Tuesday, December 15, 2015

This is happening now in Australia.

Flights are delayed about an hour.

December 18, 2015
By Keiran Gair 

A yacht near Kurnell on Botany Bay has it's sails torn away by the massive wind gusts caused by the storm.

Flights delayed (click here)
...Flights across the country have been delayed as a result of Sydney's weather, causing stress for passengers trying to travel to Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Adelaide and Canberra.

At least two international flights bound for Sydney have been diverted to Brisbane with more planes expected to be diverted to Newcastle, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane airports.

This picture is of the storm sweeping through Sydney.


China Airlines flight CI051 and Air New Zealand flight NZ105 were en route to Sydney before being redirected to Brisbane to avoid Sydney's wild weather.

"Sydney's weather has disrupted the entire national flight network," Leonie Vondezen, spokeswoman for Brisbane Airport Corporation said.

"Sydney is Australia's major international airport but, with weather like this, we expect flights to continue to be diverted throughout the rest of the day to avoid Sydney's weather."

A host of domestic flights have also been delayed, diverted or cancelled....

(left) Last of the light as the storm moves into Bondi

Southeast Indian Ocean, Australia & Indonesia Water Vapor Satellite Loop (click here for loop)

It is easy to see why Sydney is receiving dangerous weather. The red dot above shows Sydney on the map.

Australia is at 3 o'clock. All the land areas are spawning turbulence because the direct solar rays is so low in the southern hemisphere.

Wednesday 15, 2015 
0315 UTC 

The latitude just north of Australia has a circulating air mass that is very turbulent. The is just below the equator at about 10 degrees south.

There is no current typhoons in the southern hemisphere. This is just spontaneous eruptions of heat and clouds. The climate is very dangerous.

King Salman is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. He is the sincere moral leader of the faith.

A suspected member (click here) of the Islamic State (IS) group (left) was interrogated by East Nusa Tenggara Police in Kupang on Aug. 2. The police arrested three people suspected of involvement in the group. (Antara/Kornelis Kaha)

December 12, 2015

The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) has warned that alleged Indonesian supporters of the radical Islamic State (IS) group, since their return to Indonesia from Syria, have integrated with other members of society.
BNPT chief Comr. Gen. Saud Usman feared that the returnees could spread their radical views of Islam through religious events to other people. “They live among us and they spread their beliefs,” Saud said in Jakarta on Saturday, as reported by tribunnews.com.
According to identification procedures by the Foreign Ministry and the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s immigration directorate general, 169 Indonesians that were deported from Syria now live in various places in Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Saud asked the people to report any suspicious activities or suspicious groups of people in their neighborhoods to the authorities.
According to Saud, Indonesia faces a threat of terrorist acts like kidnappings, bombings or shootings. He said the people had to support the security personnel in maintaining security in the face of terrorist intentions....

The West can make all kinds of claims, but, unless a recognized leader brings brevity to the disease within the faith it means nothing.

December 12, 2015

Indonesia (click here) will host a meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), which will particularly discuss Jerusalem— a territory of dispute between Israel and Palestine. The meeting, called the International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem, will be held in Jakarta on Dec.14 to 15.
“The conference will discuss the status of Jerusalem in the context of seeking solutions for Palestine,” said the Foreign Ministry’s director general for multilateral affairs, Hasan Kleib, in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Friday as reported by kompas.com.
According to Hasan, Jerusalem is a complicated, sensitive and difficult issue because the territory is claimed by both Israel and Palestine as their respective capital city and it is also a holy land for three main religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
“While waiting for the solution of the status of Jerusalem, what we need to think about now is how to live peacefully among the followers of the different religions,” said Hasan....

Indonesia will host a meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), which will particularly discuss Jerusalem— a territory of dispute between Israel and Palestine. The meeting, called the International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem, will be held in Jakarta on Dec.14 to 15.
“The conference will discuss the status of Jerusalem in the context of seeking solutions for Palestine,” said the Foreign Ministry’s director general for multilateral affairs, Hasan Kleib, in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Friday as reported by kompas.com.
According to Hasan, Jerusalem is a complicated, sensitive and difficult issue because the territory is claimed by both Israel and Palestine as their respective capital city and it is also a holy land for three main religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
“While waiting for the solution of the status of Jerusalem, what we need to think about now is how to live peacefully among the followers of the different religions,” said Hasan.
- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/12/12/indonesia-host-talks-disputed-jerusalem.html#sthash.1OVgFqX9.dpuf
The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) has warned that alleged Indonesian supporters of the radical Islamic State (IS) group, since their return to Indonesia from Syria, have integrated with other members of society.
BNPT chief Comr. Gen. Saud Usman feared that the returnees could spread their radical views of Islam through religious events to other people. “They live among us and they spread their beliefs,” Saud said in Jakarta on Saturday, as reported by tribunnews.com.
According to identification procedures by the Foreign Ministry and the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s immigration directorate general, 169 Indonesians that were deported from Syria now live in various places in Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Saud asked the people to report any suspicious activities or suspicious groups of people in their neighborhoods to the authorities.
According to Saud, Indonesia faces a threat of terrorist acts like kidnappings, bombings or shootings. He said the people had to support the security personnel in maintaining security in the face of terrorist intentions.
- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/12/12/is-sympathizers-integrated-indonesian-society-bnpt-warns.html#sthash.pBMOHGZP.dpuf
A suspected member of the Islamic State (IS) group (left) was interrogated by East Nusa Tenggara Police in Kupang on Aug. 2. The police arrested three people suspected of involvement in the group. (Antara/Kornelis Kaha) - See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/12/12/is-sympathizers-integrated-indonesian-society-bnpt-warns.html#sthash.pBMOHGZP.dpuf

The USA is not on the list because we are not Arab enough to fight Daesh. We are infidels and soldiers don't need a reason to treason their own fight.

Bush believes there is a caliphate. Since when? There is no sovereign caliphate anywhere in the world.

Bush - Banning Muslims will provide a win for ISIL. Muslims died in those attacks in San Bernardino. I think the idea is to keep American Muslims alive along with the rest of the Americans in the USA. Daesh doesn't care who they kill. It isn't a caliphate. It is regime that wants to kill ANY people that oppose them. 

Cruz - His ideas of defending the USA and the diversity of it's people is to call murderers in the middle east "Radical Islamic Terrorists."

I think we need to get out of the way of the countries most determined to end the killers in Syria.
 
Jeddah/Riyadh: The Saudi government (click here) has announced that it would lead a 34-nation alliance against terrorist groups, with a joint operations center set up in Riyadh.
The countries are Jordan, UAE, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Turkey, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon, Guinea, Palestine, Comoros, Qatar, Cote d’Ivoire, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Yemen.
“More than 10 other (Muslim-majority) countries have expressed their support for this alliance and will take the necessary measures in this regard, including Indonesia,”
the government announced in a statement carried by the SPA.
At a press conference on Monday night at King Salman Air Base in Riyadh, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said that the alliance would operate on UN and OIC provisions on terrorism, which affirms the “right of states to self-defense.”
He said the alliance consists of nations making up most of the Islamic world, which are committed to fighting this “disease which affects first” the Islamic world and then the international community. “Today, every Islamic country is fighting terrorism individually. The coordination of efforts is very important ...”
 

Another (Fiorina) one that called it a caliphate. There is no sovereign caliphate.

The dialogue is silly. I think I've heard enough. 

I think Saudi Arabia is absolutely right. Saudi Arabia knows The West is in full support of this effort and will be at their side if they decide they need us, but, I don't think they will need anyone other than their own military. I will say this, I don't see Iran on that list. The Iranians need to allow the destruction of Daesh. They have killed Iranians, too. 

Daesh is a faux name for the old criminals of the Saddam Ba'athists. The Ba'athists masquerading as a false holy army have to be destroyed.

...“We have a number of countries suffering from terrorism, including Syria, Iraq, Sinai, Yemen, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and this requires very strong efforts to fight it. Undoubtedly through this alliance, there will be coordination to fight it ...”

He said that the alliance would not focus only on certain groups such as Daesh, known also as the Islamic State, but confront terrorist operators across the world. He said that operations in Syria would “obviously” not be carried out without working with legitimate groups and the international community....


King Salman is correct. The terrorists have to be defeated in a way that makes sense to his strategy. 

... “Nothing is off the table. A number of countries are in desperate need of assistance,” he told reporters in Paris, according to a report by AFP. He said military help would be considered on a “case-by-case basis.”
“Terrorism has hit Islamic countries. It is time that the Islamic world takes a stand,” said Al-Jubeir. The alliance would operate with military operations and campaigns to counter the ideology of these extremist groups, he was quoted as saying.
Al-Jubeir Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states are discussing sending special forces to Syria as part of US-led efforts to fight Daesh....


They will be successful. They are great men.

...He said that the discussions were aimed at clarifying the needs and the objectives of such an operation, but that the picture should become clearer in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said she welcomed Saudi Arabia’s announcement.
She reportedly told German broadcaster ZDF the alliance would be of help if it joined other countries fighting Daesh, adding that militants had gained strength from disagreement among various opposition parties on how to fight or who to protect.


I am impressed. Having a Muslim voice to take on the "disease" of those aligned with a false prophet is dearly needed to end the estrangement of citizens from their own countries. They are needed in this fight.

I am grateful to the Saudi Arabian lead effort. This effort contains within it the compassion to those holding a false prophet as their leader.  

December 15, 2015
By Due Respect

As Bernie Sanders (click here) attempts to solve his black-voter problem, he sat down with Killer Mike at the rapper’s Atlanta barber shop for a fascinating six-part conversation on economic policy, gun control, and social justice.
The one issue on which the pair disagreed: the right to own assault weapons.
“I’m from the South. I like guns a lot,” Killer Mike told the candidate he wholeheartedly endorsed last month. Sanders, the lone Democratic candidate seen as friendly to gun owners, hails from Vermont, the state with the least strict gun laws....

December 15, 2015
by Ken Thomas

Minneapolis — Offering a prebuttal (click here) to Republicans, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that the American people "cannot give into fear" in the aftermath of attacks in Paris and California, laying out a multi-pronged strategy to protect the homeland and prevent domestic terrorist attacks.

Clinton assailed her Republican rivals shortly before the party's latest presidential debate, telling an audience at the University of Minnesota that another ground war reminiscent of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan would play into the hands of the Islamic State group and fail to keep the U.S. safe....

The entire speech can be viewed on C-Span. (click here)

Commissioner Bratton is probably correct.

New York Police Commissioner Bratton is stating the threat is not credible and is working with California and FBI. California might have it's own definitions of credible, but, it would be good if everyone was working on the same standard. However, different states have different geographical issues, too. So, a strict standard would have to be modified enough to include the difference in states and their location on the map.

December 15, 2015
By Veronica Rocha and Hailey Branson-Pitts

Officials closed (click here) all Los Angeles Unified School District campuses Tuesday morning after receiving a "credible threat" of violence involving backpacks and packages left at campuses.
Authorities said they plan a search operation of all of the LAUSD's more than 900 schools. The nation's second-largest school district has more than 700,000 students....

If this turns out to be nothing, then it is the continual harassment of the American public that is suppose to turn them into people afraid of their own life. It is all psychological by Daesh. They do not have the international capacity to carry out threats by themselves. The only way this is credible is if someone within the country is acting in proxy for Daesh. Radicalized. That is not a sovereign threat by Daesh. It has no sovereign capacity to carry out attacks within the USA. The only claim Daesh can make is that a radicalized person acted with Daesh's directives.

The threat here is "drip, trickle" day after day; to that end Commissioner Bratton is correct in being highly decisive to what is credible. New York City cannot simply stop on a dime to wait for clearance there is no threat. When Commissioner Bratton states there is no threat he means it. He even took subways to reassure the people he was a person concerned for their safety. He enjoys the confidence of New Yorkers and their confidence in him continues to grow. That is where every police commissioner should strive to be. 

One in eight returning soldiers has PTSD. I take it they didn't go into combat with PTSD and these are all new diagnosis.

PTSD is not readiness. It is completely unacceptable for soldiers to go into war KNOWING more than 12 percent will be coming home with PTSD. The USA military has a lot of work to do before it can be considered READY.

June 30, 2004

The Army’s first study (click here) of the mental health of troops who fought in Iraq found that about one in eight reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The survey also showed that less than half of those with problems sought help, mostly out of fear of being stigmatized or hurting their careers.
The survey of Army and Marine combat units was conducted a few months after their return from Iraq or Afghanistan last year. Most studies of past wars’ effects on mental health were done years later, making it difficult to compare the latest results with those from the Vietnam or Persian Gulf wars, said Dr. Charles W. Hoge, one of the researchers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Of particular concern, he said, is that troops with problems are not seeking care.
“The most important thing we can do for service members who have been in combat is to help them understand that the earlier that they get help when they need it, the better off they’ll be,” Hoge said.
The study is published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine....

How much can the USA count on paying veterans disability? Why should the American people accept the fact so many of it's returning soldiers are doing so handicapped? Readiness? Where? Riding the F35 Strike Fighter?

I don't want to hear the only US military are drones. 
 
May 28, 2012
By Marilynn Marchione 

America's newest veterans (click here) are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen.
A staggering 45% of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now seeking compensation for injuries they say are service-related. That is more than double the estimate of 21% who filed such claims after the Gulf War in the early 1990s, top government officials told the Associated Press.
What's more, these new veterans are claiming eight to nine ailments on average, and the most recent ones over the last year are claiming 11 to 14. By comparison, Vietnam veterans are currently receiving compensation for fewer than four, on average, and those from World War II and Korea just two.
It's unclear how much worse off these new veterans are than their predecessors. Many factors are driving the dramatic increase in claims — the weak economy, more troops surviving wounds, and more awareness of problems such as concussions and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Almost one-third have been granted disability so far....

A U.S. Army soldier looks over the blood spattered interior of a U.S. Marines Humvee vehicle, which was destroyed by a bomb in Baghdad June 29. 

I don't think so.

Soldiers are not disposable to the whims of stupid war mongering idiots. When the USA touts it's greatness because of a high standard of living for all it's people; it is a blatant lie.

The next time a politician of any vernacular uses the USA military as a promise to a strong resolve by his candidacy, it is a lie and complete indifference to soldiers and their families. There ain't no way the USA is going to invade anything.

Hello. A National Guardsman actually thought the domestic peace could be disrupted by his efforts.

Does the USA military actually have to BALANCE the numbers of Muslims with other soldiers of other faiths? It is ridiculous to think about an invasion into any country that has violent Islamists as an influence. What happens that drives these jerks? It must be a hell of a testosterone load that is bred by adrenaline. This is ridiculous, commanders can't even count on the loyalty of troops at this point.

This ignorant bastard is not that much different than Bergdahl. I think the USA military needs to assess it's strength. The idea the USA is immune from dissection and/or mutiny is hideous. That has already been proven.

December 14, 2015 

Chicago — A former Illinois National Guard soldier (click here) pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group.
Hasan Edmonds, 23, of Aurora, Illinois, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
The pleas in Chicago federal court came one week after his cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 30, of Aurora, pleaded guilty to similar charges.
"Hasan and Jonas Edmonds conspired to provide material support to ISIL," John P. Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a news release, using one of the alternative names for the Islamic State group. "They admitted planning to wage violence on behalf of ISIL in the Middle East and to conduct an attack on our soil."
Prosecutors say Hasan Edmonds devised a plan for Hasan Edmonds to travel to the Middle East and join Islamic State fighters overseas. After dropping his cousin off at Midway International Airport last March, Jonas Edmonds went to Hasan Edmonds' home and collected several National Guard uniforms that he planned to wear as a disguise during a planned attack at the Joliet armory, the plea agreement said....

The USA military has a long way to go before it is war ready again. The USA military had no clue of Hasan and another Fort Hood shooting. There is the issue of sexism and the direct involvement of military personnel in creating a rumor to derail women in the Marines and combat.

Bergdahl presents a lot of very interesting topics. He stated he believed his leadership was weak. He also had delusions of grandeur in thinking he might aspire to office status and command Christian soldiers to annihilate enemies. There are too many 'status' dialogues within the military that weakens it's very readiness.

Basically, what the hell is going on with the USA military and why aren't there trials for personnel that actually believe they can start THEIR OWN RUMORS to certain outcomes?

We know for a fact, there were many commanders that retired during the Bush years and were replaced by accelerating the rank of General of any number of stars to maintain enough command officers. The USA is in a very poor state of readiness

If personnel within the military were successful in removing women from their own career path it would have validated personnel with self-defined power within a political setting within the USA electorate. Excuse me? 

The USA military needs to be a very real review of the readiness of it's soldiers before it can call itself battle readiness. Simply owning war technology doesn't make a ready military.

Syria is not our ally and the USA does not belong there. The UN has set a power sharing government for Syria's path.

The war front with Daesh is domestic.

Countries need to secure their own sovereign borders by routing out extremists. Domestic policy regarding religious extremism should be addressed in a way that citizens can feel safe in their own lives.

There are very few reasons to engage in a forever war in the middle east if that domestic front is exposed to violence. 

This is not a new normal. This is an exposure that has to be resolved. It is possible to screen individuals that are adverse to a peaceful domestic existence.

In the USA defining a peaceful domestic existence is very difficult to define with all the adverse gun activity in the country. If anything gun violence has become the new normal because Republican majorities lack the back bone to actually legislate domestic peace.

December 14, 2015
By Alicia A. Caldwell and Tami Abdollah

Washington - The Obama administration (click here) is reviewing procedures for vetting would-be immigrants, with an eye toward examining applicants' online presence, to close security gaps in the U.S. visa system, the White House said Monday.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the Homeland Security and State departments have been asked to review the process for screening people who apply for visas and to return with specific recommendations.
The Homeland Security Department said it is specifically reviewing policies on when authorities at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services can look at social media posts as part of the vetting process for would-be immigrants applying for certain visas.
"I think the president's top priority here is the national security and safety of the American people," Earnest said. "And that will continue to be the case with ensuring that this K-1 visa program is effectively implemented."...

There is absolutely no reason for the USA to continue a military presence in Afghanistan, unless, Americans are arrested for human rights abuses to be held for hearings at the World Court. Otherwise, there is no reason for American troops in Afghanistan. 

The issue with the Taliban has been defined. The peace with the Taliban is political, unless the Taliban just want to kill the citizens of Afghanistan. If that is the case the power sharing government should be able to rally the country to end any killing mood of the Taliban.

The USA needs to remove any munitions that will cause a strengthening of the Taliban. The fact is the presence of the USA in Afghanistan brings with it large amounts of munitions that can be obtained by the Taliban. The presence of USA hardware and munitions adds to the domestic insecurity of the people of Afghanistan. The power sharing government needs to discern loyal troops within it's borders and protect from any uprising of the Taliban after the USA is out of the country. Afghanistan will have a far better opportunity for peaceful existence if the USA is gone from it's landscape. 

No one needs an arms race in the South China Sea.

There needs to be a peace process to this region. There are too many countries and populations of people to leave this to chance.

15 December 2015

The US Pacific Fleet Commander (click here) has warned of a possible arms race in the disputed South China Sea which could engulf the region, as it was revealed an Australian military plane had been challenged as it flew through the area.
Commander Admiral Scott Swift urged nations, like China, to seek arbitration to settle maritime disputes as nations become increasingly tempted to use military force to settle territorial spats instead of international law.
"My concern is that after many decades of peace and prosperity, we may be seeing the leading edge of a return of `might makes it right' to the region," Swift said on Monday in a speech in Hawaii, according to a copy seen by Reuters.
"Claimants and non-claimants alike are transferring larger shares of national wealth to develop more capable naval forces beyond what is needed merely for self defence," Swift said.
Asked about Swift's comments, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: "Certain countries are exaggerating tensions in the South China Sea region, which is in reality to create confusion and meddle in the South China Sea. China is resolutely opposed to this."
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $US5 trillion ($A6.90 trillion) of world trade ships every year, a fifth of it heading to and from US ports....

This has been an ongoing problem, but, muscle flexing with Australia was a mistake.

January 13, 2014
by Banyan
To Those who see China as an increasingly assertive, (click here) even expansionist, power, it offers yet more proof of its determination to establish authority even over fiercely disputed land and water. On January 1st new fishing regulations from the government of Hainan, China’s southernmost province, came into effect. They require all vessels planning to fish in waters in the South China Sea that are under Hainan’s jurisdiction first to secure the approval of the relevant Chinese authorities. Since China’s claims in the South China Sea are contentious, the rules seem very likely to provoke. That is probably not in fact China’s intention, but its neighbours do have cause to worry.

The Philippines and Vietnam, the littoral countries with the most active territorial disputes with China, were quick to condemn the regulations. America called the rules “provocative and potentially dangerous”. Japan’s defence minister, Itsunori Onodera, made explicit the link many had seen with China’s unexpected announcement in November of an Air-Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) over parts of the East China Sea, including the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands administered by Japan. He expressed concern that China was “unilaterally threatening the existing international order”....

The countries challenging China for elbow room in the South China Sea do not have the resources to fight any kind of war. The countries along the South China Sea have concentrated their national efforts in building an economy and reputation. That was the very correct concern of these countries. All they ask is peace and access to continue to carry out their economic strategies. China does not have a military worry to it's sovereign rights along it's shoreline. There is no reason for China to make life difficult in the South China Sea. A peace pact has to be drawn up to provide for the well being of all the diversity of people in this region of the world. 

China has been a heroic peace partner in this region of the Pacific Ocean. There is no reason to believe any country is challenging its sovereign presence in the Pacific, but, there are limits to sovereign borders of China. Just because no one wants war or in this case can afford war, it is not permission for China to take on expansionist strategies to it's national security. 

China has achieved incredible milestones in the past two decades and is respected as a country with advanced technology, including space exploration. China is esteemed globally and to diminish it's presence by wrongful treatment of it's neighbors is a mistake. China needs to rethink it's plans for it's military presence. I think the region is so very diverse it lends itself to misunderstandings and enforcement of any country's sovereignty. This confrontation with Australia is serious, but, it is also a clear indication these countries need to be talking and setting goals for shared spaces in the Pacific. 

President Obama has been very successful in building a benevolent relationship with China, there is more work to be done.