It is 2014, does the USA know what it's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency doing?

The MIT cheetah-bot in Killian Court

September 16, 2014
By Jessica Orwig

DARPA's (click here) made all types of robots, from "Big Dog" to "Wild Cat," and soft robots to flying robots. Their latest creepy invention is a robotic "cheetah" that can run, bound, and jump obstacles in its path all while running on a quiet electric motor, giving the robot its stealthy cat-like quality....

Just when Americans are as threatened by the reality of drones flying in Homeland Skies, comes Star Wars. No, not the Reagan Star Wars, the Darth Vader Star Wars.

September 15, 2014
By Eric Mack

Prepare yourself for a future filled (click here) with real-life pew pew! The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is working with Lockheed Martin to test "a new beam control turret... to give 360-degree coverage for high-energy laser weapons operating on military aircraft."

In other words, it stuck a primitive (by rebel standards) "Star Wars"-style laser cannon on a fighter jet and flew it over Michigan eight times.

"These initial flight tests validate the performance of our ABC turret design," Lockheed's Doug Graham said. in a release....

The USA is actually attempting to perfect a laser to destroy. A laser. Shot from a jet. It could even be mounted on a jet that can fly at near light speed.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 15, 2014 – Lockheed Martin (click here) [NYSE: LMT], in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the University of Notre Dame, has demonstrated the airworthiness of a new beam control turret being developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and AFRL to give 360-degree coverage for high-energy laser weapons operating on military aircraft. A research aircraft equipped with the Aero-adaptive Aero-optic Beam Control (ABC) turret conducted eight flights in Michigan....

At any point in time does the military industrial complex of the USA see human flesh as anything besides an enemy?

Jesus Christ! 

A laser! 

Why!

When non-proliferation treaties are signed and IBM treaties are signed, the citizens of the USA find comfort in knowing some of the worst instruments of war are now out of reach of their military. This so called advancement in military science is a travesty to this country when Americans want nothing more than peace and the elimination of the hatred that develops into war. 

There needs to be a United Nations convention to limit the 'invasive' nature of war. The USA has drones and uses them to hunt human beings. It is removing the human component to war and substituting machines that treat the so called enemy as an ant hill.

The USA runs rescue missions all the time. The question is not whether a downed pilot would be rescued. The question is would a downed pilot be alive?

August 20, 2014
By Tom Vanden Brook

Washington — U.S. ground troops (click here) attempted but failed to rescue several American hostages in Syria, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.

"This operation involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network within" territory controlled by the militant group Islamic State, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location."

The rescue attempt involved U.S. special operations forces who killed several militants during the raid, according to a Defense Department official briefed on the rescue attempt but not authorized to speak about details on the record. One U.S. pilot suffered minor wounds during the mission....

One might ask where the USA special ops received their information AND how did the rebels holding the journalists KNOW the USA special ops were coming?

Happenstance? No. If Dempsey accepts the explanation of happenstance, then his intelligence sucks and/or he has leaks he can't stop. Either way, any general accepting happenstance as a reality for our military, then he damn well better not deploy them!

One of the problems the USA always runs into, including in Afghanistan, are insiders that inform the rebels/Taliban (Green on Blue Attacks). There is no way of securing American forces in any of the current venues.

Where is the outrage of the US Senate now? Where is the investigation? Nowhere? I am not surprised.

"...immigrates coming to the USA is the lowest in the past four years..."

Mexican President Felipe Calderon (click here for video - thank you) speaks to the "Early Show" anchors about the drug war, labor and immigration, and the ongoing partnership between Mexico and the U.S.

April 28, 2013
By Mollie Reilly

...Former President George W. Bush (click here) rejected a request from former Mexican President Felipe Calderon to use armed drones to curb the growing influence of drug cartels, the Washington Post reported Saturday.

In a story examining the United States' role in the intelligence war against Mexico's drug cartels, the Post's Dana Priest detail show Calderon reached out to Bush for help ahead of his 2006 inauguration. Bush agreed to commit U.S. resources to help with the growing problem, launching the $1.9 billion Merida Initiative to combat the violence resulting from the drug trade.

However, Bush reportedly drew the line at providing Calderon with armed drones to carry out strikes on the cartels....

December 21, 2011

By William Booth

In the dead of night, (click here) from a trailer humming with surveillance monitors, a pilot for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency was remotely flying a Predator drone more than 1,000 miles away.

From an altitude of 15,000 feet, over the desert ranchlands of Arizona, the drone’s all-seeing eyeball swiveled and powerful night-vision infrared cameras zeroed in on a pickup truck rattling along a washboard road.

“Hey, where’s that guy going?” the mission controller asked the drone’s camera operator, who toggled his joystick, glued to the monitors like a teenager with a Christmas morning Xbox....

August 29, 2014

By Elisa Foley

WASHINGTON -- National Guard troops (click here) deployed to the border in Texas are visiting a food bank because they can't afford food and gas ahead of their Sept. 5 payday, according to a report Friday by local station Action 4 News and a state senator.

Action 4 News reported that a Rio Grande Valley food bank had been contacted about 50 Texas National Guard troops who needed assistance. The troops are reimbursed for their meals, but pay for them upfront, stretching the finances of some troops who were called to southern Texas earlier this month to address an increase in unaccompanied minors crossing the border illegally.

State Rep. René O. Oliveira, a Democrat, called the situation "heartbreaking," and offered to buy meals for troops serving near his district in Brownsville, Texas.

"These brave men and women have apparently been sent on a mission without accommodating for their most basic needs," he said in a statement. "We need to find immediate solutions for these hungry soldiers."...

August 24, 2014

By Jeremy Schwartz

...According to spokeswoman (click here) Lt. Col. Joanne MacGregor, a “proactive” family assistance coordinator “contacted the Rio Grande Valley food bank to see what resources were potentially available.”

The Guard said it had identified 50 service members who, because of their early August start date, weren’t going to be paid until Sept. 5.

None of those 50 troops have notified leaders that they had used the food bank, officials said.

According to the Guard, troops receive one meal while on duty, plus a $32 per diem food reimbursement that is included in their paychecks....

September 16, 2014

By Brieanna Lee

...The Perryman Group, (click here) an economic analysis firm based in Waco, Texas, studied past deployments of National Guard troops along the southern Texas border to project the potential economic impact of the 1,000 troops Perry ordered there in July. For each year the National Guard troops remain along the border, the group said, businesses in Texas’s Lower Rio Grande Valley would lose $541.9 million in gross product and 7,830 jobs. On a wider scale, the state of Texas would lose 8,680 jobs and $650 million in gross product per year....

So let me get this right.

Fox (click here) has a new way to scare its old white audience: Not just drug mules but terrorists are coming up from Mexico.

It is anyone guess as to how much money US has been spent on Southern Border security, but, there are IS/IS/L militants coming across the border like water through a sieve.

....Richard: You referred in your opening statement to the cost of the fence. (click here)

Jacobs: It is impossible to pin down exactly, but there are some estimates. In a 2007 study the non-partisan Congressional Research Office pegged the bill to construct and maintain (for 25 years) a 700 mile fence to be $49 billion. This is the same type of double fences contemplated in today’s bill. That was six years ago…..materials and labor prices have increased and then there is my “law of government”……..things always take longer and cost more, usually much more, than they tell us. So what’s the cost today….you pick a number....

There are young people in the USA because of President Obama's protection of the dreamers that have traveled to the southern fence to visit with their relatives. But, the relatives can't get across the into the USA. There are innumerable Border Patrol and National Guard at this point, but, terrorists are able to cross the border. 

There is a Mexican President intent on ending the drug cartels terrorizing reign over his country with the assistance of the USA and yet there are many border crossings. There are tunnels closed and semi-submarines spotted by the US Coast Guard. 

Yet absolutely nothing has stopped the very tricky IS/IS/L. Wow. FOX offers no concrete evidence except the speculation of the new substitute for the celebrity Joe Arpaio, in Sheriff Gary Painter.

If Sheriff Painter wants to be invited to speak at fund raisers as his pier Arpaio he is going to have to do better than that. He needs to catch one. I would think a lawman would know that, but, in the Land of FOX nothing matters except the defaming of the USA to bring terror to it's viewers. Yes, defaming the USA. I can't imagine a media service that defames the USA in more anti-American rants than FOX. This is just one example.

Besides all the government services at work at the southern border of the USA, the Rio Grande has been receiving nothing but rain. This begins today on September 16, 2014. If you don't believe me than look it up yourself. 

With chronic rain at the Rio Grande I would not expect anyone crossing anytime soon. Do the American people ever think for themselves? Ever?

Currently the Rio Grande is nearing flood stage. 

The current level of the Rio Grande is 8.7 feet with a flow rate of about 5 KCFS (Thousands of Cubic Feet Per Second). Sheriff Painter should attempt to swim the Rio Grande from one bank to another and demonstrate exactly where and how anyone made it across. At least it would be some PROOF to the possibility.

You can take your generational war and shove it right up you ass.

The Bush Betrayal by James Bovard 
Page 287 - 288

"Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) urged the Bush Administration to "start realistically exploring" the draft to help fight "a generational war" against terrorism."

The instinct of people in warning of global heating is correct. The ice isn't simply a block of rock in the sea, it is a thermostat for Earth.

People understand the loss of Earth's thermostat is not only sad, but, is actually extremely tragic.

We don't belong in Iraq.

We never did.

How do you think about Iran? I know how I think about it.

After the implosion of the Soviet Union, which was a good thing, the USA was the remaining superpower. That goes back a ways before China started its military hardware build up and Russia sought to try to rebuild. But, the view of the USA being the sole superpower in the world, was viewed differently by those seeking peace globally and the Neocons.

Most people in the world, including that of NATO saw a victory for peace when the USSR fell. But, there were those within the borders of the USA, not the majority of people by any means, that saw something different. The Neocons saw power. 

To the Neocons, "...interests of the USA..." had only one meaning and that was invasion of sovereign nations including that of nuclear military capacity. That is where the self-righteous found the reason to enter Iraq causing all the destruction in the region. 

In China and Russia there were those that viewed the exclusivity of the USA in having incredible destructive capacity as a global threat. The two countries signed the Friendship Agreement of 2000. So China and Russia are now the global superpowers that can defeat the USA. During the Bush administration Russia and China were very interested in building alliances throughout the world, including South America and near border countries in the Caribbean.

When the USA picks and chooses its friends it does so in anticipation of a global strategy. 

There were no American hostages that were met with death during the Iran Hostage Crisis that occurred within the Carter Administration. The hostages were there to insure the USA would not do something stupid like calling a war with Iran. It is now decades later and the USA hasn't changed it's position on Iran. It is time to do that and stop treating Iran as a hostage between two regions of USA occupation.

Afghanistan if to be occupied by the USA would be its foothold into Asia. There is a reason why these wars have lasted as long as they have and why, still today, are more fluid than sovereign. The Neocons haven't finished their global war yet. Remember? "The global war on terror," even when the US Supreme Court and the Iran Study Group stated there is no such thing as a war on terror.

The Taliban are back in Afghanistan. Where is Abdullah Abdullah when you need him?

September 15, 2014

By Masoud Popalzai, Holly Yan, and Josh Levs

...Two were U.S. military personnel, (click here) and the third was Polish, a U.S. defense official said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing targeting a convoy of foreign forces in the Afghan capital, the militant group's spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said....

The Taliban are finite in number. We learned that when they left Pakistan to return to Afghanistan. A well lead Afghan military can protect their land from the Taliban extremists. Afghanistan should maintain a strong military alliance with a well founded Pakistan and India military to coordinate efforts when necessary on their borders. India frequently finds itself involved with Jammu and Kashmir. Understanding that and it's impact on the sovereign stability of Pakistan is important.

This is the challenge to the region which will ultimately include Iran, China and former Soviet countries.

The map to the right is the tribal lands and the greatest threat to the region. It is a known region that creates instability and armed conflict.

The USA chronically dismisses entire countries in a regional strategy to end extremists and secure citizens, such as Iran. That is indescribably stupid.

The leaders in this region need to find their best footing to protect borders and move past the lack of policy by the USA. Early in the "W" White House, President Karzai attempted a conference with Iran and the USA to provide stability to the country. It was "W" that refused the conference. Afghanistan has a very long border with Iran and cannot exist without sound policy between the two countries.

The reason "W" refused the conference was because of his priority to assist the next war into the region. The USA divides these regions into good guys and bad guys. That is not the case and the fact of the matter is Afghanistan should have strong policy to govern borders with both Pakistan and Iran.

Before 2001 the USA had a policy against torture, jailing that employs poor human conditions, child labor and environmental standards. The USA was not in the habit of disturbing sovereign stability so much as crafting policy and USA assistance that brought about change to the people.

As usual Senator Inhofe's speech from the Senate chamber is "W"rong.

Considering the Bush family is making family portraits with candidates for office Inhofe would lie to suit Republican cronies and priorities.

George W. Bush had clear warnings from both the FBI and CIA regarding al Qaeda. The FBI was tracking Moussaoui and the CIA in a PDB reported "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US." The facts were available and never once did the Executive Branch of the "W" administration care to put the facts together to determine and prevent the attacks of 9/11/01.

The truth of September 11, 2001 was that while the Senate Intelligence Committee was taking the announcement by the CIA seriously in realizing the attacks would happen within three months, then Vice President Cheney wasn't concerned and stated they would not be reviewing the CIA priorities for six months. In that the Executive Branch of the USA provided a path of danger to the citizens of the USA. End of discussion. The facts are clear and the outcomes more than noteworthy.

The Republicans continue to advance their priorities in face of the facts and it begins with Inhofe. Continuing the "W" administration through President Obama's presidency and into the political campaign of 2016 is a strategy. September 11, 2001 is 15 years ago, nearly a generation of time. The rest of the world has moved on, but, since the loss of the Executive Branch in 2008 by the Republicans they have done nothing but act as a place holder. The Republicans have refused to allow the USA to move beyond that day and it is time it stopped.

We have been here before.

There is no clear indication to whom is being trained and whom isnot. The Syrian rebels trained will only serve to go their own way once they are introduced to the mix in Syria. 

The default setting with Iraq and Syria is to back the Bush dogma.

Paris: President Fuad Masum of Iraq (click here) urged world powers on Monday to take the fight against Islamist militants who have occupied much of his country to neighbouring Syria.

“We must not allow them to have sanctuaries,” Masum said at the opening of an international conference on helping Iraq respond to the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). “We must pursue them wherever they are.”

The more than a dozen nations that participated in the conference later issued a statement pledging their support for the new Iraqi government in its fight against Isil, including military assistance.

But no fresh pledges of military aid were announced, and the statement did not commit any of the nations to take military action inside Syria.

We never worried when the former Soviet Union imploded, why Iraq?

Why?

Because Iraq is the next best strategy for elections in the USA by the Republicans.

ISTANBUL: Turkey (click here) would welcome exiled leaders of Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood who have come under pressure to leave Qatar, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
A Brotherhood official said on Saturday that several members of the group were relocating after Qatar came under enormous pressure from other Gulf Arab states to cut support for the Islamist group.
“If they make any request to come to Turkey, we will review their request,” Erdogan was told reporters on his plane back from an official trip to Qatar late on Monday.
“If there are any reasons that would prevent them from coming to Turkey, they would be assessed. And if there aren’t any obstacles, they would be granted the ease that is granted to everyone,” he said.

The Arab League takes a stand to eliminate danger to their countries and Turkey provides a safe haven for the Brotherhood. Well, that is a new wrinkle in any plans. If Turkey welcomes the Brotherhood, why not PKK?

The war on the so-called Islamic State (IS) (click here) and other terrorist organizations should continue for 10 years, said Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal on Monday. 
Addressing a conference on Iraq, Prince Saud cautioned world leaders that the threat posed by IS has transcended the boundaries of Iraq and Syria. “We see that the planned structure to fight IS should continue for at least 10 years to eradicate this hateful phenomenon.” 
The chief Saudi diplomat explained: “It has become a danger, threatening everybody, and as such, should be jointly confronted.” 

The USA is not on the same page as the Arab League, nor would it seem their own allies, especially Turkey.

The Council of Ministers (click here) has prioritized housing, jobs and an increased standard of living for citizens in its 10th Five-Year Development Plan from 2015 to 2020.
The 24-point plan approved at its meeting on Monday, includes efforts to preserve Islamic values and teachings, promote national unity and consolidate the Kingdom’s identity, said Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja after the Cabinet meeting.
The plan aims to strengthen the Kingdom’s economy and promote its growth, stability and competitiveness. “It also aims to enhance institutional reforms, support civil institutions and raise the efficiency and productivity of state agencies and their employees,” Khoja said.

Saudi Arabia has always insured its national security to it's citizens. The Kingdom has it's own terrorist watch list and acts on it to remove these dangerous people from their society. There are arrests every year that remove dangerous people from the streets of the kingdom. It is this strategy that works the best and the Saudis have it mastered. I am sure King Abdullah will be sharing that domestic policy with the other nations participating in the regional strategy against extremists.

Saudi Arabia has five year plans for improvements within it's infrastructure and its society. It is only correct the Saudis would seek to institute protections for the kingdom over 5 year increments.

More than 30 international television channels (click here) will participate in a major awareness campaign to educate Muslims globally on the danger posed by the Islamic State terrorist organization that has taken over swaths of land in Iraq and Syria and killed hundreds of innocent people.
Islamic scholars from Saudi Arabia, Europe and other countries will take part in the weeklong campaign, which will be launched in Riyadh on Sept. 18, to caution the public against extremism and how terrorist organizations distort Islamic teachings.
Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said criminal organizations in the Arab world posed a major threat to Islam. “They are the first enemy of Islam,” he said in a Twitter message.

The Saudi King is brilliant. King Abdullah is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. He has dedicated his life to his people and the faith that binds them. I am not at all surprised to have the Saudi Kingdom turn it's ability in communication with people to that of promoting the faith as it should be worshiped.

It is a fact the Islamic State (IS/IS/L) has mastered communication with people outside their own territory to garner a greater impact. They use mass media to recruit fighters as reinforcements while promising them riches they can only dream of having. The Islamic State is by far the most sophisticated group of killers assembled to date according to the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The Saudis will control that wayward influence and undo whatever damage has been done. 

Saudi Arabia is not under direct threat from the Islamic State because it has An Albar as a neighbor and to date An Albar still stands autonomously.

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia and nine other Arab states (click here)Arab states agreed Thursday to join a coordinated military campaign against Islamic State militants who have seized parts of Iraq and Syria to try to create a jihadist hub at the heart of the Arab world.

“The participating states agreed to do their share in the comprehensive fight” against IS, said a statement at the conclusion of a meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Arab counterparts.

In addition to Saudi Arabia, the other Arab states are Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Although Turkey was represented in the meeting, it was not mentioned in the final communique and a Turkish government official said Ankara has refused to take part in combat against the militants....

All these nations are stable sovereign authorities to protect their people in the best way possible. They understand the territory far better than any Western authority could hope to understand. I trust them to decide their future path of protection of their countries that is obviously different than that proposed by the USA.

The BEST venue OPEN to the USA is to support these autonomous nations and offer TRAINING to their military soldiers NOT rebels in Syria.

In training soldiers/units in sovereign nations it provides them with a far stronger military with capabilities to remove extremists from the lands of the region. I would never believe a rebel group and it's words of praise to the USA as McCain chronically does and creates more problems rather than solves them.

Iraq is too fluid a circumstance to back any more training of soldiers within the borders of the former Iraq. While the Arab League welcomes the new Prime Minister of Iraq, the country cannot promise a stable situation to empower it's military to protect it's borders yet expect them to remove extremists in Syria.

The USA had to put boots on the ground in order to have any Iraqi forces to fight for a collective country. The USA demanded a new Baghdad government in order to direct the Iraqi military to act as a unit. That is not a stable sovereign country.

By bringing the sovereign nations of the region together with promises to help with training and other needs there will be limits on the extremists in Syria and otherwise. It is not the USA purview to protect these countries from further degradation as noted in the former Iraq. The USA can only seek intelligence to assist these nations. It is up to them to protect their borders and end extremism within their countries. They have a direct and quite frankly personal interest to protect and act together. Building this "authority to cooperate" is where the USA's interests should exist. Supporting humanitarian measures to Syria and ending the flow of weapons to Syria will bring about the best outcomes.

Jordan currently and proudly supports massive numbers of Syrian refugees. Jordan needs not only the military support of the USA for the region, but, also humanitarian support for the refugee camps.

August 30, 2014
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (click here) 
called them weapons of mass destruction - small arms are responsible for the majority of violent deaths worldwide. The German army is now trying to limit their proliferation....

Backing rebel forces in Syria is extremely dangerous and it should be denied by the USA Congress. 

The fight against extremists in the region belongs to it's leaders. Americans are not welcome in the region as they only have caused greater problems with the invasion of Iraq. Every leader in the region is aware of the foolish priorities of the USA in occupation of these lands. The reason the leaders haven't moved to protect their countries up to now is because the USA chronically dominates the lands with it's own priorities. The entire region has a wealth of leadership that understands their people and can prove guidance and potential military intervention where needed. I think the USA successfully brought alarm to the region and now it is time for their leaders to actually lead and not simply considered a figure head by the USA.

Pakistan

1 hour ago
By Khalid Hasnain,  Majeed Gill, Malik Tehseen

LAHORE/MUZAFFAR­GARH/BAHAWALPUR: 

After inundating over 60 per cent area of Muzaffargarh tehsil, (click here) the violent waves of Chenab River are now posing a threat to rural areas of Jatoi and Alipur tehsils in Muzaffargarh district.

The water discharge at Panjnad headworks in Bahawalpur district was rising, but the flow of 413,000 cusecs (35.3 cusecs = 1 cubic meter/second) recorded at 9pm on Monday was stated to be within manageable limits. Irrigation authorities posted at the headworks said that a breach in the right marginal dyke, as anticipated earlier, might not be required.

“We expect that the pick will not be more than 450,000 cusecs before the water falls into the Indus River. And in Indus, there will be a maximum flood of about 500,000 cusecs that will pass Guddu and Sukkur barrages on Tuesday and Wednesday,” a senior official at the Flood Forecasting Division (Meteorological Department) told Dawn....

Historically, the Taliban has taken advantage of flooding events to bring about loyalty of the people in Pakistan. The Chenab River runs south into Punjab province. Punjab is the largest population in the area. If the Chenab River continues to flood and break dykes the people won't have a chance and the Taliban in 2014 has abandoned the area insurgency.

April 15, 2009

Author(s): Hassan Abbas

On March 30, 2009, (click here) militants launched a deadly assault on a police training center outside Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab Province. Eight police cadets were killed [1]. Less than a month earlier, on March 3, gunmen in Lahore ambushed members of the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team, killing at least eight people. Punjab, the most populated of Pakistan’s provinces, has largely escaped the bloodshed plaguing the country’s troubled northwest [2]. Yet since 2007, violence has escalated in the province. The bold terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s heartland—within Punjab Province and in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad—show that local logistical support for these attacks is attributable to what is often labeled the “Punjabi Taliban” network [3]. The major factions of this network include operatives from Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and Jaysh-i-Muhammad—all groups that were previously strictly focused on Kashmir and domestic sectarian violence....

The Chenab River drains into the Indus River. The rivers will continue to swell and cause disaster.

September 15, 2014

By Owais Quarni

Twenty people, including a bridegroom, (click here) drowned when a boat carrying a wedding party capsized in rough waters in a flooded rural area near Shershah dyke. Another 18 people were rescued in a 12-hour-long operation involving helicopters and divers of the army and navy.

Muhammad Zahid, who married Mashal three days ago, chartered a boat to carry the couple and their families to their Valima in the Muzaffarabad area. Some of their relatives were on board another boat and the two were moving almost side by side. The boat, which was carrying the couple and another 28 people, went down as it attempted to cross the flooded river.

Rescuers and relatives in the second boat immediately jumped into the rough waters to save the people before army and navy helicopters and divers could reach the site. “We have recovered more bodies. The death toll has now risen to 17, two women were among the dead,” a senior rescue official said, adding that another three persons were missing and believed dead. Eighteen people, including the bride, were rescued....

A Muslim holy man stated recently, the problem with the insurgencies throughout the area had adopted Sharia and it is the Sharia Law that is the enemy and not the religion of Islam.

September 14, 2014

By Ashfaq Yusufzai in Peshawar and Dean Nelson in New Delhi 

Leader of the Punjabi Taliban, (click here) one of Pakistan's most effective terror groups, says it is to end its insurgency and embrace charity work

One of Pakistan's most deadly Taliban groups has abandoned its armed struggle and announced it will focus on a peaceful campaign calling on the country to adopt Islamic sharia law.

The Punjabi Taliban is believed to have carried out a number of significant terrorist attacks, including the 2009 assault on the Pakistan army's general headquarters in Rawalpindi, in which nine soldiers were killed; the commando raid on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the same year, and the 2011 attack on the naval airbase at Mehran in which 18 servicemen and two US-donated aircraft were destroyed.

It has also been blamed for a number of sectarian atrocities, including attacks on the country's Ahmadi Muslims and the assassination of Pakistan's Christian minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti in 2011.

The announcement is seen as a further setback for Pakistan's alliance of 'Taliban' terrorist groups, which has suffered a number of fractures in recent weeks....

If the insurgency in Punjab is over, the Pakistan government has a sincere opportunity to rebuild the trust of the people in Punjab. They can best achieve that by saving their lives and providing infrastructure where flooding is least likely to happen. This region of Pakistan is sustaining these large floods every year in the same region. The people have nothing left and an impoverished population is very susceptible to radicalization.

...Punjabi Taliban chief Ismatullah Muawiya said that after consulting other Muslim leaders, the organisation would now limit its use of force to "infidel forces" and would focus on promoting sharia law.

In a video message, Muawiya said the Punjabi Taliban would continue to operate in Afghanistan but would focus on "Dawat Tablig" preaching and called on other Taliban factions to abandon their insurgencies in Pakistan.

He called on the Pakistan government to compensate those affected by its offensive in Waziristan and other tribal agencies and to rehabilitate them with "honour and dignity".

"Peace is the need of the hour to foil conspiracies against Pakistan and its people," he said....

The Pakistan government has to care for it's people, rebuild an infrastructure able to withstand the floods and eliminate Sharia. One of the best reasons to eliminate Sharia is it causes great trouble for people as it did for Malala and her family.

Malala Yousafzai was a direct victim of Sharia. Girls are not to be educated and are chattel according to Sharia. Malala is a threat to the insurgencies throughout Islam because they rely on Sharia Law as the basis of their groups. Insurgents don't have structure EXCEPT for Sharia Law. Sharia not only provides a governing directive it also levels justice. The insurgency leaders instituting Sharia are very clever. Sharia provides an automatic constitution to govern a group of men to overthrow their government. What the followers of these insurgency leaders forget is that Sharia can also kill them, too, if their leadership finds a reason.

The insurgencies in the region have proven to have no real power over any government, not even Pakistan, as they have been driven back to Afghanistan. The only power these insurgencies have is to victimize people within their armed camps to hold as hostages and then brutally killed. The people are brutally killed because it does cause a reaction from the populous of other countries, but, that is the only power they have. The insurgencies are running a war of populism and have no real power otherwise.

The Taliban remaining in Punjab are hoping to increase their following via Sharia to attempt at a later time to challenge the government again.

When one accepts the fact the insurgencies have no power than what others allow them, it is completely understandable why they want any conflict to come to them, they can't go elsewhere and be successful. They are not Genghis Kahn or Napoleon or the USA into Iraq. They have no ability to carry out a war with an invading army. They only have the power the people permit them to have.

According to the New American Standard Bible; Christendom states in Romans 12:19; Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. Christianity allows for an external governance. Sharia does not.

For a thinking person, considering all the tragedy and suffering that has become Pakistan, Punjab in particular, since the Taliban has attempted to dominate the province, it just might be the wrath of god setting it straight.

The Pakistan government needs to be the leading authority in the country and provide for the well being of it's people. To allow the Taliban to become an authority because it provides greater CHARITY than the government only sets people up for failure. That is why the tribal areas were so important to Late Prime Minister Bhutto. The tribal areas had to come to appreciate the Pakistan government over what the militants could provide.

It is why al Qaeda hated her and why they saw to her death.

The Pakistan government cannot provide for it's people with the climate crisis causing such devastating outcomes. The USA needs to do more and provide assistance in a secure 'community infrastructure.' If it is not provided this region of the world remain in flux and global stability will suffer.

The USA has not done enough to support responsible climate science and concern for citizens.

September 14, 2014

By Shahzad Anwar

The Climate Change Division (click here) is being run on an ad-hoc basis since last month as most senior positions are being additionally held by officers with low-experience.

The secretary of the division retired recently and the Establishment Division has yet to decide on his replacement. Currently, a director general-level officer is looking after day to day affairs of the CCD.  However, the officials at the division denied that any of their functions were adversely affected due to the vacancy at the top, and they believe the crunch is likely to be resolved by next month.

When the division’s water and sanitation director, Sana Hussain, retired, she was replaced by someone with an assistant director in the Data Base Management wing. The position oversees several projects related to water, sanitation, hygiene, and requires someone with a background in environment science is best suited for it....

Countries like Pakistan are overwhelmed when there is a climate event, ie: recent years flooding. They have a population that does not understand it and a government that has no clue as to how to respond.

Adding meteorologists in Pakistan is not enough. Pakistan needs to have political speech that includes the concern for the average citizen facing drastic and dangerous realities when it comes to climate. The people of Pakistan have no concept to what is causing their problems and cannot act to prevent them or the danger that enters their lives.

The people of these regions of the world are just as intelligent as the people of the USA. Their political leaders will understand how to transcend local culture, speech and jargon to bring about the understanding of the danger. There is nothing wrong with citizens holding their government leaders responsible for their dire circumstances when rain and cold are found to be a killer. When the people demand a safe homestead they will be better served, but, when they simply assign these horrible outcomes to a higher power the danger continues unabated. 

There are measures every government can take to prevent what occurred in Kashmir. I am confident there is a television somewhere in the area, a phone or a radio that can receive information regarding climate and how people are in danger. This is ridiculous. Country leadership is allowing their people to die. The USA is responsible for at least 25% of the carbon now in our atmosphere it is time to own up to it and provide measures of protections for these populations. 

Women's sport enthusiasts have more work to do than simply complain about abuse.

September 15, 2014
By Jen Hale
...Peterson (click here) will fully participate in this week's practices and meetings and is expected to play this Sunday in New Orleans for the Saints home opener, as he deals off the field with a child abuse charge stemming from an incident in which he spanked his 4-year-old-son with a switch....

The change in society that has to occur to focus on parents abusing their children vs discipline that works occurs when parents demand changes in their state legislature. It is completely outrageous to realize Texas allows corporal punishment. The state allowing such standards within their citizens and schools is a defense for parents that use severe disciplinary acts. 

There are many states in the USA that do not allow corporal punishment and defer to other forms of discipline. Anyone ever hear of a Time Out Chair. That is just the beginning. Foster Care have definite guidelines regarding physical discipline. Foster Care primarily steers away from physical discipline.

Physical Discipline(click here)
In order to learn successful ways of teaching children, there needs to be a basic understanding of physical discipline and how it can affect a child. Children in foster care have frequently come from dysfunctional families and often do not have a foundation of knowing “right” and “wrong”. The following are important to realize about physical discipline of foster children:

• Physical discipline is ineffective for children in general.
• Physical discipline is particularly traumatic for children in foster care placements whose background   is one of abuse or neglect.
• Physical discipline of foster children is prohibited in Wisconsin.

The messages that hitting a child can give are:

• In this family, I must fear adults and will not feel safe.
• Violence is an acceptable way to get what I want. I can hit younger children and take what I want from those who are weaker.
• I am not worth caring for, I am unlovable.
• Adults cannot be trusted.
• I must not let adults know when I do something wrong.
• It was ok for my parents to physically abuse me.

Discipline is guidance. When we guide children towards positive behavior and learning, we are promoting a healthy attitude. Positive guidance encourages a child to think before he acts. Positive guidance promotes self-control. Different styles of discipline produce results that are different. Discipline requires thought, planning, and patience....

Sports heroes count in a young person's life. They look up to them as a role model. To allow physical abuse to exist in the identity of that sports professional only invites others to practice it. That dynamic happens everyday in the USA and the identity of these sports professionals matter. 

Parents and women can't simply verbalize their disappointment, they have to take action to change the law regarding abuse. Movements work, they can work in states that haven't changed to the times we live in.