Thursday, August 11, 2016

The siege of Allepo has existed for four years. The Russians want to end it.

There is a conflict between the battle for Allepo and humantarian efforts. The military is concerned that a 48 hour cease fire will allow Daesh too much time to reconstitute for the next round of assault ending the seige.

The Russian jets have destroyed the training grounds for Daesh. The assault has goals and it is to end the stronghold in Allepo. The Russians need to place soldiers within the humanitarian caravan to provide insight to the military to allow humanitarian aid. It would be dangerous to place Assad forces among the NGOs. They would become targets. Maybe UN peacekeepers might be better. I would think if the majority of the targets were taken down, the NGOs could proceed within those areas if they were secured with ground forces.

May 10, 2016
...Back in Paris and London (click here) this week to discuss Syria with his European counterparts, Kerry has a hard time inspiring confidence in US diplomacy to find a solution to the country’s six-year-old civil war – a confrontation in which 400,000 have perished so far and created one of the greatest humanitarian crises since the end of the second world war.
The fate of Syria is held hostage by criminal warlords and a ruthless regime with vested interests in maintaining the status quo. Rival neighbouring states supply the resources, the weapons, and much of the impetus that fuels the conflict and prolongs it. Scores of radical armed factions are more committed to battling each other than Bashar al-Assad, leading to the fragmentation of the opposition and the spreading of chaos on the battlefields....

The assault is ending a stalemate that has existed for too long. There is little to no diplomatic in roads that are succeeding.

August 11, 2016

...The offensive sought (click here) to break a siege by pro-government forces, who encircled the east in July with the support of Russian aircraft.
Earlier some of the last doctors in the rebel-held east of the city appealed to US President Barack Obama to come to the aid of the 250,000 civilians there.
They said that in the past month there had been 42 attacks on medical facilities in Syria, 15 of them on hospitals where they work.
On Monday, the UN said countless civilians had been killed or injured in Aleppo in recent weeks and hospitals and clinics had continued to be targeted.
Moreover, attacks on civilian infrastructure had left more than two million people without electricity or access to the public water network for several days, it added.

Donald Trump really needs to tone down the rhetoric.

August 10, 2016
By Eli Panken

..."He was climbing (click here) for a while and I could see that he was getting tired," Emergency Service Unit Det. Christopher Williams, the officer who grabbed the climber and pulled him inside, said after the incident was over.
"And I said, 'If you lock this in, at least if you get tired we will have you, and you won't fall.' And he refused to take the line — his thing was he wanted to go talk to Trump," Williams said.
The man's sole purpose was to meet Trump, and after he was taken into custody he asked to meet the GOP nominee, NYPD Chief of Detectives William Aubrey said. The climber was taken for a psychological evaluation.
Emergency services on the scene removed windows and vents in order to create openings to the climber, who used five suction cups during his attempt. They also set up inflatable "airbags" in case he fell. The man changed his path multiple times in order to avoid officers leaning out of the tower....

The four person race effects the Hillary Clinton's gap to a victory by two points.

In a two person race Hillary Clinton maintains a lead of 6 points, but, when two other candidates are added the lead falls to 4 percent.

According to Bloomberg (click here) Donald Trump is effected more than Clinton with two additional candidates.

Noteworthy is the face there is still an undecided in both polls. The undecided falls by 50 percent with the additional two candidates.

Candidates have to have 15 percent of the electorate in polls in order to participate in the national debates. 

In a political climate favoring an outsider to the establishment it is still going to be a volatile election season. I'd like to hear about the efforts regarding the political revolution of Bernie Sanders. He can have a profound impact on the Libertarian and Green Party candidates.

Gary Johnson is attractive to many people because he is a competent leader with experience as a governor. Jill Stein is a physician and would bring the country health insurance that would work for everyone. Democrats are well invested in the ACA and would seek her out for that reason alone. Bernie Sanders can effectively address the shortcomings of both these two candidates by injecting policy across the board rather than as a focus on simple qualifications.  

August 10, 2016
By Michael Addady
 
Bernie Sanders’ campaign (click here) may have ended, but his platform seems to live on in Jill Stein.
The Green Party candidate outlined what she would want to accomplish as president in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box saying, “As the only candidate that is not poisoned by corporate money, lobbyists, or Super PACs, I can actually stand up for what it is that we need.”...

Jill Stein carries the banner of health care and aggressive reductions in fossil fuels. Her platform is similar Sanders but departs from it on student debt. She wants The Federal Reserve to purchase student debt in the same manner it treated a soft economy, "Quantitative Easing." Her plan would purchase the student debt and agree not to collect on it into the future.

Jill Stein sees enormous employment growth. What such cancellation of debt would do is increase the housing market and other large purchases such as cars. Instead of paying a large monthly student debt every month, former students would be paying for a mortgage. Student debt is an enormous drag on the USA economy. If that payment on student debt was held by The Fed there would be a significant uptick in cash flow through the entire economy.

The hurdle to such a plan is The Fed itself. While buying back bonds from Wall Street appears to be the same thing, there are differences. In this case, The Fed would have to purchase student debt directly from the US Government. That is a far different policy and there is no precedent for it.

December 21, 2016
By Courtney Miller
 
...Over 70% of this debt (click here) is owed to the federal government, making Uncle Sam the largest holder of nonrevolving American consumer debt, with $932 billion owed to it....

If the Fed were to investigate that possibility and adapt a policy, the student loan debt relief by The Fed can still go forward regardless of who is our next president. Banks should approach The Fed about such possibilities. It is noted that Jill Stein was the first candidate to explore this possibility

June 4, 2015
...ACA International (click here) joined this discussion at a recent forum on student loan debt hosted by the CFPB in Milwaukee that focused on the conversation between regulators, student loan servicers and borrowers.
Richard George, president and CEO of ACA International member company Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation in Madison, Wis., said during the forum that improvements to communication are needed, noting that there is a great deal of concern among loan servicers about how to provide relief to overburdened consumers with student loans, especially those who do not finish their education.
A recent survey from We Are Hope Inc., a nonprofit organization serving organizations and businesses in northeast Wisconsin, shows nearly half (49 percent) of the individuals who responded have more than $30,000 in student loans....

The problem with this plan is the fact it would not remain a reduction in the US national debt. Ms. Stein wants to pay for tuition (I am assuming to public colleges and universities). That would return more debt to the country and begin the problem of negating the progress on the national debt. 

Gary Johnson is rock solid in his policies. He is Libertarian through and through. He has policies that attract both Democratic and Republican party voters. He is a sincere concern to the final outcome in November if his percentages in the polls begin to move up, especially if he starts hitting double digits. 

He needs to talk about his policies.

Donald Trump has been blaming President Obama for Daesh for months now, but, the co-founder thing is new. I guess most people weren't getting the idea on their own. His identity politics isn't working. He needs to be a leader and end the hate rhetoric. The identity politics worked for him in the primaries, but, it isn't working now. People want answers not hate. At least most Americans do.

August 10, 2016
By David Caplan

Donald Trump (click here) made a startling accusation against President Barack Obama during a Florida rally Wednesday night, telling supporters that the commander in chief is the "founder of ISIS."
"ISIS is honoring president Obama," the Republican presidential nominee said during a rally at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla. "He is the founder of ISIS. He founded ISIS. And, I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton.
Trump's declaration was met with chants of "Lock her up!" from rally-goers.
In addressing Obama, Trump included the president's middle name, calling him Barack Hussein Obama -- a move that's typically been employed by those who claim Obama is secretly a Muslim....