. Ms. Palmer is wrong. People have to know she is wrong. Her attack is on tape and now the couple faces a loss of income. I wouldn't simply state Americans have the right to criticize institutions that look the other way as policy. The is wrong and the institutions have to change their policies.

The victim has to come to terms with her sincere status, too. Currently, Ms. Palmer is in complete denial and what worries me more is the fact Mr. Rice might expect his fans and others will explain away the confrontation and he may return to the NFL. If that is what is buoying the couples relationship, what happens to Ms. Palmer when that doesn't occur? 

What brings me to that concern? One of her statements is "We still love all the fans in Raven's Land." It makes no sense. He is suspended indefinitely. She is in denial and pandering to those that would have power as fans. It was the fans that brought the NFL to it's knees, why would they seek to continue their relationship with what was once their hero?

When Ms. Palmer is found to have sustained an injury that caused her to become unconscious and the event is on tape; she is taking responsibility for her attack. She aggravated it. Anyone assessing the circumstances would state that the criminal charges against Mr. Rice would carry an aggravated descriptor. That doesn't mean she is at fault. It means she aggravated his attack, but, it was his attack. 

She is taking responsibility for his behavior. That is profound denial. What she doesn't realize is her behavior is in response to his part of the relationship. They were verbally tussling before and after they entered the elevator. That is all part of it. It is not a healthy relationship and love won't heal them. If they sincerely want this marriage they need to work at it outside the relationship in order to honestly look at it safely without fear of the violence occurring. The relationship triggers these events. It is not healthy. If she received a concussion or head injury by an accident would she want to repeat it?

Separation by a couple is very threatening, especially in violent relationships because THE CONTROL and the receipt of THE CONTROL is gone. If a couple is sincerely in longing for a strong marriage, separation is nothing if they are truly partners. Separation cures and increases the longing for healing. It then encourages different behavior, if they are capable of it, to prevent any of the reasons that caused them to reach a point of intolerance of each other.

Senator Byrd saw the depth of the arrogance of the USA. There just isn't anyone that can take his place.

"I weep for my country." 

The problem with the US Congress is that is no longer operates on morality so much as it does a violent and vicious partisan agenda. Senator Byrd's speech on the house floor should have been heeded and not disregarded. Senator Byrd had wisdom. That is something that grossly lacks in today's Congress.

Walk, trot and cantor just isn't the same in the heat.

The horses need to be well hydrated when this type of intense activity is demanded of them. The dark color on the 2 year old's back and face is sweat.

Cleaning up John McCain's revolt against Assad.

It is unthinkable the USA would fund any rebels in Syria. The Free Syrian Army sold US munitions to ISIS. There are no rebel groups not somehow affiliated with IS/IS/L in Syria. The ONLY funding the US Congress should be supporting is humanitarian aid.

There is no group coming forward as an alternate authority to Assad that actually has control of the rebel forces. No one authority speaks for the rebels. 

If the USA sends more munitions into Syria it will be in violation of the Small Arms Convention.

Just because Russia is in violation of the Small Arms Treaty in Ukraine gives no meaning to the USA following such an example in Syria. Any arming of rebels in Syria will only result in nation building AGAIN. In the face of the fact Assad has been cooperative with UN Resolutions to date, especially that of chemical weapons, it is wrong to continue to fuel this civil war.

The US Congress is trying to save face while they confront completely failed foreign policy that has not only fueled war that kills innocent people, but, also establishes unsustainable nation building. They are playing USA politics with foreign lives for the sake of coming elections. They won't face facts, they will continue to kill overseas to maintain their electable status.

Russia's Putin is also attempting to save face by engaging in faux peace talks with Ukraine while the rebels are continuing to be armed. Putin's politics are deadly for both people and the regions economic stability.

In both cases, it is not the politics that should survive, but, the people, the stability of the region and sustainable economics.

The USA is wrong. Russia is wrong. AND. Israel is wrong. When are these nations going to face the truth rather than their own idea of the truth?

Domestic barges are used for stalled grain shipments. I wonder if they are being filled to capacity with increased water displacement. The ACES should know.

My only thought is, has the ACES addressed any sediment issues that might be preventing the Great Lake barges from operating to full capacity. Domestically the grain farmers are facing many problems. One such problem is climate and the other is continued flooding that brings sediment to the inland waterways, including, the Mississippi and the Great Lakes. I would expect the Army Corp to put these waterways at the top of their priority list as it directly effects agricultural commodities and economics. As the flooding continues to occur due to the Climate Crisis, waterway sediment issues become more frequent. Dredging might have been done every five to ten years, but, the demand may increase. It may be that barges are compensating for a more shallow waterway by reducing their displacement. It would put a drag on agricultural economics.

September 8, 2014

By Corianne Egan

...The volume growth (click here) comes despite barges traversing the seaway later than usual because of a lingering, harsh winter.  Grain volume the waterway was up 72 percent through August compared to the same time period of 2013, according to Seaway statistics. A total of just under 3.3 million tons were transported on the seaway.

"The USDA's forecast for near-historic yields of wheat, corn and soybeans is being proven accurate as nearly four times as much U.S. grain moved through Seaway locks this August compared to a year ago," the American Great Lakes Port Association said in a statement. "With total transits increasing monthly following a sluggish opening, the potential for the Seaway to out-do last year is on the horizon."

 BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway has struggled to deal with last year’s grain harvest, largely because of a backlog of cargo caused by a harsh winter and steadily rising demand. As the railroads work to restore network fluidity, some grain shippers worrying about continued delays have other options to get their products to port terminals. One of those options for some shippers is using inland waterways, like the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The six Great Lakes ports using the St. Lawrence Seaway — the Port of Oswego, New York, the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor in Indiana, the Port of Cleveland in Ohio, and the Michigan ports of Monroe, Muskegon and Detroit — all showed positive volume growth, accoridng to Seawway statistics. The Port of Oswego CEO Zelko Kirincich said the inland port is anticipating doubling the ports' usual grain shipments from the U.S. to Europe, especially since the port made improvements to its rail yard....

The USA needs to move forward with electricity as it's primary energy source as supplied by alternative methods.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 — The U.S.Maritime Administration (click here) has released a study on LNG bunkering contracted from DNV GL with the objective of analyzing existing LNG bunkering infrastructure, safety, regulations, and training, and identifying and recommending best practices.

In its introduction, the study says that, while LNG is an attractive fuel choice for many vessels, its use as a marine propulsion fuel is a relatively new concept in the U.S. and there are significant safety and regulatory gaps. In addition, there are several challenges related to the development of a national infrastructure for LNG bunkering.

Over the course of the study, DNV GL has made recommendations for specific audiences concerning standards and integration of LNG bunkering into U.S. maritime operations.

The study is divided into four sections that analyze the following topics: LNG bunkering infrastructure; LNG bunkering safety; regulations; and personnel training....

To begin an LNG method of energy in the USA is going to require huge changes to infrastructure and a lot of investment. The country already has it's electrical infrastructure and without much change alternatives can adapt quicker and with far less danger and delay. These type of facilities should have been built in the 1970s or 80s. They are an outdated idea that takes far too much investment and time to consider it as a viable option today or in the future. Alternatives will outpace this antiquated form of energy.

The idea natural gas is a better fuel for tankers is far too risky to the outcomes. The challenge before any country when it comes to trade and shipping is to realize the cost of goods escalates far too much to induce the return of domestic goods.

It is strange to realize how much is shipped between countries when the countries themselves have their own domestic workers that could be producing goods. The one country facing a great deal of peril as shipping costs escalate with the increase in fossil fuels is China. It is one of the reasons the best answer for the Chinese economy is to increase their domestic demand through better wages. For all the products produced in China it simply needs to develop it's own Middle Class to provide consumers.

That reality holds true for nearly every country to some extent. Domestic production of goods will begin to take shape as fossil fuels become too expensive and too dangerous. I just don't see shipping using LNG for the purpose of fuel. What I do see is less shipping and more domestic production.

The one product that will sustain transoceanic shipping costs are the high end car products. Most high end products will sustain with higher costs due to the increases in fuel.

The change in fuels used in shipping has to be safe enough for the US Coast Guard to respond. (click here)

The WTO needs to develop policies reflecting changes in the potential to shipping both in cost and emissions.

Global Container Terminal Operators Annual Review and Forecast report:
Global logistics ports could handle 840m teu a year by 2018 (click here)

The world’s logistics ports are expected to handle more than 840m teu a year by 2018 as annual growth rates continue to accelerate. Projected throughput four years from now compares with 642m teu in 2013 and 674m teu projected for this year.

The 2018 forecast is double that of the 2004 throughput figure of 363m teu.

The combination of faster traffic growth and strong profit levels is attracting aggressive new players to enter the container terminal-operator business, according to the 11th Global Container Terminal Operators Annual Review and Forecast report.

The report says that Africa and Greater China are the regions that will see the most rapid growth.

In total, growth rates are expected to average an annual 5.6% in the five years to 2018, compared with 3.4% in 2013. This is expected to boost average terminal utilisation from 67% today to 75% in 2018....

Currently, the projections of shipping globally are ridiculous. Before much longer the ships will be playing bumper cars at the ports. The increase in shipping is driving the increase in the demand of fuel of any kind and drives the price higher. The entire trend the global trading markets are on is unrealistic.

The cost of fuel and shipping will make the goods out of reach to the consumers it was intended. Wall Street. They always put out fires and dearly few envision a future. It is why the world has half the problems it has. The picture above is real today. There really should not be this much reliance on shipping. Every country needs to develop a domestic economy to increase a global economy. Every country needs to look realistically at their exports and decide what will sustain as exports and what won't. Secretaries and ministers of commerce need to see the future as an increase in domestic production when shipping is bound to escalate costs to their consumers.

Developing a Middle Class means it has to be sustained and not cast into poverty because their goods are imported rather than produced with the very job they hold. This entire global economy based in shipping where labor is cheapest to where consumers are the working poor is completely outrageous.

Welcome to the status of women in the USA.

I've been waiting for the focus of this video to change to the status of women in the USA not simply the inaction of the NFL. 

One in four women experience domestic violence in her lifetime and one in three murders of women is committed by a domestic partner.

And that is just the beginning...(click here)

September 9, 2014
By Hank Gola, Jason Molinet

...“We have spoken (click here) to multiple sources at Revel Casino, which of course is now closed, but we’ve spoken to people who were working there at the time,” Latibeaudiere said. “And we are assured that someone from the NFL — it wasn’t Roger Goodell walking in, we know that — but there were people from the NFL who came and saw the video. So now the question becomes how much of that information got back to Roger Goodell, and did he ever see an actual copy of the video?”...


Ms. Palmer and Mr. Rice need to separate and attend support groups for at least a year before endorsing their relationship further. That is the reality of domestic violence, it doesn't stop with one night of apologies. In the video she is seen poking him outside the elevator for what he was saying and then wasn't surprised at all when he continued his assault in the elevator. The domestic violence has a history.

When women in these circumstances face the fact they could become another homicide statistic they do move away from the abusive partner, but, where do they go with their children? They frequently face poverty and homelessness in the real world. In the case of Ms. Palmer, she has options and the potential for an attorney to find support for her while this transpires and the relationship can find peace between the two.

A verbal argument between two partners sets boundaries and provides the need for respect for the 'other' in ways not realized before, but, to have an argument escalate into abuse is quite another thing. Frequently, couples can 'kiss and make up' when they realize why their argument took place and go on with a happy relationship, but, violence is very different.

Domestic violence, as seen of Ms. Palmer by Mr. Rice, usually has a long history. This couple had problems with boundaries long before they devolved to this episode in a public elevator.

When women finally come to a woman's shelter in fear of their life and/or having realized how dangerous their relationship has become they still face recidivism and the return to a relationship that needs to be given a second, third or fourth chance. Women and men need to realize when relationships reach the point where verbal, physical and sexual abuse are a regular occurrence it is time to leave the relationship for at least a year. During that time each partner becomes a stronger person and more self-sufficient or the relationship will prove to be unable to sustain without the abuse.

The realization Utah was overpaid by $2 million might be the reason.

Prison ends wild horse program... (click here)

September 5, 2014
By Marissa Lang
...But BLM insisted Friday that not only had it done its part to support the program at the Gunnison prison in central Utah, but an audit last year revealed the federal government had overpaid Utah by about $2 million since the program’s introduction in April 2007.

Hanging in the balance of this disagreement are 1,126 horses and 11 to 17 inmates who care for the wild mustangs kept on a 40-acre parcel of prison land.

BLM has until Oct. 6 to remove the horses. The agency hasn’t yet determined where they’ll go — areas in Arizona, California and Nevada are being considered to house a majority of the mustangs.

About 50 will stay behind in Axtell, Utah, though the state has nearly 4,000 wild horses — more than double the number the BLM has designated as Utah’s upper limit....

Greenpeace takes on Citizen's United.

In only a matter of days (click here) — September 8 — the United States Senate will vote on a landmark constitutional amendment that would be the first step to overturn Citizens United and ensure that OUR DEMOCRACY IS NOT FOR SALE.

The amendment is simple. It would give We the People the ability to regulate and limit campaign spending by Big Business and the super-rich. It would mean a government that would represent our interests, not the interests of fossil fuel companies or the Koch brothers.

Momentum is building: As of right now, 50 out of 100 senators are on board.

We still have time to demonstrate our support for this bold effort to reclaim our democracy. The vote on this resolution is a vital first step for a constitutional amendment to end the influence of money in politics. 

Send a message to your Senator now to support of Senate Joint Resolution 19, to ensure that our lawmakers protect our voices from getting drowned out by big money.

The right wing so called Think Tanks like Cato are liars.

The shipping traffic on the West Coast has been disrupted to some extent by a Longshoreman's strike. They have since returned to work and there is of course ships to unload that may have been in line for awhile.

While the Longshoremen were on strike ship traffic was rerouted to Canada.

August 28, 2014
By Angelo Young

For months, (click here) representatives of about 20,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association and their employers have been negotiating a six-year labor contract. The lack of success in the talks, now more than three months old, is raising concerns about a possible strike or slowdown ahead of the economically important U.S. holiday shopping season. Those concerns, in turn, are driving an increasing number of shippers to seek alternatives to U.S. West Coast ports.

The best strike venue is to make the point of how important one is when the need for services is at a peak of business demand. This contract could have been settled a long time ago, but, that isn't the immediate point.

...But regardless of the alternative routes available in Canada, Mexico or through the Panama or Suez canals to the Eastern seaboard, the West Coast is the best current option for a great deal of U.S.-bound goods....

CATO is being opportunistic in stating every other country is better off than the USA for a variety of reasons. CATO is using the increased traffic into Canada as an excuse to make the argument the USA is a poor environment for business.

...Container ships sailing across (click here) the northern Pacific are carrying more cargo and are setting course for British Columbia to avoid delays from a possible strike by U.S. West Coast longshoremen. Traffic in Prince Rupert soared 49 percent in July from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence, while volume dropped 19 percent in Seattle, its nearest major U.S. rival.

Canadian ports are gaining an advantage over their U.S. rivals amid an economic recovery that’s increasing container volumes from East Asia. While U.S. West Coast ports are mired in a labor dispute and congestion hobbles local railways, Prince Rupert is winning customers with its shorter sailing times from China and efficient infrastructure that can whisk freight to the U.S. Midwest and beyond....

If CATO wants to make an argument make it with THE FACTS and not the culture of fear. The FACTS are obvious, American ports provide exceptional service and while Mexico and Canada provides service, the transportation costs across borders and added fuel from the added distance causes the cost of imports to increase. The USA ports have nothing to fear and I wish the right wing would get their act straightened out so they don't make false political points for the sake of invoking fear of the people of the USA.

The USA's market place is a wealth to any company importing goods. The cost of doing business including taxes to domestic companies is returned to them a hundred times over. No USA company pays 35% corporate tax.

Now while the USA Tax Code needs to be STRENGTHENED so companies like Burger King can't circumvent the US Treasury there is no reason for tax giveaways to anyone. There are also loopholes to close. But, to imply the USA has a tax code hostile to business and that is what is causing all this traffic to Canada is a pure unadulterated lie. If the USA tax code was so very bad for business than why are there loopholes?

Americans weren't born yesterday, they were just deceived from knowing the facts and act with concern, in that, is political pressure for them to vote against their best interests. CATO should be ashamed of themselves and quite frankly according to this article, they are an inferior source of research. 

City vs Wall Street

The City of Missoula's (click here) legal expenses are running ahead of projections in its quest to take over Mountain Water Co.
    
The city is suing the Carlyle Group, a global equity firm that owns the company, to take it over under eminent domain. Trial is set for March 2015.
    
The Missoulian reports (http://bit.ly/1qsTBfk ) that Mayor John Engen had estimated this spring that the city would pay $400,000 in legal fees for both the city and the company. Missoula had planned to spend a total of $4.24 million on the condemnation....

The people of Missoula want to own their own water supply. They want to direct it's quality and availability. They believe it is there right to own an entire city's water supply. I believe they are correct. One of the basic needs of any person is water and to that end there should never be a profit motivated Wall Street company directing a town's water use. So now, Carlyle the company that brought you insecurity in your own use of mobile devices, wants to run up expenses for Missoula as an incentive to end the legal action by the people of the city. That isn't going to happen and Missoula has the right of eminent domain to secure a water supply for it's citizens.

Carlyle should graciously take the offer of $50 million as a good offering before Missoula takes Mountain Water for far less.

USA Citizens have to stop being fools.

For years now Homeland Security (click here) daily reports look like a newspaper. On any given day some sectors state "Nothing to report."

There ought to be a law or at least a convention.

I don't recall any United Nations' Convention declaring crimes against humanity when any media service inflames war for political purposes. I know genocide and media that directs such activity is called into question, but, the issue the USA faces is different. The USA media promotes problems to the public that demands military action whether or not it is a legitimate threat to the USA.

In the case if IS/IS/L there is no legitimate reason for a USA war, but, the USA media services have engaged in a culture of fear campaign to drive the political system to engage in killing people. I sincerely believe the USA law which provides for preemptive actions is a crime against humanity. In this case it is driven by the USA's media.

Insurgents, armed gang members, pirates, terrorists (click here) - they can all multiply their force through the use of unlawfully acquired firepower. The illicit circulation of small arms, light weapons and their ammunition destabilizes communities, and impacts security and development in all regions of the world.

While the Syrian civil war is tragic, when the USA engaged in arming so called rebels it caused a greater problem of which leads the USA to a war of it's own creation. It is this incideous game the USA conducts in attempting to destabilize a governance which is of no threat to the USA that requires scrutiny to it's outcome. 

It is well known the USA media was selling the idea that the people of Syria needed to take down the Assad regime. That in and of itself has caused problems for Americans, including journalists, that had gone there captured in the USA's press moralizing of war with Assad. It is also well know the leaders of IS/IS/L (some of which are former Iraq Baathists) took Syrian oil and sold it to purchase American weapons from recognized opposition leaders. The entire USA media focus on 'selling' war is more than problematic, it is an attack on USA sovereignty when it grows a threat against the people of the USA. The media encourages political dogma to cause certain outcomes in American elections. That dogma is never about peace, it is always about war. War for the USA garners wealth and the media services are owned by stockholders demanding returns on their investments.

The CDC is concerned the new entrovirus now limited to the Midwest is just the tip of the iceberg.

I think this means no play dates for awhile.

September 7, 2014

...In Kansas City, (click here) about 450 children were recently treated at Children's Mercy Hospital, and at least 60 of them received intensive hospitalization, spokesman Jake Jacobson said.

"It's worse in terms of scope of critically ill children who require intensive care. I would call it unprecedented. I've practiced for 30 years in pediatrics, and I've never seen anything quite like this," said Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, the hospital's division director for infectious diseases.

More than 900 children have gone to Children's Hospital Colorado emergency and urgent care locations since August 18 for treatment of severe respiratory illnesses, including enterovirus and viral infections, hospital spokeswoman Melissa Vizcarra told CNN. Of those, 86 have been sick enough to be admitted to the Aurora facility.

"This is the worst I've seen in my time here at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children," Dr. Raju Meyeppan told the outlet. "We're going to have a pretty busy winter at this institution and throughought the hospitals of Denver."...

There is no place for the USA in this.

The Saudi regime’s top Wahhabi cleric (click here) has newly called on “Muslims” to confront the "oppressive" ISIL Takfiri terrorist group, amid growing suspicions that major funding and support for the Wahhabi-inspired terror group originates from Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf Arab allies.

"This group is aggressive and oppressive. It sheds blood," declared Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh as cited in local Arabic language media outlets.

"If they fight Muslims, then Muslims must fight them to rid people and religion of their evil and harm," he reportedly said in a response to a request from an Iraqi for a fatwa or edict on fighting the Takfiri terrorists.

"They have been killing ever since they began their fight. Their killing is filled with mutilations and hideousness that distort (the image of) Muslims," Sheikh asserted many months after the terror group engaged in massive atrocities and terror acts in Syria as well as Iraq, further threatening to infiltrate into Lebanon.

The official Saudi cleric also described the ISIL as “enemy number-one” of Islam on August 19, noting that extremism, radicalism, and terrorism have nothing to do with the holy religion.

In late August, meanwhile, reports said the ISIL terrorists were planning to launch an attack against the Saudis during Eid al-Adha (the Feast of Sacrifice), which marks the culmination of the annual Hajj pilgrimage....

The IS name is not trademarked to be so. Now this is really going to confuse western media. It's another Obamacare issues.

(CNSNews.com) – Stand by for a new acronym (click here) for the ISIS/ISIL terrorist group causing havoc across Syria and Iraq.

One of the Arab world’s top Sunni authorities launched a campaign Sunday urging media to drop all names for the group that incorporate the word “Islamic,” in favor of “al-Qaeda separatists in Iraq and Syria” (QSIS).

Dar al-Iftaa (“the House of Fatwas”) in Cairo, headed by Egyptian grand mufti Shawki Ibrahim Allam, has launched an Internet-based campaign aimed at distancing Islam from the group known variously as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham, or simply Islamic State.

The campaign includes the launching of a Facebook page entitled “Call it Qa’ida Separatists not Islamic State,” and calling for people to post messages or video clips opposing ISIS terrorism....

Hm? Is ISIL's flag a religious symbol?

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi (click here) vowed to legally pursue a number of protesters who set ablaze a flag for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The minister said in a statement issued by his press office that the ISIL flag has the first pillar of Islam (Ashahada) written on it, which is the testimony that there is no God except for Allah and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah.

Several people were seen in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh Sassine Square burning the flag of ISIL earlier in the day.

Rifi slammed the burning of the flag, which “is not related to ISIL and its terrorist course.”

He filed a request to General Prosecutor Samir Hammoud to pursue the assailants and detain them in order to prosecute them.

“This demeanor insults religions and could incite sedition,” Rifi considered.

Meanwhile, Mufti of Tripoli and the North Sheikh Malek al-Shaar revealed that he made contacts and concluded that the Sassine Square incident was “an individual act that has no political backgrounds.”

But “we strongly deplore attacks against religious symbols, regardless of which sect they represented,” he stressed....

Oh, Iraq actually has it's own air force, it simply couldn't or wouldn't use it.

1. On Sunday evening, (click here) BBC reports that Iraqi fighter jets bombed the villages of al-Riyadh and al-Nirab in the vicinity of Hawija, north Iraq, leaving 14 dead and 10 wounded. Hawija is a largely Sunni Arab town near the city of Kirkuk (Kirkuk is controlled now by the Kurdistan Peshmerga paramilitary). The Baghdad government, which is dominated by Shiite Arabs, has a substantial advantage over extremist ISIL fighters in having fighter jets and helicopter gunships, but has not successfully deployed them against the violent gang since it took over northern and western Iraq in June. Presumably the ability of Baghdad to scramble jets and hit these villages, putting pressure on ISIL to withdraw further from the Kurdish front, has to do with the hundreds of US special forces troops that President Obama has sent to Baghdad, since some must be trainers trying to get Iraqi pilots up to speed. Assuming that the jets actually bombed ISIL positions and did not just manage to kill civilians, this bombing raid represents an upping of the Baghdad military’s game.

The USA has no right to declare war with Syria or otherwise. Since when does NATO have authority to declare war with any other country than on behalf of its members?

The President and NATO can't make up the rules as they go along. The sixty some participants in the recent meetings from the Middle East are organizing to defeat IS/IS/L. 

There is no basis for any country to invade Syria other than Iraq. This is a Syrian civil war that spilled over the Syrian border. Iraq has no significant military and/or government so what does anyone expect. Every other country in the area is secure. There has been no problem with other countries.

Americans traveling abroad is their right. If there is concern about Americans traveling to Syria and fighting a war that is treason by constitutional definition and they can be jailed and tried.

...According to the U.S. code, (click here) any citizen who "enlists or enters himself, or hires or retains another to enlist or enter himself, or to go beyond the jurisdiction of the United States with intent to be enlisted or entered in the service of any foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people as a soldier or as a marine or seaman ... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both." But a court ruling from 1896 involving U.S. citizens who fought with Cuban revolutionaries against Spanish colonial rule interpreted this to mean that it was only illegal for citizens to be recruited for a foreign army in the United States, not to simply fight in one. (Note to Libya's National Transitional Council: It probably wouldn't be wise to set up a recruiting station on the UCLA campus in hopes of attracting more fighters.)...

The difference with Syria is the USA took actions to remove chemical weapons from Syria. At this point a jihadist from the USA who claims to be fighting in Syria on behalf of the people but at the same time killing in the methodology of genocide is not only acting against USA policy but international law.

21-year-old university student from Los Angeles, has had quite the summer vacation. He informed family and friends that he was heading off to Cairo, but then crossed into Libya and spent the last few weeks fighting with the anti-Qaddafi rebels.

Any structured government has stamps when a traveler passes into their country. Entrance to the USA from overseas requires a walk through customs and otherwise. There is no reason why Homeland Security cannot stop travelers and check their passport for the entrance pass to countries where flight allows travelers to enter Syria, Libya or any other jihadist area.

In order for the Executive Branch and/or Congress can authorize American soldiers to war they have to have damn good reason not simply political dogma.
The media has been pushing war so intensely even Rand Paul states it may be a good idea to send USA military into Syria. That was amazing. 

This push for American war is due to the potentials of the 2016 elections. The political environment is better for Republicans, ie: November 2014, if there is war or the threat of war. This so called 'reason to war' is a media war against the President and his party. It is all political so long as the American people perceive danger to their lives. It is long well known the USA media prefers Republicans in office.

In a Friday post, (click here) American Prospect blogger Paul Waldman didn’t predict who will win the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, but he did predict that two potential candidates, Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz, won’t....
...Jeb's problem is that the party's threshold keeps moving right, and the very fact of his Bushness, plus the fact that he is indeed (at least in people's perception) the "establishment candidate," means that he'd probably have to campaign in a tricorner hat and get a picture of Sarah Palin tattooed on his neck to convince Tea Partiers they can trust him. I could be wrong, but I just don't think he has it in him. 

Rove has been running the same game against Democrats that he and Bush/Cheney did at the time of 911.

In February, (click here) Republican strategist Karl Rove chastised President Barack Obama for ignoring “his own Bowles-Simpson deficit commission” and making “no effort to reduce the long-term debt burden.”

Now Crossroads GPS, the political group for which Rove serves as senior adviser, is running advertisements attacking Democrats who did support Simpson-Bowles. It is an unsurprising but depressing episode of political opportunism — and an apt illustration of why hard things don’t get done in Washington.

One of the reasons the post 911 propaganda worked so well is because the people of the country were chronically bombarded by contradictory messages.
"The USA is under threat, but, go enjoy the country and vacation and spend money with abandon." Same exact thing and the Democrats fell for it. Basically, the Democrats are indulging in politics rather than policy. They are being hazed into political positions and then having the tables turned on them. 

...On Oct. 10, 2002, Hoeffel voted in favor of the invasion. (click here) Within a year, he wished he had voted the opposite way.

It turned out Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. It turned out Bush and Cheney, along with their high-profile civilian and military advisers, had misled Hoeffel and the rest of the U.S. citizenry. Countless Americans and Iraqis and human beings from other nations would die over the next decade because Hoeffel and his fellow politicians had authorized an invasion based on specious grounds.

In the introduction to his book, Hoeffel admits: "I was both misled and wrong." Then, in unambiguous language, he explains why he has published a book, years after leaving the House, and with a Democrat in the White House.

"I don't want George W. Bush and his people to get away with it," he writes. Citing recent public statements by Cheney about a desire to invade Iraq again, Hoeffel wants truth to prevail circa 2014. In addition, Hoeffel wants to counteract, however minimally, the book-length memoirs by Bush administration decision-makers parading "their absolute refusal to admit that they distorted and manipulated the intelligence [from Iraq] to bolster their case for war."...

It is all about Republican politics and their culture of fear. 

Waldman’s peg was a Wall Street Journal report that Jeb’s “closest advisers” have asked GOP donors and operatives to “avoid committing to other possible presidential candidates until [Jeb] decides” after the midterms whether he’s going to run. 

Has Jeb decided?

George P. Bush, (click here) the son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush and grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, will speak at a Latino Memphis event Tuesday.

His son is already out stumping for him. P. Bush is a land supervisor or some darn thing in Texas, what is he doing addressing the Latin American group in Tennessee?

Just because Great Britain, as an ally, is deciding to war with Syria/Iraq doesn't mean war mongering doesn't fit into their politics either. 

LONDON: RAF Hercules aircraft (click here) dropped 14 tonnes of food and water on the besieged Iraqi town of Amerli on Saturday night, the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, has said as he confirmed that Britain is keeping open the option of joining US air strikes against Isil militants.

Fallon, who pointed out that the RAF has transported arms to Kurdish forces fighting jihadists from Isil, said Britain welcomed the US air strikes and said ministers would consider any request from the Iraqi government to join in further action.

The British government has decided to rule out definitively sending combat ground troops to Iraq, a position ministers are making clear in public. But they are leaving the door open to joining air strikes against Isis forces by saying they have no plans to do so at the moment and have not received a request to do so.