Wednesday, January 24, 2018

This is the level of fear the right wing media likes to enjoy. As if people can do anything about a nuclear detonation.

January 24, 2018
By Martin Walsh

While North Korea (click here) has frequently threatened to launch nuclear missiles at the United States, the U.S. has vowed to defend itself at all costs.

As such, many may not be aware of how powerful and deadly a nuclear attack would be if it ever occurred, especially on our own shores.

The website NuclearSecrecy.com features an interactive nuclear map that allows viewers to visually see the effects certain nuclear attacks would have on an area....

This is some of the most irresponsible journalism that exists. It propagates fear, even onto Twitter and Facebook without empowering people. To understand such a map is one thing, but, to allow the fear to exist it propagates without providing insight to how the USA addresses such threats, INCLUDING THE PURSUIT OF PEACE, is appalling to realize it is a political paradigm being staged.

There is no real answer to a nuclear detonation. Even Preppers, no matter how much they like to think they can overcome such a heinous weapon, can't provide a world worth living in after such a detonation. This is not simply a tornado that people can emerge from a storm cellar after the minutes of terror passes over. A nuclear detonation is a devastation for a very long time. There are people in Japan that still suffer from effects 

September 2, 2018
By Matt Schudel

On Aug. 9, 1945, (click here) Sumiteru Taniguchi was delivering mail on his bicycle in Nagasaki, Japan. At 11:02 a.m., he noticed a rainbow-like flash and was thrown to the ground.

"When I looked up," he said in a 1994 interview later broadcast on PBS, "the house I had just passed had been destroyed. The last house to which I distributed mail was still there. I also saw a child blown away. Big stones were flying in the air and one came down and hit me, then flew up again into the sky."...

Take a good look. A USA nuclear weapon did that. Why? Yes, Pearl Harbor, but, also because the USA could not fight a war on two fronts. The idea the USA can fight a war on two fronts is a myth. The second war front is destroyed by unthinkable weapons that will now in the year 2018 be met with a similar weapon to our country.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation is the only answer to this heinous weapon.

The excitement in the Pacific after the announcement by the Olympic Committee that North Korea and South Korea would be entering together is growing. 

Yesterday, China stated it would entertain the idea of a "One Korea" pursuit if it were based in peace. Today, the Japanese Prime Minister announced he would be attending the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. 

If this simple act by a Communist leader could create this degree of hope, it is more than exciting, it is inspiring. I look forward to more hope among the people that can't be destroyed.

Why worry about getting the 4 page memo from the Republicans, just ask Putin for it, her probably wrote it.

January 24, 2018
By Anthony Zurcher

...Mr Nunes made headlines (click here) last March when he visited the White House and then publicly announced that some members of Donald Trump's post-election team had been the subject of "incidental surveillance" by US intelligence agencies. He later had to step down from overseeing the Russian hearings because he was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for possibly sharing classified intelligence with the White House. He has since been cleared in the matter by the ethics panel, but he has not returned to his previous position.

The four-page memo is said to draw on highly classified information about FBI surveillance practices that, according to many of the Republicans who have read it, were abused by the intelligence community in order to undermine Mr Trump's campaign and, subsequently, his presidency.

The memo reportedly asserts that the decision to begin surveillance of Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page was based on the so-called Steele dossier - the collection of largely unsubstantiated raw intelligence gathered by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele. That set the ball rolling for broader investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, an inquiry that continues, under the direction of special counsel Robert Mueller, to this day.
Members of the intelligence community dispute this claim and insist that Page was on the counter-intelligence radar long before the dossier research, which was funded by anti-Trump conservatives and later Democrats, was ever circulated....


If President Trump was worried about incidental surveillance that early on in his administration, there is seriously something wrong. A person caught in incidental surveillance collection other than a spouse or casual friend seriously may have something to worry about.

There is a lot of backroom meetings in the Congress these days. The Democratic Senators are stating they don't even know where the meetings are being held as they are never included. I am sure Minority Speaker Pelosi is seeing the same thing. It only reflects the demand by Trump for complete loyalty to his agenda. That is my opinion.

Donny, Jr. is involved and he has been involved directly with the Russians. I am curious as to any contact Nunes has had with the Russians. Someone provided intelligence to Congress in this report. If it wasn't USA intelligence than who?

Trump is paranoid and insecure enough to believe the intelligence wasn't incidental, but, only looks that way and was conducted to ensnare Trump.

...Incidental collection (click here) happens when an individual is in contact with the target of surveillance. So if Bob were being targeted for surveillance and Alice called or emailed Bob, Alice’s communications with him would be collected incidentally. Incidental collection happens over the course of most surveillance, whether it is targeted surveillance under traditional FISA authorities, or it is large scale surveillance pursuant to Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act where vast amounts of Americans’ communications are swept up by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Under traditional FISA authorities, surveillance is targeted at a single person, and the NSA conducts it pursuant to a warrant based on probable cause that the target is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power. Here, if Bob is targeted for surveillance and Alice contacts him during that surveillance, resulting in the incidental collection of her communications with him, her name should be redacted or “masked” unless leaving it un-redacted provides foreign intelligence value....       

Sam Brownback can't seem to find a job he is good at. Evidently, Pence understands.

June 8, 2017
By David Mark

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (click here) has been among the nation’s least popular governors for much of 2017, Morning Consult polling shows. A recent legislative reversal of his signature tax-cut program in his state — by fellow Republicans no less — isn’t likely to help his standing.

Kansas lawmakers this week voted to raise taxes by more than $1 billion, rolling back much of Brownback’s five-year-old tax cut package that critics say dropped the Sunflower State into a deep fiscal hole. The GOP-controlled legislature overrode Brownback’s veto and enacted a hike on every Kansas family that pays income taxes. Businesses will also face higher taxes, among other belt-tightening provisions.

Before this week’s action, Brownback was deeply unpopular among his constituents, according to Morning Consult Governor Approval Rankings from April that found Brownback second-to-last behind New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R)....

You would think at some point in his presidency Trump would get tired of having an administration of inept people. I expected some kind of learning curve. It ain't happening as far as I can see.

January 24, 2018
By Sean Sullivan and Julie Zauzmer

The Senate narrowly confirmed (click here) Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback to a diplomatic post to promote religious freedom Wednesday, with GOP leaders needing the help of Vice President Pence to break a deadlock over his controversial nomination.

Brownback was confirmed to be ambassador at large for international religious freedom on a 50-49 margin, with all Democrats united against him and two Republicans absent. Pence cast the tiebreaking vote for Brownback in his role as president of the Senate.

The vote highlighted how polarizing a figure Brownback has become during what has been a divisive tenure as governor of Kansas. It also underscored how narrow the Senate Republican majority is, and illustrated the implications of that razor-thin margin for the GOP agenda....

A little advice for good 'ole Sam. Look, get a really good secretary and have him or her write all the reports. In his tour of the world at the country's expense, Sam may want to consider Russia his first stop.

Sam may want to meet with Mrs. Gingrich to get an inside track on how this religious stuff works internationally.

The Office of International Religious Freedom (click here) has the mission of promoting religious freedom as a core objective of U.S. foreign policy. The office is headed by the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. We monitor religious persecution and discrimination worldwide, recommend and implement policies in respective regions or countries, and develop programs to promote religious freedom.
Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:
  • Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries;
  • Assist emerging democracies in implementing freedom of religion and conscience;
  • Assist religious and human rights NGOs in promoting religious freedom;
  • Identify and denounce regimes that are severe persecutors on the basis of religious belief....

I find no coincidence in Trump stating he is looking forward to speaking to Former Director Mueller when Steve Bannon is set to be interviewed next. It is a threat to Bannon by Trump.

The threat alone is obstuction of justice. Trump is a very insecure man and it shows. He should be so concerned with the dead children in the USA due to gun violence. Trump will never allow an interview with Mueller. Trump knows he and Mueller will never meet.

January 24, 2018
By Sara Murray, Kara Scannell and Marshall Cohen

Washington - Special counsel Robert Mueller's team (click here) wants to question former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon about the firings of national security adviser Michael Flynn and FBI Director James Comey, according to two people familiar with the investigation.

Bannon is set to interview with Mueller by the end of the month, these people say, as the special counsel's investigation moves closer to President Donald Trump's inner circle. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was a witness to the firing of Comey, was interviewed last week, the Justice Department confirmed Tuesday.

In addition to the Comey and Flynn firings, key issues from Bannon's time in the White House are likely to include Trump's decision to fire then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates and any pressure the President may have exerted on Sessions about the FBI investigation into Russia's interference with the election....


How long with the USA allow guns to kill their kids?

There have been eleven school shootings in the USA in the first month of 2018.


16. Kentucky  (click here)

Kentucky comes in at number 16, with 13.5 guns for every 1,000 residents. That's 59,240 registered firearms among 4,395,295 people.
In this picture, a man and woman hold hands as they walk, both carrying several guns, at the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot in West Point, Kentucky.

Every legislator in the country should be concerned at the NEW epidemic of school shootings resulting in the deaths of innocent American children. it is becoming a daily event.

Wikipedia lists a total of seven school shootings in the USA in 2017. Not that it is acceptable, but, there is a marked change in the occurrence of these shootings and it is extremely alarming.

There are too many guns on the street and I don't care if conservative jerks believing in revolution because they are basically criminals run out to buy more guns and ammunition. THIS IS A SERIOUS ISSUE THE ENTIRE COUNTRY HAS TO DEAL WITH AND NOW!

Every elected official from city commissioners to mayors to governors to every federal Senate and House member need to address this increase in violence in our schools. This is happening across the country, including the much coveted charter schools.

There is only one way to control this and it is to control the number of guns on the street. Nothing else works. NOTHING ELSE WORKS.

I do not want to hear how the US Senate is joining arms to create a law for background checks that are politically neutral. Our children don't need pablum, they need laws that work.

Kentucky is Mitch McConnell's state. What is he doing about this new reality! Child shooters don't need background checks, they don't come across the southern border by motorized hand gliders or tunnels, they find their guns and they shoot them at classmates, teachers and administrators. Some even kill the parent that purchased the gun in the first place!

The women marching for equal rights and to end female oppression now need to march for their children as well. It would be helpful if Dad was among the marchers, too.

Background checks are simply not working for adults. We have witnessed wealthy gun owners killing innocent people at a concert with an enormous number of fire arms all legally purchased. Background checks aren't working. The young people of the USA are too vulnerable and for 11 shootings to occur in one month in the USA is more than alarming, it is a national emergency.

Law officers have surrendered their outrage and pain for these children and schools by say in Kentucky yesterday, "It will take a long time to heal from this and for some there will be no healing." That is not a law officer, that is a the processor to the undertaker. The law has resigned to the NRA and allow far too much violence in their communities. There is no reason to try to stop the pillage anymore, because, the shooters are better armed then them.

January 24, 2018

On Tuesday, (click here) it was a high school in small-town Kentucky. On Monday, a school cafeteria outside Dallas and a charter-school parking lot in New Orleans. And before that, a school bus in Iowa, a college campus in Southern California, a high school in Pierce County, near Seattle....

The "Conservative Tribune" wants to boycott a company that sells expensive men's pockets.

...“Invariably people say FOXNews (sic, again)” (click here)

“I laugh to myself, and tell them that we primarily advertise on Fox because we find their viewership to be extremely gullible and much easier to sell than (sic, yet again) other networks.”

I find the honesty of the CEO refreshing. Rupert Murdoch has spanned continents using fear and commonality as the basis of media that has caused chaos because there are so many lies laced in with the information content.

Murdoch has scandalized the UK, with exploits that were too personal and about a handicapped child of Former Prime Minister Brown. Murdoch has practically ended healthy competition in Australia's news media market. Local news outside of Murdoch's empire does succeed in some Aussie cities with some degree of success, but, the Murdoch dynasty has harnessed politics in his favor for decades now.

If one analyzes the effect of Rupert Murdoch across the free world it is one of scandal and assault on sound government values. Murdoch never cared about good government, he cared about personal power.

All of Murdoch's political successes are laced with the ability to scandalize any subject in a second of time. Yes, even Donny Trump.

There are statistics grossly ignored by research journalism. "How many officials in the free world are elected due to the Murdoch media dynasty?" How can a single media mogul render such power in countries around the world? 

Murdoch has a monoploy on power. That is as much an anti-trust issue as any other.