Monday, November 10, 2014

Homelessness is not a crime. Homelessness is an injustice to people outside the ability to survive and thrive under capitalism.

James Boyd is not coming back to life. Yet he was unjustifiably killed by a Swat Team with dogs and munitions that could stop a small war. This man was murdered for the reason he could find a place 'to be' in a park away from the city. James Boyd didn't have a place to live, period. He was not allowed to EXIST. Every place he went he was told he could not 'be there.' 
The intolerance to the homeless in Albuquerque had become so final in it's understanding there was absolutely no place Mr. Boyd, who suffered from mental health problems, could sit or stand or sleep. He was assailed by a Swat Team in a park to remove him from the area. A Swat team was deployed knowing full well what was going to come of him. 
The intolerance of homelessness as created though laws caused his death. Yet, no one is going to be held responsible. 
One of the reasons Albuquerque had really lousy police is because there are so many lawsuits against the city for the behavior of it's police officers there is less and less money to pay officers that would actually do a better job.
November 9, 2014
By Mark Berman
...Not long after the protests, (click here) the Justice Department released the results of a 17-month investigation into allegations that the Albuquerque police used excessive force. The investigation found that Albuquerque police “often use deadly force” when it is not needed, “often use unreasonable physical force” and generally operate without accountability.
The Justice Department and city officials announced an agreement last week that would reform the city’s police department, revamp how officers use force and improve the way complaints against officers are investigated. The Albuquerque City Council held a special meeting to discuss the settlement on Thursday night and voted 8-0 to approve the deal.
The agreement does not admit any liability or acknowledge any improper conduct by police officers but says the police department will make sure that officers avoid using force as much as possible and promises that uses of force will be thoroughly investigated.
It also says that officers must turn on recording systems whenever using force, which is particularly key to a larger issue nationwide.

Use of force once again questioned. A 40 year old woman shot in the head and chest.

Michigan State Police investigate a shooting that involved an Ann Arbor Police officer at the 2000 block of Winewood Avenue in Ann Arbor on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014. According to a press release a 40-year old woman was shot when she confronted an officer and was later pronounced dead at the scene. Patrick Record | The Ann Arbor News

November 10. 2014

By Matt Durr

A 40-year-old (click here) Ann Arbor woman was shot and killed Sunday night after she confronted Ann Arbor City police officers with a knife.
According to a press release issued by the AAPD, officers were dispatched to a home in the 2000 block of Winewood Avenue in Ann Arbor at 11:45 p.m. Sunday night for a domestic disturbance. When officers arrived at the scene, they were confronted by the woman who was armed with a knife.
One officer fired his weapon at the woman, striking her. Medical personnel declared the woman dead at the scene....

According to her boyfriend who was in the house at the time, stated he believed her to have mental health problems. The woman, now dead, was carrying a fish knife when police came to the door. It was the boyfriend that called the police expecting to receive help to contain the anger of the dispute and obviously didn't expect her to be killed in the process. There are State Police investigators involved in obtaining the facts.

November 10, 2014
The boyfriend (click here) of the 40-year-old Ann Arbor woman who was shot and killed by police Sunday night said he doesn't understand why police had to use lethal force to take down the woman who had a knife in her hand as she confronted officers.

Victor Stephens, 54, is the homeowner at 2083 Winewood Ave., where his girlfriend was shot by police who were responding to a domestic disturbance call.

Stephens said the woman -- whose name is being withheld until police can reach the next of kin -- has three children, two sons and a daughter."Why would you kill her? He shot her in the head and in the chest," Stephens said. "It was a woman with a knife. It doesn't make any sense."...

...Stephens said the woman had a fish knife in her hand when police announced their arrival.
"The police said 'police,' so I stopped. She walked towards them," Stephens said. "They said 'freeze' and the next thing I know I heard (gunshots)."

After the shots were fired, Stephens later asked if he could talk to the woman and that's when he was informed she was dead.

"Where were the Tasers at? She wasn't going to kill anybody with a knife," Stephens said. "That's unnecessary."

Stephens said the hallway where the woman was shot was well lit, and it was clear the woman didn't have a gun. There were five people in the home when police arrived.
Stephens said he and the woman had been dating for about nine months and he believed she had a history of mental illness, but he wasn't able to elaborate. He said the woman had moved in with him so she could get away from Detroit and get some help in the Ann Arbor area....
Loretta Lynch. Very pretty lady. Almost to pretty to be a lawyer, yet alone a US Attorney and the replacement for Attorney General Holder.

Do you know where Ms. Lynch was born? Greensboro, North Carolina. She was born in 1959. Harvard. She hails from the same university as President Obama so that should make things easier. But, does anyone remember what occurred in Greensboro, NC in 1960 when Ms. Lynch was less than a year old? No?

On February 1, 1960, (click here) four African American college students sat down at a lunch counter at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, and politely asked for service. Their request was refused. When asked to leave, they remained in their seats. Their passive resistance and peaceful sit-down demand helped ignite a youth-led movement to challenge racial inequality throughout the South.

So, it would seem as though Ms. Lynch has grown up to understand the deeper understanding of civil rights. She is perfect for replacing Attorney General Holder at a time when African Americans feel threatened for the love of their sons.

I want her to be the AG's replacement. I'll always remember her birthdate as she and I share the same day of May 21st. 

November 8, 2014
As one of the longest-serving attorneys general (click here) in U.S. history prepares to leave office, President Obama made it clear today that the woman he's nominated to be Eric Holder's successor will be expected to pick up right where he left off on civil rights.
"Throughout her 30-year career she has distinguished herself as tough, as fair, an independent lawyer who has twice headed one of the most prominent U.S. attorney's offices in the country," the president said at the nomination ceremony for Loretta Lynch, who is currently the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

"She has spent years in the trenches as a prosecutor aggressively fighting terrorism, financial fraud, cybercrime -- all while vigorously defending civil rights," Obama said....
One criticism that makes its way to the surface during hirings into federal office is that AG Holder was not tough enough on the banking sector due to the fact the 'big shots' served no jail time. That should be presented during her confirmation hearing to validate the truth of those opinions and how she views incarceration of banking executives.
She is also a woman that can view cases of domestic violence from that perspective. While the NFL sees themselves as in a bubble to handle their own scandals, there is still the fact the government has an interest in criminal activity and the protection of women. Hopefully, she will also be a guiding light to the country as these cases present themselves with precedent that changes the face of domestic violence from arguments to real life tragedies whereby people end up dead.

The tangled webs of prolonged wars.

U.S. Army Sgt. Dayne Darren Dhanoolal died in March 2008 in Baghdad. His widow is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleging banks like Credit Suisse helped Iran transfer billions of dollars that were used to carry out killings and bombings.

November 10, 2014
By John Marzulli

The families of dozens of American soldiers (click here) killed or wounded in Iraq are suing five international banks of conspiring with Iran to evade U.S. sanctions and provide material support to terrorist groups.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Brooklyn Federal Court, alleges that HSBC, Barclays, Standard Chartered Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Credit Suisse were part of a scheme to help Iran transfer billions of dollars through the U.S. — funds which were used to carry out killings and bombings.

The plaintiffs include the widow of U.S. Army Sgt. Dayne Dhanoolal, who died in 2008 in Baghdad when a roadside bomb tore through the Bradley M3 in which he was riding.

“The weapon used to kill Dayne D. Dhanoolal was an Iranian-manufactured IED provided to Iranian-funded and trained terror operatives in Iraq,” the suit said....
I want to know who trained the Islamic State, because, I want them to train the Iraqi forces.

And don't say the Baathists because the Iraqi Army under Saddam was made up of civilians that were lucky to be wearing shoes when they were called up.
The wall became more of a joke than a political icon. 

It's purpose in it's early years was to control any rise of the remnants of Hitler. After a time the wall became an emblem of control that was worse than Hitler.
"RIA Novosti," the state news service of Russia conducted an expose of the fall of the Berlin Wall. (click here)

When the Berlin Wall finally came down I didn't notice any Russia soldiers standing in the way.
I applaud Germany for 25 years of democracy the world never believed would happen.

The story of the wall of light from NYTimes. (click here)

Russia needs to realize it is the people that strive for democracy not other nations forcibly taking it.

"The 1500 soldiers are the next phase."

"What the commanders tell me is that WITH TIME the coalition will assume more of a roll and the American troop numbers will come down."

Those are statements by President Obama. 

!500 additional soldiers is called STAGING. There were 1400 already on the ground in Iraq and they have established a presence while the diplomats are working out a solution for a sovereign Iraq. 

STAGING. This is not about reducing the number of American troops.

"...WITH TIME the coalition will assume..."

Well, hell with time I'll be a rich woman, too. But, that doesn't mean anything unless I live until I am five hundred years old.

"...with time..." is disrespectful of the President and the American people. The people through the worlds of our President is AGAIN being manipulated by men who believe in war happening on Earth 365 days of the year with only one day off on Leap Year.

If the Joint Chiefs and ? their commanders ? (where we go again with the President's Commanders on the ground) are being obscure about 'with time' then there needs to be a clarification of how much time is 'with time.' 

The fact of the matter is, the American troops are on the ground because the US military never was able to build a military forced in the Middle East to begin with. They failed and now they are going to go back to failing again. 

Good-bye National Debt, here come the Neocons once again.

These are Assad's people. One was Iranian. That is Shi'ite. This is the next step for Assad. He has barrel bombs of chlorine and now he was going to toy with nuclear material. It is a research facility. It was probably Israel and I don't blame then not one bit.

November 10, 2014
...Gunmen killed five nuclear engineers, (click here) four of them Syrian and one Iranian, on the outskirts of Damascus on Sunday, a monitoring group said on Monday. 

The engineers were shot dead as they were travelling in a small convoy to a research centre near the northeastern district of Barzeh, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

No one claimed responsibility and Syrian and Iranian state media did not mention the attack, which occurred in an area controlled by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

The UN atomic agency (IAEA) said last year that Syria declared a "small amount of nuclear material" at a Miniature Neutron Source Reactor, a type of research reactor usually fuelled by highly enriched uranium, near Damascus....

A blunt talking, grey haired, white man won his House seat because he is unafraid of those that rally and demonstrate. He is their best friend and a truth teller.

He enlisted his constituents to pass the bill. The same method President Obama used to move the budget and debt ceiling stalemates. The people understand this is there government and will act to move the country.


November 4, 2014
By Kevin Robillard

...Peterson, who has represented a sprawling district in western Minnesota (click here) for more than two decades, defeated Minnesota state Sen. Torrey Westrom by more than 20,000 votes. Westrom, who is legally blind, was a top National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee recruit who was supposed to give Peterson his strongest challenge in a decade. But the incumbent easily beat back Westrom, with outside groups spending more than $8 million in the district.

Republicans hoped to portray Peterson as out of touch with his constituents, attacking him for charging taxpayers for the use of a plane to get around his 33,000-square-mile district. But Peterson defended the use of the plane and said his seniority on the House Agriculture Committee (he was chairman when Democrats controlled the House) was instrumental in finally passing a farm bill earlier this year.

The GOP wished the 70-year-old would retire rather than battle Westrom in a district Romney won by 10 points in 2012. But Peterson said GOP challenges “made him mad” during the campaign and recently hinted he planned on staying in office until 2020....

Dreamers accept poorer health to protect family. Now, perhaps Democrats can understand why going to the polls was meaningless.

November 9, 2014

lian Saldana (click here) turned down Obamacare coverage once, and she might do it again.
With sign-ups set to resume Saturday, the 23-year-old Covina resident and her younger sister are hesitant to enroll because their parents are immigrants who are not citizens and therefore ineligible for benefits under the Affordable Care Act.
Saldana, an after-school tutor, admits she could put the insurance to good use for a checkup, but she worries about putting her parents at risk or creating a rift at home.
"We've always done things together as a family," she said.
The Saldana sisters are among roughly 600,000 Latinos in California who remain uninsured — despite qualifying for subsidized coverage under the federal health law. Latinos outnumber whites and Asians among the 1.3 million Californians who are eligible for federal aid and lack private health coverage....
The US has to stop breaking up families. This is actually a pubic health problem. 600,000 people are at risk for disease in a way other Americans are not. The last initiative for any public health policy is to leave people outside the health care infrastructure. 
One of the complaints of so many on the political right wing is the inclusion of undocumented workers enrolled on Medicaid. The US has always provided health care to every person within it's borders to insure public health. Now, generations are left outside the infrastructure? 
The deportations need to stop and families allowed to stay together. This is a health care emergency that needs to end before there is actually a health care emergency.

While Ebola has been under control in the USA, West Africa is experiencing frightening statistics.

November 10, 2014
Jene-Wonde, Liberia: A schoolteacher brought his sick daughter from Liberia’s capital to this small town of 300 people. Soon he was dead along with his entire family, and they are now buried in the forest nearby along with an increasing number of residents.
The community of Jene-Wonde in Grand Cape Mount County near the border with Sierra Leone has become a new epicentre for the deadly Ebola outbreak in Liberia, which is also hitting Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Momo Sheriff, who lost his son to Ebola, said there is no health care in the community and leaders have no way to manage it. The tiny town already has lost 10 percent of its population to Ebola since late September. Amid all the deaths, markets and farms nearby have been abandoned.
“If the government does not take action, everybody will die in this town,” he said. “We are burying two dead bodies today. We don’t know who it will be tomorrow. Every day we have to cry,” he told an Associated Press journalist....
...Abdullai Kamara, the leader of Burial Team A of Grand Cape Mount County Ebola, said the people of Jene-Wonde have been stubborn and in constant denial, which he cites as the reason the disease is still spreading....
October 9, 2014
By Saif Said

Muscat: (click here) Oman was recovering on Sunday after medium and heavy thunder and hailstorms lashed the northern provinces of the country on Saturday.
Seven Omanis were rescued by the Public Authority of Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA) after their vehicles were swept away by flooding wadis, but until Sunday there were no reports of casualties.
The provinces of Barka, Khaboura and Musana were hit by a heavy hailstorm which lasted for more than two hours. Some properties were damaged from the ice. Flooding in wadis in the Batina, Buraimi, Dahira and Dhakliya governorates led to the closing of some roads including the main road to the UAE in Sohar.
On Sunday, the road was reopened after local authorities drained the water. Dr Ahmad Al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communication, tweeted that construction work on the Falaj Al Qabayil flyover caused flooding and traffic snarls in the area.


Jordan and Saudi Arabia have never been in this position before. They will need the help of USA to be successful.

This is a huge leap forward in ending terrorists. I congratulate the coalition for taking on this necessary task to end all threats to free people.

November 10, 2014
By Ghazanfar Ali Khan

A major forum on cyber terrorism (click here) and on how to bring the culprits to justice will be hosted by Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University (IMSIU) on Nov. 18. "The forum is being organized within the framework of the initiative launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to curb terror in all its forms," said Suleiman bin Abdullah Aba Al-Khail, IMSIU rector, on Saturday.

He noted that cyberspace holds considerable potential for terrorist activities, including through general communication, fund-raising and other forms of attack. "Terrorists' use of the Internet is not only a national security concern, it poses more significant challenges to society as a whole," said Aba Al-Khail.


Those involved in cyber terror seek the nation's intellectual property and seek to trade secrets for military advantage in addition to sharing confidential information about other countries. Referring to the objectives of the forum on cyber terrorism, the rector said that this one-day event will help to evaluate and strengthen the roles of families, education and mosques in curbing cyber crime....


London and Interpol have something to learn from the King. He goes forward unafraid and determined to protect his people. He is a great leader in the Middle East. I am sure the Kingdom would entertain assisting the West with surveillance and what to look for when seeking out terrorists, rather than the blanket Metadata searches that have included Chancellor Merkel.


November 10, 2014
By Arab News

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, (click here) Endowments, Dawah and Guidance is monitoring the activities of preachers, imams, and officials on social networking sites in order to weed out extremist elements.
According to a top official, Tawfiq Al-Sudairi, the ministry has worked with a number of scholars and students in order to raise awareness regarding misguided messages by deviants and misguided people on social networking sites.
Al-Sudairi said the ministry’s efforts have led to the launch of several projects, including an advocacy seminar, with a view to developing a common approach toward such issues.
The ministry is also extending its advocacy work to the Internet as a platform to challenge the spread of extremism....


That didn't take long. Do you know Saudi Arabia has one of the most successful programs in finding extremists, sentencing and rehabilitating them. Interesting how the Kingdom can get the job done when others can't. There have been approximately 30 extremists a year the Kingdom admits to rehabilitation.

November 10, 2014
The supervisory teams (click here) of the Ministry of Commerce have seized more than 2,000 counterfeit smartphone devices branded "iPhone" and "Samsung Galaxy" in a warehouse in the Al-Batha neighborhood of Riyadh. These devices were set to be sold in the local market, with the intention of fooling customers through their seemingly 'proper' packaging in the fake boxes of high-end brand names.
The devices were confiscated by officials, and the two stores involved were closed. Those responsible for the fraudulent goods were arrested for further investigations....


No broad and sweeping programs that cost billions and billions of dollars that invade every space on Earth. Just a successful ministry that ends criminality where it starts. Imagine that. An agency in the USA that actually works without terrifying Americans every chance they get on FOX News.

Is Gerrymandering defeating the DNC permanently?

Bow Stanley, from Silver Lake, Kansas, votes at the Prairie Home Cemetery building, Tuesday, November 4, 2014, in Topeka, Kansas. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

...As Rolling Stone (click here) reported, GOP donors plowed cash into state legislative efforts in 2010 for the very purpose of redrawing congressional lines. In the following year, as the tea party wave brought hundreds of Republicans into office, newly empowered Republican governors and state legislatures carved congressional districts for maximum partisan advantage. Democrats attempted this too, but only in two states: Maryland and Illinois. For the GOP however, strictly partisan gerrymandering prevailed in Ohio, Pennsylvania Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Tennessee and beyond.

Here’s an example from the election last night. In Pennsylvania, one state in which the GOP drew the congressional districts in a brazenly partisan way, Democratic candidates collected 44 percent of the vote, yet Democratic candidates won only 5 House seats out of 18. In other words, Democrats secured only 27 percent of Pennsylvania’s congressional seats despite winning nearly half of the votes....

Are the Democrats going to allow Gerrymandering to be their defeat?
Morning Papers

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

"Good Night, Moon"

Waning Gibbous

89% Full

18 days old 

November 6, 2014
By Paul D. Spudis

On November 1, (click here)
China’s Chang’E 5 Test mission to the Moon safely returned to Earth. With this mission behind them, the Chinese have successfully completed all the steps needed to conduct lunar exploration—first by robotic spacecraft but eventually also with humans. Over a short six-year span, China has methodically conducted an incremental series of robotic missions to refine the skills they need to explore the Moon....