Thursday, March 02, 2017

OMG, the flight suit moment!

How apropos.

Mission Accomplished!

March 2, 2017
By Karoun Demirjian

Washington - President Donald Trump (click here) says he ‘‘wasn’t aware’’ that his attorney general —former Sen. Jeff Sessions — had contact with the Russian ambassador during last year’s White House campaign.


Trump made the comment in Newport News, Virginia, before giving a speech aboard the USS Gerald Ford....

Give me a break. His former cabinet and this cabinet has members that are less than sincere about the security of the USA. This is a president out of touch who thinks he can simply play Halloween dress up and everything is all better.

He does not have control of his administration and he has not had control of his election team before or after the election, either.

This is not about image, it is about the profound security of this country. Trump himself should be giving Sessions another look. This is outrageous. We are not interested in the show, we want a country based on sound values with a sustainable future.

While Emperors of Fake News, Fox News defiles American media, the Neo-Nazis are carry on the crusade elsewhere.

Fox News may not be flying the Iron Cross they are aligned directly with Neo-Nazis.

The Ultra White have no moral compass. They want power. If it comes at a price then let that price be paid in favors to cronies. Simple. But, what cronies don't realize is that once in power, they can fall victim to that power as well.

March 2, 2017
By Jorge Branco

Göring, Keitel, Himmler, Hitler. Three men with Iron Crosses, and one civilian.

A prominent neo-Nazi website (click here) has reviled the Brisbane Times and Fairfax Media in response to a story highlighting a Queensland tradie's move to sponsor the website.

The Daily Stormer, one of the world's most visited neo-Nazi blogs, labelled Fairfax Media "main pig filth", "Tel Aviv's attack dog" and a defender of the "Jew World Order".

The comments came after Queensland electrician and airconditioner installer Simon Hickey emerged as the site's only corporate sponsor, drawing condemnation from a Jewish civil rights organisation.

"The Brisbane Times, which is owned by the biggest fake news media organization in Australia, has attempted to pull the plug on the Daily Stormer's sole corporate sponsor: an Aussie electrician," the Daily Stormer wrote in a post published overnight.

"Fairfax Media, the owner of this bush league rag, is like Tel Aviv's attack dog. It has made a practice of seeking out and defaming anyone that opposes the Jew World Order."

Both Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin and Smerff Electrical owner Mr Hickey refused to answer questions about the original article, although Mr Hickey did send an email criticising the "Lamestream Media Fake News"....


One of the places Americans agree about guns are background checks.

August 13, 2015

Two years (click here) after the failure of Senate legislation to expand background checks on gun purchases, the public continues to overwhelmingly support making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks. Currently, 85% of Americans – including large majorities of Democrats (88%) and Republicans (79%) – favor expanded background checks, little changed from May 2013 (81%)....

That has always been the case, but, because of Republican obstructionism the bills written were never passed into law. Today, the new administration is attacking the provisions that do exist.

February 28, 2017
By Merrit Kennedy 

President Trump signed (click here) a measure into law Tuesday that rescinds an Obama-era rule aimed at blocking gun sales to certain mentally ill people.

The GOP-majority Senate passed the bill by a 57-43 margin earlier this month, following a House vote to overturn the rule.

The Obama administration policy "would have required the Social Security Administration to report the records of some mentally ill beneficiaries to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System," as The Two-Way has reported. "Those who have been deemed mentally incapable of managing their financial affairs — roughly 75,000 people — would have been affected by the rule."

It was strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association, and as NPR's Jessica Taylor reported, "Republicans argued it infringed upon Second Amendment rights by denying due process."...

Got that, if you are elderly you can purchase a gun even though a guardian needs to write the check. Some of that is somewhat reflected in other capacity such as voting. The disabled elderly can vote if proven competent regardless of their guardianship otherwise. But, President Obama didn't bring this to bear to be mean, he did it to save lives.

Am J Public Health. 2012 March; 102(3): 396–400.
By Brian Mertens, BA and Susan B. Sorenson, PhD

In the United States, (click here) more than 17 million people aged 65 years or older own a firearm. They have the highest rate of suicide by a firearm, and recent data suggest that a disproportionate number apply to carry a concealed weapon. At least one new handgun has been designed and marketed for older people....

That designer gun can be fired regardless of paralysis.

In 2008, Constitution Arms, a New Jersey–based firearms manufacturing company, announced plans to produce the Palm Pistol, a single-chamber firing mechanism that could be fired via a squeeze ball instead of the standard trigger...

Where there is a dollar to be made, hell awaits.

There is only one reason to use this handgun. It sure ain't for hunting.

The link to the article doesn't work when transferred. Kindly see addresses below regarding this disgusting product.

Accepted on: Aug 4, 2011

Current Considerations About the Elderly and Firearms

Brian MertensBA, and Susan B. SorensonPhD

At the time that this article was written, Brian Mertens was with the Health and Societies program, and Susan B. Sorenson with the School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Correspondence should be sent to Susan B. Sorenson, School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania, 3815 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (e-mail: sorenson@sp2.upenn.edu). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the “Reprints/Eprints” link.

Peer Reviewed

Contributors

B. Mertens originated the idea, wrote the first draft, and contributed to revisions. S. B. Sorenson supervised the development of the article, analyzed data, drafted sections of the article, and contributed to revisions.

This is the kind of garbage Americans get from Republicans. They cater to cronies regardless of the unethical and dangerous extreme to our society.

Outlawing this type of handgun from the elderly is a pubic health issue.

The article can also be obtained from the "American Journal of Public Health."

The focus is on marketing vulnerability. The elderly differ as well in emotional status. Basically, it looks as though the Republicans want to resolve the "Baby Boomer" issue through violence.

...MARKET CONSIDERATIONS
To tap into the expanding elderly market, which, as a group, has substantial disposable income, manufacturers and service providers must create and provide products and services that the elderly want and can use. Firearms are no exception. Long guns (rifles and shotguns, which law enforcement officers describe as the weapon of choice for home protection) can be heavy and awkward to handle. Given the various infirmities and physical limitations that develop with age, it may be reasonable to assume that, if an elderly person wants to purchase a firearm, he or she will likely buy a handgun.

In anticipation of a firearm purchase, an elderly person may turn to a variety of informational sources. They may, like many people who are interested in purchasing a firearm, consult their friends and families for advice and information. They may also seek advice from staff at the more than 62 500 federally licensed firearm dealers in the United States or refer to printed sources for information. Some regional newspapers include firearm advertisements in their classified ad section. The United States also has nearly three dozen different monthly or semimonthly magazines about firearms. Photographs, product reviews, and the large print of several magazines make them a useful resource for elders. At least one firearms magazine addresses the elderly directly. The Armed Senior Citizen, a monthly column in Concealed Carry Magazine, is available in print and online. Columns such as “Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks” and “Senior Citizen Defensive Realities” advise senior citizens on how they can protect themselves with a gun....

Now in DC, a Jacqueline E. Lawton inspired play about Valerie Plame.

March 1, 2017
By Alan Katz
JL: Yes, the Power Plays series.
AK: Which is a series of commissions from Arena. So, what was the mission part of your commission?
JL: When I got the call for the commission, we knew it would be about DC politics and power [which is part of the series]. I knew that I wanted a woman at the center of the play. A woman whose experience influenced the political landscape and shaped the conversations that we have. There’s so many people who that could be.
One important thing that I brought to the play was my family experience: my father and grandfather were both in military intelligence. So I’ve always been transfixed by the CIA and the world of intelligence. When you look at intelligence, it’s all about gathering information so that a decision can be made. But the thing is, those decisions are based on the shape of the intelligence as it is presented. What gets dangerous is when intelligence is influenced by ideology. That’s exactly what happened in 2003 when Bush took us into Iraq.
We went into Iraq based on a series of lies, and there’s no getting around that. It wasn’t like 1991. There weren’t mass graves. They weren’t 6 months away from being able to  launch missiles into Israel. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Then something interesting happened. This diplomat, Joseph Wilson, was sent to investigate something that the government already knew to be untrue: that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy uranium from Niger. Then he wrote an article for the New York Times called “What I Didn’t Find in Africa,” and because it revealed these administration lies, there was a big effort to retaliate, to embarrass or otherwise discredit him. That’s when this group of powerful men in the administration—Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney—out Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA covert operative. And they did so to prove nepotism, which used to be something no one wanted to be accused of in the government....

Freedom of Assembly is now a target for immigration agents.

Ms Vargas is a high profile Dreamer. She was targeted so intimidate others.

As of 2015, (click here) Mississippi had 72,258 people living within it's borders were foreign born. Of that less than two-thirds were noncitizen (without naturalization papers). That number 72,258 equates to about 2.4 percent of all Citizens. 

Ms. Vargas had status in DACA since 2012, renewed in 2014, but, fell short of funds needed (nearly $500) to file again in 2016. She currently refiled with her paid fee and the case is pending. But, technically is not a noncitizen of Argentine origins, although she hardly remembers her native home.

Ms. Vargas is a Dreamer and needs to remain in the USA to carry out her plans of an advanced education that will benefit the USA.

March 1, 2017
By Jennie Jarvie
A 22-year-old immigrant (click here) who was in the process of renewing her status to remain in the country legally was detained by immigration agents Wednesday shortly after she spoke at a news conference of her hope that “Dreamers” and other immigrants be given a path to citizenship.
Daniela Vargas, an Argentine citizen who was brought to the county when she was 7 and later received protection from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Jackson, Miss., as she and a friend drove from a rally and news conference, according to her attorney, Abigail Peterson.
Two law enforcement vehicles pulled over Vargas and her friend just minutes after they left the event organized by immigration attorneys, pastors and activists outside Jackson City Hall. According to her friend, Peterson said, four officers opened the doors to her friend’s car, took Vargas out, handcuffed her and took her into custody.
“They asked questions like, ‘Do you know who we are?’” Peterson said. “‘You know why we’re here?’”...

Parties that normally would not see the light of day across the spectrum of politics are using the "Trump Muslim Hate Model" to gain acceptance.

That hate model does not necessarily hold up to the sunshine. Australia has had it's problems with terrorists no different than the USA. They are domestic and inspired. That fear of being hurt or killed brings different loyalties during elections. 

March 3, 2017
By John Hewson

When I first got involved in public policy (click here for audio) in the early 1970s I did so in the belief that good, evidence-based policy would be good politics and ensure good government with a relatively short lag.

Since then, the accelerating drift to short-term, populist, opportunistic politics has increasingly worked against serious policy development and good government. "Evidence" has been progressively replaced by misrepresentation, fear and prejudice....

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia got it right.

March 2, 2017
By Paul McGeough

Washington: Scandals are cruel. (click here for audio) Dogged by a trio of Russia-related rackets, Donald Trump learnt late on Wednesday local time that, inevitably, they control a president.
Last week the administration was in damage-control mode after disclosures that Trump's Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had been pressuring the FBI's two most senior leaders to "knock down" a report by The New York Times, which disclosed that communications intercepts had revealed an inordinate level of communication between the Trump campaign and people in Russia last year....

For USA allies negotiating environmental provisions with the USA, realize how one species impacts the entire carbon load of one USA national park.

Donald Trump's cabinet is disarming protections for the national parks. There are rare buffaloes heading to market. Everything has to have a profit. Open hunting on any creature is more than likely.

Tourism means nothing to him unless it accompanies a golf course.

It is impossible to build in Yellowstone, it is a caldera. It may as well be magnificent in it's own right.

The Russian Invasion needs an independent prosecutor. The US House is diverting the issue.

March 1, 2017
By Michael B. Marois

A congressional investigation of Russian interference (click here) in last year’s presidential election will also look at whether classified information gathered by U.S. spy agencies was leaked to the public.

The House Committee on Intelligence said Wednesday it would look at what Russian activities were directed against the U.S. during the election and whether anyone connected to the campaigns was involved. It would also examine if classified information about the intelligence community’s assessment of the hack was improperly disclosed....

They are separate issues that carry different degrees of brevity. The Russian Invasion needs to be handled by a special prosecutor and the US House can go forward with a domestic leak investigation. The very fact Sessions is involved and never disclosed the facts demands a special prosecutor.

When is the USA bringing Snowden home?

March 1, 2017
By Matthew Rosenberg, Adam Goldman and Michael S. Schmidt

Washington — In the Obama administration’s last days, (click here) some White House officials scrambled to spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election — and about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russians — across the government. Former American officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isn’t duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators.

American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials — and others close to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin — and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence.

Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trump associates....

President Obama did what, as the President of the United States, he was suppose to do; he investigated an attack on the USA.

There are no guarantees Trump will do the same thing. Trump has far different priorities and most likely will hobble any further investigation into Russia's interference with USA elections.

A special prosecutor is required!