No matter what went on with Facebook, I sincerely believe he never intended for any malicious use.
Senator Grassley always manages to say something that brings insight. It is true, Mark Zukerberg was born in the USA in 1984. He isn't from the US Senator Grassley's state of Iowa, but, from White Plains, New York. In the year 2004 he launched a website that attracted a great deal of attention over the years and he was a millionaire in no time. Mark Zuckerberg is living the American Dream on steroids.
It was the perfect storm for him and I congratulate him on his success and his ability to apply the knowledge he obtained into the company he pilots today. He is a great person and has meet leaders from every major country in the world. He is innocent of wrong doing, he is guilty of being one of the most successful young men in American history.
I think when he came up with "terms and conditions" which allowed him to collect all sorts of data, it was a matter of his own company's security. That came evident when he even collected data on people who came to the site, but, didn't join Facebook. No one can blame him for collecting data for the sake of protecting his invention.
Facebook has been so cutting edge in every way, there was nothing anyone could do but allow self-governance. What happened to the discussion of "net neutrality?"
Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites.
Well?
There is no way anyone can point a finger at Mr. Zuckerberg and his invention and state there is some degree of responsibility for loose use of Facebook when net neutrality WAS GOVERNANCE.
What occurred with the 2016 elections is very worrisome and I believe it attacks the USA sovereignty. Mark Zuckerberg never intended for an attack on the USA. What occurred in 2016 was a deliberate attack on the USA's power by Russia. While everyone was languishing in absolute freedom of expression on Facebook (within some limits of laws governing pedophilia, etc.) little did most realize the strongest hate speech was coming from Russians that had no interest in conservative voters best outcome, only their own.
Mr. Zuckerberg has had incredible opportunity in his life and incredible challenges the real world handed him without any guidance at all. I think he is a hell of a guy. He lives in a house surrounded by houses he owns just so he and his wife can have some sanity. That housing strategy was rather interesting as well. It has no bounds and one can wonder with such a person understanding a life of internet freedom, how it was built and continues to grow, how much physical land in the real world actually brings a sense of privacy and protection to him.
I don't know what kind of concoction of words and will resulted from his testimony. I have a feeling everyone in the US Congress, with their own political ambitions, will assert their ideas as necessary to control the internet. Most of the stuff will be hogwash and the courts will contend with it, but, I think Mark Zuckerberg was also helpful in his candor and willingness to participate in a very serious topic faced by the US Congress.
He, his talented wife and his expert staff (a to die for staff the US military wish was at it's disposal) should write their own law and when the US Congress writes theirs;' compare it and begin to roll back aspects that are unfair and unworkable. I am confident the US Congress will exert laws that will translate into plenty of computer glitches and will be unworkable for Facebook.
I wish him, his family and his company great success. I think, after today, he should continue to work on the best way forward. I trust his intellect.
April 11, 2018
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (click here) opened his testimony Tuesday on Capitol Hill with an apology — one that he’s repeated often since first acknowledging the firm Cambridge Analytica had improperly used personal information from as many as 87 million of the tech giant’s users: “I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”
But that wasn’t good enough for many of the 44 senators who grilled Zuckerberg during a five-hour hearing on how Facebook handles user privacy. The lawmakers, from the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees, focused on the company’s knowledge of its users, where and how that information was shared, whether its practices were legal, and what Facebook was doing to prevent a massive data breach from happening again.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., suggested Facebook was a monopoly, one that may need to have more federal oversight. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked Zuckerberg whether he’d be comfortable sharing what hotel he stayed in last night. When Zuckerberg, after a long, nervous pause, said “no,” Durbin pointed out that that’s exactly the kind of user information his company shares with advertisers....
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Former Director Mueller had nothing to do with the search warrants.
I sincerely doubt the US Attorney is the puppet of Director Mueller. Besides, NY is carrying investigations regarding other cases of sexual assault. This is just another one.
I am quite surprised President Trump is deceiving the public by stating Director Mueller was involved in these decisions. I am quite sure the FBI and the US Attorney for New York are capable of conducting their own warrants, search and seizure.
President Trump has already stated he wasn't involved in Mr. Cohen's payments.
April 9, 2018
By Kevin Johnson, Fredreka Schouten and David Jackson
..."Today, (click here) the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York executed a series of search warrants and seized the privileged communications between my client, Michael Cohen, and his clients," Ryan said in a statement.
Ryan called the action "completely inappropriate and unnecessary."
"It resulted in the unnecessary seizure of protected attorney-client communications between a lawyer and his clients," Ryan said. "These government tactics are also wrong because Mr. Cohen has cooperated completely with all government entities, including providing thousands of non-privileged documents to the Congress and sitting for depositions under oath."...
A Marine General decided civilians were fair territory. Isn't it interesting that when a President finds "fake news" a convenient place to hide, those under his command mimic him at first opportunity?
April 11, 2018
By Tom Vanden Brook
...The allegations that Stein disparaged, (click here) first reported by USA TODAY in February, involved two civilian employees who said a Marine officer had made several sexual overtures to them. The allegations initially were deemed unfounded, but the Marine Corps Commandant, Gen. Robert Neller, ordered a new investigation of the claims in March.
The Marine Corps confirmed that Stein had been suspended by Neller after an anonymous tip about his comments at the National Museum of the Marine Corps was phoned into the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Why makes comments at all with an ongoing investigation? I guess it was going to make it all go away. Go figure.
I am quite surprised President Trump is deceiving the public by stating Director Mueller was involved in these decisions. I am quite sure the FBI and the US Attorney for New York are capable of conducting their own warrants, search and seizure.
President Trump has already stated he wasn't involved in Mr. Cohen's payments.
April 9, 2018
By Kevin Johnson, Fredreka Schouten and David Jackson
..."Today, (click here) the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York executed a series of search warrants and seized the privileged communications between my client, Michael Cohen, and his clients," Ryan said in a statement.
Ryan called the action "completely inappropriate and unnecessary."
"It resulted in the unnecessary seizure of protected attorney-client communications between a lawyer and his clients," Ryan said. "These government tactics are also wrong because Mr. Cohen has cooperated completely with all government entities, including providing thousands of non-privileged documents to the Congress and sitting for depositions under oath."...
A Marine General decided civilians were fair territory. Isn't it interesting that when a President finds "fake news" a convenient place to hide, those under his command mimic him at first opportunity?
April 11, 2018
By Tom Vanden Brook
...The allegations that Stein disparaged, (click here) first reported by USA TODAY in February, involved two civilian employees who said a Marine officer had made several sexual overtures to them. The allegations initially were deemed unfounded, but the Marine Corps Commandant, Gen. Robert Neller, ordered a new investigation of the claims in March.
The Marine Corps confirmed that Stein had been suspended by Neller after an anonymous tip about his comments at the National Museum of the Marine Corps was phoned into the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Why makes comments at all with an ongoing investigation? I guess it was going to make it all go away. Go figure.
"We expect every Marine, uniformed and civilian — and particularly those in leadership positions — to take allegations of misconduct seriously and to promote positive command climates," said Lt. Col. Chris Devine, a Marine spokesman. "As a Corps we are committed to fully investigating and holding ourselves accountable when those allegations are shown to be true. Leaders have a responsibility to ensure that their Marines and civilian employees believe they will be taken seriously if they come forward with allegations of misconduct of any kind."
The office Stein commands handles sexual assault prevention and response for the Marine Corps....
Why not trails right here in the USA? Perhaps the FDA is making medical science too sterile.
April 11, 2018By Karen Weintraub
...Now, (click here) a new study suggests the wound healing that follows surgery may trigger this spread.
As the immune system works to heal the surgical scar, it stops restraining cancer cells that have already wandered far from the tumor site, according to the study published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine. Without this brake, those cancer cells are free to grow and become new, more dangerous tumors.
“It's not the actual surgery, but instead it's the post-surgical wound response,” said Robert Weinberg, the paper’s senior author and a biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It is provoking already disseminated cells to begin to grow into clinically detectable metastases.”
The good news is that the same study suggests there may be a simple solution: taking an anti-inflammatory drug.
A few days of anti-inflammatory therapy kept the immune brake engaged in mice and prevented spread, according to the study. Other research in people has already hinted at the same benefit, although more studies are needed to confirm it....
I don't know why the trials have to take place in Nigeria. Why can't the trials be held right here in the USA. Ketrolac and a placebo. Ketrolac is a fairly benign medication. It has a few side effects and there is always the question of any medication resulting in an allergic reaction. To avoid an allergy after surgery, provide a dose before the surgery.
Side effects:
- upset stomach, mild nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, constipation;
- mild heartburn, stomach pain, bloating, gas;
- dizziness, headache, drowsiness;
- sweating; or.
- ringing in your ears.
Besides, why do women in Nigeria have to carry all the risk and benefits?
...Retsky hopes trials will begin soon in Nigeria to test the benefits of adding ketorolac, which is often used in lieu of opioid painkillers, to the surgical process....
The best excuse is "continues to be a distraction."
April 11, 2018
Forty-two years after founding (click here) one of the nation’s most influential evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Bill Hybels told his congregation Tuesday night that he would step down from the helm of Willow Creek Community Church six months ahead of schedule.
His departure comes less than a month after a Chicago Tribune investigation disclosed that Hybels had been the subject of inquiries by church leaders into claims that he ran afoul of church teachings by engaging in inappropriate behavior with women in his congregation — including employees — allegedly spanning decades. The inquiries had cleared Hybels....
...Referring to his wife, he said, “It has been extremely painful for Lynne and I to see this controversy continue to be a distraction.”...
The real reason for leaving the church is:
...He also announced that he would not lead the church’s Global Leadership Summit, an annual event featuring leaders from business, government, entertainment and churches hosted by the Willow Creek Association, a nonprofit dedicated to leadership development, where Hybels had planned to focus his energy after retirement....
The money. Today, there is little tolerance to sexual assault or misconduct. It's the money.
...“I too often placed myself in situations that would have been far wiser to avoid,” he said, adding: “I was naive about the dynamics those situations created. … I commit to never putting myself into similar situations again.”...
The real evil ones are the liars.
...Vonda Dyer, a former leader of the church’s vocal ministry, who told the Tribune that Hybels kissed and caressed her stomach in an overseas hotel suite 20 years ago, said she stayed silent for decades because she had confronted Hybels privately and believed her encounters were isolated incidents.
Evidently, a country full of women believed their encounters were isolated or oppressed by a non-disclosure agreement. It is amazing. Just amazing.
“I believe the women who have come forward because our stories are so similar,” she wrote. “For the sake of the other women and for the sake of the church, I cannot stay silent.”
Betty Schmidt, a current member and former elder, said that current elders had misrepresented what she told them when she met with them 15 months ago....
...The Chicago Tribune examined allegations investigated by elders and other claims of inappropriate behavior by Hybels by interviewing current and former church members, elders and employees, as well as reviewing hundreds of emails and internal records.
The alleged behavior included suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss and invitations to hotel rooms. It also included an allegation of a prolonged consensual affair with a married woman who later said her claim about the affair was not true, the Tribune found....
...He also served as a spiritual adviser to President Bill Clinton around the time of the Monica Lewinsky scandal....
The hearings surrounding the Lewinsky affair resulted in the resignation of three Speakers of the House.
Three politicians (click here) (Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston, and Dennis Hastert) served or nearly served as Speakers of the House during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton; all three men experienced public sex scandals of varying severity.
Where were we? Women were "looking younger," tummy tucks and facelifts because Monica was the dreaded "younger woman." Women were not out marching. At least today they are marching.
December 20, 1998
Fearing (click here) that a controversy over his sexual past would undercut his power and tear apart his family, Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) yesterday told an astounded House he will not assume the speakership he claimed last month but would instead resign from Congress next year....
Just amazing. The priority of power over family is interesting, too. See, it was his power that enabled his sexual escapades. If the power is gone, then so is the family.
I guess Hybel was losing his power and then, "oops" there goes the family. What awaits a man with a family in such circumstances is divorce, alimony and child support.
Yep.
Forty-two years after founding (click here) one of the nation’s most influential evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Bill Hybels told his congregation Tuesday night that he would step down from the helm of Willow Creek Community Church six months ahead of schedule.
His departure comes less than a month after a Chicago Tribune investigation disclosed that Hybels had been the subject of inquiries by church leaders into claims that he ran afoul of church teachings by engaging in inappropriate behavior with women in his congregation — including employees — allegedly spanning decades. The inquiries had cleared Hybels....
...Referring to his wife, he said, “It has been extremely painful for Lynne and I to see this controversy continue to be a distraction.”...
The real reason for leaving the church is:
...He also announced that he would not lead the church’s Global Leadership Summit, an annual event featuring leaders from business, government, entertainment and churches hosted by the Willow Creek Association, a nonprofit dedicated to leadership development, where Hybels had planned to focus his energy after retirement....
The money. Today, there is little tolerance to sexual assault or misconduct. It's the money.
...“I too often placed myself in situations that would have been far wiser to avoid,” he said, adding: “I was naive about the dynamics those situations created. … I commit to never putting myself into similar situations again.”...
The real evil ones are the liars.
...Vonda Dyer, a former leader of the church’s vocal ministry, who told the Tribune that Hybels kissed and caressed her stomach in an overseas hotel suite 20 years ago, said she stayed silent for decades because she had confronted Hybels privately and believed her encounters were isolated incidents.
Evidently, a country full of women believed their encounters were isolated or oppressed by a non-disclosure agreement. It is amazing. Just amazing.
“I believe the women who have come forward because our stories are so similar,” she wrote. “For the sake of the other women and for the sake of the church, I cannot stay silent.”
Betty Schmidt, a current member and former elder, said that current elders had misrepresented what she told them when she met with them 15 months ago....
...The Chicago Tribune examined allegations investigated by elders and other claims of inappropriate behavior by Hybels by interviewing current and former church members, elders and employees, as well as reviewing hundreds of emails and internal records.
The alleged behavior included suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss and invitations to hotel rooms. It also included an allegation of a prolonged consensual affair with a married woman who later said her claim about the affair was not true, the Tribune found....
...He also served as a spiritual adviser to President Bill Clinton around the time of the Monica Lewinsky scandal....
The hearings surrounding the Lewinsky affair resulted in the resignation of three Speakers of the House.
Three politicians (click here) (Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston, and Dennis Hastert) served or nearly served as Speakers of the House during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton; all three men experienced public sex scandals of varying severity.
Where were we? Women were "looking younger," tummy tucks and facelifts because Monica was the dreaded "younger woman." Women were not out marching. At least today they are marching.
December 20, 1998
Fearing (click here) that a controversy over his sexual past would undercut his power and tear apart his family, Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) yesterday told an astounded House he will not assume the speakership he claimed last month but would instead resign from Congress next year....
Just amazing. The priority of power over family is interesting, too. See, it was his power that enabled his sexual escapades. If the power is gone, then so is the family.
I guess Hybel was losing his power and then, "oops" there goes the family. What awaits a man with a family in such circumstances is divorce, alimony and child support.
Yep.
At least the intercepts worked.
April 11, 2018
At least three loud blasts (click here) were heard and three clouds of smoke could be seen in the sky above the centre of Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on Wednesday, according to Reuters witnesses.
There was no immediate comment from the government.
Earlier on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's military brought down a Houthi drone at an airport in the southern city of Abha, Saudi-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya reported citing field sources.
The sources said air traffic was not interrupted.
Yemen's armed Houthi movement said earlier it had launched a drone strike on a facility belonging to state oil firm Saudi Aramco, though the company said its facilities there were operating "normally and safely"....
FOX News is licensing genocide. Case in point.
April 11, 2018
Fox News host Tucker Carlson (click here) let loose an epic rant arguing against U.S. military involvement in Syria after the latest chemical attack in the country. The Saturday attack, which left dozens dead, has yet to be answered by the U.S. or other Western governments, but Donald Trump has vowed that Assad will "pay a heavy price."
Carlson's rant called into question whether or not Assad was responsible for the chemical attack, claiming it was not in his interest, and Carlson even went as far as to suggest a similar attack last year was a false flag and the U.S. response was a clear mistake....
Neither the war between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, nor the civil war in Syria with spill over into Iraq and Turkey, should be viewed as right or just. They need to end and return peace to the region. There is absolutely no room for inflammatory commentary by FOX News. NONE!
The United Nations needs to start counting the numbers of inspirational media to war that exists. This is the beginning of licensing genocide and it needs to end.
The attack of chemical weapons wasn't necessary at all. There is no justification for it and the reason there has been no involvement by the USA or other Western powers, is because the facts are yet not disclosed. Any idea that such weapons can be used by anyone is the mistake Mr. Carlson is making. Chemical weapons do not solve any problem of war, they only escalate it.
I might remind anyone who cares, the United Kingdom is still the victim of a chemical weapons attack. None of this should be tolerated regardless the country.
10,000 people have died (click here) as a result of the war in Yemen, over 5,000 of them have been civilians.
Except we've been hearing that statistic for close to a year now, one that was conservative to begin with. Now, after 1,000 days in conflict have passed, it's time to get real about the true impact of the war as it goes far beyond 10,000 and here's why.
Getting accurate information from Yemen's war zone is undoubtedly difficult. In fact, statistics often come from those health centres that count their dead, but there are many other hospitals and facilities that don't.
Casualties include combatants and civilians - victims of direct aggression, though many others have fallen foul of the conflict and the actions of the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi forces, even if they weren't directly caught up in the fighting or branded as collateral damage.
Many have perished due to starvation, or a lack of access to healthcare and medical aid.
In November 2017, Save the Children reported that 130 children were dying every day, with 50,000 children already believed to have died in 2017.
In December 2016, UNICEF reported that a child dies every 10 minutes from preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, malnutrition and respiratory tract infections. And the UK-based NGO, Disasters and Emergencies Committee's recent report put the number of deaths from preventable causes at 10,000....
Medical assistance should be available to all people, even in a war zone.
All too often Assad has bombed hospitals when realizing where the "White Helmuts" were taking the wounded. That is an atrocity that should never be tolerated. Leaders like Assad believe those being rescued are the enemy and are in medical facilities, allowed to be healed and returned to war. That may be the case and it is legal.
What is not legal is killing everyone in a hospital because there are soldiers and generals healing their wounds. Field hospitals are protected areas and so are hospitals in Syria, except for those Assad believes holds his enemies, the so called Rebels. Bombing hospitals and food warehouses is an illegal act of war. People are not suppose to starve in war torn areas either. If the people feed the soldiers that is part of the dynamic of war.
STARVATION is a war crime! Starvation is a human rights violation. No exceptions!
The dynamics of war is one of the reasons countries should think long and hard about war, civil or otherwise. The civil war in Syria started because of a large shift of people from the droughted farm lands to the cities. It caused a increasing scarcity of food and water. Killing started. It should have ended by now, except, the Middle East is a powder keg where once unleashed it is difficult to end the fighting.
It is difficult to end the fighting because of the enormous divisions in religion, culture, ethnicity and basic loyalties and language. The USA should never have lit the flame. Ad to that Daesh. Daesh started the alliances within the Middle East to end not just the killing by Daesh, but, the charismatic impact that could lead to a larger number of countries seeing the deaths in Syria. Unfortunately, as the war with Daesh resolves and the countries are victors to the madmen; there lingers fears and OPPORTUNITY by some to continue to kill in the name of sovereignty.
The war with Daesh is over. There are minority groups at best and the region should be seeking peaceful victories to turn into economic alliances. But, the idea Syria's Assad and Yemen's Houthis are still stating there is a war to be fought brings forward, "Who says so?" The answer seems to point to Iran.
Genocide of any kind for any reason cannot be tolerated.
When Nasrallah stated Daesh was the enemy, the fighting and killing stops at Daesh's defeat. It's defeat in the Middle East is realized. Iran should not be escalating any conflict anywhere realizing that Daesh functioned on opportunity. Daesh would not have organized if it weren't for the Iraq invasion by the USA. It's leader was a former USA prisoner in an Iraqi prison camp.
Iran needs to assist Syria's Assad and the Yemeni Houthis to the peace table, not munitions.
At least three loud blasts (click here) were heard and three clouds of smoke could be seen in the sky above the centre of Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on Wednesday, according to Reuters witnesses.
There was no immediate comment from the government.
Earlier on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's military brought down a Houthi drone at an airport in the southern city of Abha, Saudi-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya reported citing field sources.
The sources said air traffic was not interrupted.
Yemen's armed Houthi movement said earlier it had launched a drone strike on a facility belonging to state oil firm Saudi Aramco, though the company said its facilities there were operating "normally and safely"....
FOX News is licensing genocide. Case in point.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson (click here) let loose an epic rant arguing against U.S. military involvement in Syria after the latest chemical attack in the country. The Saturday attack, which left dozens dead, has yet to be answered by the U.S. or other Western governments, but Donald Trump has vowed that Assad will "pay a heavy price."
Carlson's rant called into question whether or not Assad was responsible for the chemical attack, claiming it was not in his interest, and Carlson even went as far as to suggest a similar attack last year was a false flag and the U.S. response was a clear mistake....
Neither the war between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, nor the civil war in Syria with spill over into Iraq and Turkey, should be viewed as right or just. They need to end and return peace to the region. There is absolutely no room for inflammatory commentary by FOX News. NONE!
The United Nations needs to start counting the numbers of inspirational media to war that exists. This is the beginning of licensing genocide and it needs to end.
The attack of chemical weapons wasn't necessary at all. There is no justification for it and the reason there has been no involvement by the USA or other Western powers, is because the facts are yet not disclosed. Any idea that such weapons can be used by anyone is the mistake Mr. Carlson is making. Chemical weapons do not solve any problem of war, they only escalate it.
I might remind anyone who cares, the United Kingdom is still the victim of a chemical weapons attack. None of this should be tolerated regardless the country.
10,000 people have died (click here) as a result of the war in Yemen, over 5,000 of them have been civilians.
Except we've been hearing that statistic for close to a year now, one that was conservative to begin with. Now, after 1,000 days in conflict have passed, it's time to get real about the true impact of the war as it goes far beyond 10,000 and here's why.
Getting accurate information from Yemen's war zone is undoubtedly difficult. In fact, statistics often come from those health centres that count their dead, but there are many other hospitals and facilities that don't.
Casualties include combatants and civilians - victims of direct aggression, though many others have fallen foul of the conflict and the actions of the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi forces, even if they weren't directly caught up in the fighting or branded as collateral damage.
Many have perished due to starvation, or a lack of access to healthcare and medical aid.
In November 2017, Save the Children reported that 130 children were dying every day, with 50,000 children already believed to have died in 2017.
In December 2016, UNICEF reported that a child dies every 10 minutes from preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, malnutrition and respiratory tract infections. And the UK-based NGO, Disasters and Emergencies Committee's recent report put the number of deaths from preventable causes at 10,000....
Medical assistance should be available to all people, even in a war zone.
All too often Assad has bombed hospitals when realizing where the "White Helmuts" were taking the wounded. That is an atrocity that should never be tolerated. Leaders like Assad believe those being rescued are the enemy and are in medical facilities, allowed to be healed and returned to war. That may be the case and it is legal.
What is not legal is killing everyone in a hospital because there are soldiers and generals healing their wounds. Field hospitals are protected areas and so are hospitals in Syria, except for those Assad believes holds his enemies, the so called Rebels. Bombing hospitals and food warehouses is an illegal act of war. People are not suppose to starve in war torn areas either. If the people feed the soldiers that is part of the dynamic of war.
STARVATION is a war crime! Starvation is a human rights violation. No exceptions!
The dynamics of war is one of the reasons countries should think long and hard about war, civil or otherwise. The civil war in Syria started because of a large shift of people from the droughted farm lands to the cities. It caused a increasing scarcity of food and water. Killing started. It should have ended by now, except, the Middle East is a powder keg where once unleashed it is difficult to end the fighting.
It is difficult to end the fighting because of the enormous divisions in religion, culture, ethnicity and basic loyalties and language. The USA should never have lit the flame. Ad to that Daesh. Daesh started the alliances within the Middle East to end not just the killing by Daesh, but, the charismatic impact that could lead to a larger number of countries seeing the deaths in Syria. Unfortunately, as the war with Daesh resolves and the countries are victors to the madmen; there lingers fears and OPPORTUNITY by some to continue to kill in the name of sovereignty.
The war with Daesh is over. There are minority groups at best and the region should be seeking peaceful victories to turn into economic alliances. But, the idea Syria's Assad and Yemen's Houthis are still stating there is a war to be fought brings forward, "Who says so?" The answer seems to point to Iran.
Genocide of any kind for any reason cannot be tolerated.
When Nasrallah stated Daesh was the enemy, the fighting and killing stops at Daesh's defeat. It's defeat in the Middle East is realized. Iran should not be escalating any conflict anywhere realizing that Daesh functioned on opportunity. Daesh would not have organized if it weren't for the Iraq invasion by the USA. It's leader was a former USA prisoner in an Iraqi prison camp.
Iran needs to assist Syria's Assad and the Yemeni Houthis to the peace table, not munitions.
There is not a leader, religious or otherwise, that does not recognize the hubris in "Allah akbar" when stated out of context as killing occurs.
In case Israel does not recognize this, it is assassination, not battle. This moment encapsulates what is so wrong between Palestine and Israel.
Israel defines Palestinians as the enemy. They are not enemies if they are oppressed by Israel. The oppression has to end, which includes the continued occupation of Palestinian lands turned into settlements. ASK the Palestinians if they would like a settlement built there and then wait for their answer, but, that isn't what occurs. The settlements are known to be available only to those approved by Israel.
I saw the article whereby the Israeli military stated there are more Arabs than Hebrews living in Israel.
March 23, 2018
Lawmakers (click here) presented with figures showing 5 million Palestinians living in Gaza and West Bank
1.8 Arabs live in Israel and hundreds of thousands in East Jerusalem
6.5 million Jews live in Israel
I wonder where Arabs are more safe, Palestine or Israel? But, the statement there are more Arabs in Israel than Jews raises the question where is Israel identifying their border these days?
The only way there are more Arabs in Israel is if the court INCLUDES Gaza and the West Bank. It would seem as though Jared Kushner has been inflitrating the Israeli military with his own ideas of Israeli sovereignty.
As of 14 September 2015, 136 (70.5%) of the 193 member states of the United Nations and two non-member states have recognized the State of Palestine. Many of the countries that do not recognize the State of Palestine nevertheless recognize the PLO as the "representative of the Palestinian people".
Amidst heated debates (click here) about the political value of symbolic gestures, the General Assembly today adopted five resolutions on a wide range of topics, including the raising of flags by non-member observer States at the United Nations and debt restructuring.
The world body adopted the resolution on raising the flags of non-member observer States at the United Nations (document A/69/L.76) by a recorded vote of 119 in favour to 8 against (Australia, Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Tuvalu, United States), with 45 abstentions. By the terms of that text, the General Assembly decided that the flags of non-member observer States maintaining permanent observer missions at Headquarters shall be raised at Headquarters and United Nations offices following the flags of the Members States of the Organization....
The original recognition at the UN of Palestine was 2013. (click here)
...The resolution upgrading the Palestinians' status to a nonmember observer state at the United Nations was approved by a more than two-thirds majority of the 193-member world body -- a vote of 138-9, with 41 abstentions. The Vatican is the only other entity in the U.N. that shares the same status....
The real argument regarding Palestine is the recognized sovereign authority of Palestine. Perhaps if that can be straightened out, which means recognition of President Abbas as the president of all of Palestine, including Gaza, there would be actual treaties signed and honored.
April 10, 2018
By Isabel Kershner
Jerusalem — The Israeli military (click here) on Tuesday censured soldiers who filmed and cheered the shooting of a Palestinian man across the barrier fence in Gaza several months ago, in a video that added to the scrutiny of Israel over its killing of nearly 30 Palestinians in protests in the past two weeks.
But at the same time, the military defended the shooting of the man, who was standing motionless and appeared to pose no obvious threat to the soldiers at that moment. It said he was shot during a violent, two-hour riot on Dec. 22 and that the man, described as a suspected organizer, was hit in the leg and injured.
The military said the protesters hurled rocks and tried to sabotage the security fence, adding that the shooting was preceded by verbal warnings, calls to halt, riot dispersal means and warning shots....
But, as to this incident, the Israeli military has an entire JARGON at hand to describe the killing of a Palestinian, be it fact or not. Of course, the Palestinians know the truth of the incident and it escalates the tension between the two nations of people.
There was absolutely no reason to shoot AN ORGANIZER (if that is accurate) of a Palestinian demonstration that is a peaceful demonstration to achieve recognition by those on the other side of the fence. There was no justification to kill that man. And look what occurred afterward with both the Palestinians and the Israelis. The Palestinians ran into a dangerous situation to recognize the death and reflect on the killer and the Israelis validated between themselves a victory that was nothing but murder. THERE WAS NO BATTLE!
There were a few, very few Palestinians with violent intentions and yet Israel took the example of the few and reflected it on the majority. That is a lie!
This is the chronic problem with Palestine and Israel; they live within their violent understanding of each other as warring nations of people and not a conflict that needs to end. The entire political dialogue held as truth by the USA is wrong. It is wrong in that Israel is always the innocent party. To recognize Palestine is not antisemitism. The USA recognizes Israel, but, the majority of Americans recognize the need for Israel to settle disputes with the Palestinians. The truth might be helpful.
Palestinian women at the Qalandiyah checkpoint, 2016.
This picture in Haaretz is an example of MOVEMENT, not invasion.
Movement is held in value by the Palestinians. They have so little land left any movement is a relief to the people.
Jareh Kusher needs to be careful of his own ideology when referring to the relationship between Arabs and Hebrews in the Middle East. His ideology can poison the well to peace.
Israel defines Palestinians as the enemy. They are not enemies if they are oppressed by Israel. The oppression has to end, which includes the continued occupation of Palestinian lands turned into settlements. ASK the Palestinians if they would like a settlement built there and then wait for their answer, but, that isn't what occurs. The settlements are known to be available only to those approved by Israel.
I saw the article whereby the Israeli military stated there are more Arabs than Hebrews living in Israel.
March 23, 2018
Lawmakers (click here) presented with figures showing 5 million Palestinians living in Gaza and West Bank
1.8 Arabs live in Israel and hundreds of thousands in East Jerusalem
6.5 million Jews live in Israel
I wonder where Arabs are more safe, Palestine or Israel? But, the statement there are more Arabs in Israel than Jews raises the question where is Israel identifying their border these days?
The only way there are more Arabs in Israel is if the court INCLUDES Gaza and the West Bank. It would seem as though Jared Kushner has been inflitrating the Israeli military with his own ideas of Israeli sovereignty.
As of 14 September 2015, 136 (70.5%) of the 193 member states of the United Nations and two non-member states have recognized the State of Palestine. Many of the countries that do not recognize the State of Palestine nevertheless recognize the PLO as the "representative of the Palestinian people".
Amidst heated debates (click here) about the political value of symbolic gestures, the General Assembly today adopted five resolutions on a wide range of topics, including the raising of flags by non-member observer States at the United Nations and debt restructuring.
The world body adopted the resolution on raising the flags of non-member observer States at the United Nations (document A/69/L.76) by a recorded vote of 119 in favour to 8 against (Australia, Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Tuvalu, United States), with 45 abstentions. By the terms of that text, the General Assembly decided that the flags of non-member observer States maintaining permanent observer missions at Headquarters shall be raised at Headquarters and United Nations offices following the flags of the Members States of the Organization....
The original recognition at the UN of Palestine was 2013. (click here)
...The resolution upgrading the Palestinians' status to a nonmember observer state at the United Nations was approved by a more than two-thirds majority of the 193-member world body -- a vote of 138-9, with 41 abstentions. The Vatican is the only other entity in the U.N. that shares the same status....
The real argument regarding Palestine is the recognized sovereign authority of Palestine. Perhaps if that can be straightened out, which means recognition of President Abbas as the president of all of Palestine, including Gaza, there would be actual treaties signed and honored.
April 10, 2018
By Isabel Kershner
Jerusalem — The Israeli military (click here) on Tuesday censured soldiers who filmed and cheered the shooting of a Palestinian man across the barrier fence in Gaza several months ago, in a video that added to the scrutiny of Israel over its killing of nearly 30 Palestinians in protests in the past two weeks.
But at the same time, the military defended the shooting of the man, who was standing motionless and appeared to pose no obvious threat to the soldiers at that moment. It said he was shot during a violent, two-hour riot on Dec. 22 and that the man, described as a suspected organizer, was hit in the leg and injured.
The military said the protesters hurled rocks and tried to sabotage the security fence, adding that the shooting was preceded by verbal warnings, calls to halt, riot dispersal means and warning shots....
But, as to this incident, the Israeli military has an entire JARGON at hand to describe the killing of a Palestinian, be it fact or not. Of course, the Palestinians know the truth of the incident and it escalates the tension between the two nations of people.
There was absolutely no reason to shoot AN ORGANIZER (if that is accurate) of a Palestinian demonstration that is a peaceful demonstration to achieve recognition by those on the other side of the fence. There was no justification to kill that man. And look what occurred afterward with both the Palestinians and the Israelis. The Palestinians ran into a dangerous situation to recognize the death and reflect on the killer and the Israelis validated between themselves a victory that was nothing but murder. THERE WAS NO BATTLE!
There were a few, very few Palestinians with violent intentions and yet Israel took the example of the few and reflected it on the majority. That is a lie!
This is the chronic problem with Palestine and Israel; they live within their violent understanding of each other as warring nations of people and not a conflict that needs to end. The entire political dialogue held as truth by the USA is wrong. It is wrong in that Israel is always the innocent party. To recognize Palestine is not antisemitism. The USA recognizes Israel, but, the majority of Americans recognize the need for Israel to settle disputes with the Palestinians. The truth might be helpful.
This picture in Haaretz is an example of MOVEMENT, not invasion.
Movement is held in value by the Palestinians. They have so little land left any movement is a relief to the people.
Jareh Kusher needs to be careful of his own ideology when referring to the relationship between Arabs and Hebrews in the Middle East. His ideology can poison the well to peace.
If France is going to have an interest in North Africa, Algeria in particular ground their fleet.
And sell them some decent aircraft and train their pilots.
It is really difficult to say this was some kind of attack by Daesh, because, the Algerians have a history of crashing planes all by themselves.
Sincerest sympathies to the families and friends of those that have perished in the latest plane crash in Algeria. If necessary, if Algerians won't change their ways with their aircraft, then they need a new president.
The Algerian crashes occur so often, how can the country even say they have a reliable air fleet or pilots to fly them? It takes a knowledge base actually defend a country.
The Algerians have mastered emergency response all too well.
April 11, 2018
By Declan Walsh
Cairo — At least 257 people died (click here) when an Algerian military transport plane filled with soldiers and civilians crashed near the capital on Wednesday, Algeria’s Defense Ministry said, in the deadliest of numerous air accidents involving aircraft from the country in recent years.
The Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76 transporter slammed into a field shortly after takeoff from a military base in Boufarik, about 15 miles southwest of Algiers. The victims included 26 members of Western Sahara’s Polisario independence movement, an official in Algeria’s governing FLN party said.
Scores of ambulances and emergency workers rushed to the crash site, and video footage showed clouds of smoke billowing from an area near the runway....
Is there any reasonable person alive that can settle a near 45 year old conflict? Morocco needs to be called into the picture. This is outrageous. This is typical of Africa. There are all these small groups of self-righteous people that see no vested interest in ending any conflict. That has to stop. Even elections end up in killing sometimes because the other side finds to reason not to kill or go to war.
...The plane was headed to Bechar, in the southwest of the country, but was scheduled to stop in Tindouf, an area on Algeria’s border with the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Algeria is a longtime backer of Polisario, the group that has been fighting since 1973 for independence for Western Sahara, which is controlled by Morocco....
Africa needs a huge summit to bring all these warring tribes to terms with modern day economics and inclusiveness in government. Their people need to be safe, in a real way, that also contributes to their quality of life.
This is exactly what keeps North Africa within the scope as destabilized.
Language is also an issue. Over the centuries there developed over 10,000 or so specific and identifiable languages on the continent. There needs to be a few allowed in circles of diplomacy that leaders learn and adhere to when agreements are signed.
The variety of languages also allow too much 'wiggle room' for exploitation and misinterpretation. The languages used in diplomatic and government circles have to be standardized with representatives to tribes able to carry ACCURATE interpretations to the people to end conflict. This is 2018 for god sake!
I appreciate the preservation of language to history and current cultural practices, but, it can set up barriers to understanding and movement to quality of life.
It is really difficult to say this was some kind of attack by Daesh, because, the Algerians have a history of crashing planes all by themselves.
Sincerest sympathies to the families and friends of those that have perished in the latest plane crash in Algeria. If necessary, if Algerians won't change their ways with their aircraft, then they need a new president.
The Algerian crashes occur so often, how can the country even say they have a reliable air fleet or pilots to fly them? It takes a knowledge base actually defend a country.
The Algerians have mastered emergency response all too well.
April 11, 2018
By Declan Walsh
Cairo — At least 257 people died (click here) when an Algerian military transport plane filled with soldiers and civilians crashed near the capital on Wednesday, Algeria’s Defense Ministry said, in the deadliest of numerous air accidents involving aircraft from the country in recent years.
The Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76 transporter slammed into a field shortly after takeoff from a military base in Boufarik, about 15 miles southwest of Algiers. The victims included 26 members of Western Sahara’s Polisario independence movement, an official in Algeria’s governing FLN party said.
Scores of ambulances and emergency workers rushed to the crash site, and video footage showed clouds of smoke billowing from an area near the runway....
Is there any reasonable person alive that can settle a near 45 year old conflict? Morocco needs to be called into the picture. This is outrageous. This is typical of Africa. There are all these small groups of self-righteous people that see no vested interest in ending any conflict. That has to stop. Even elections end up in killing sometimes because the other side finds to reason not to kill or go to war.
...The plane was headed to Bechar, in the southwest of the country, but was scheduled to stop in Tindouf, an area on Algeria’s border with the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Algeria is a longtime backer of Polisario, the group that has been fighting since 1973 for independence for Western Sahara, which is controlled by Morocco....
Africa needs a huge summit to bring all these warring tribes to terms with modern day economics and inclusiveness in government. Their people need to be safe, in a real way, that also contributes to their quality of life.
This is exactly what keeps North Africa within the scope as destabilized.
Language is also an issue. Over the centuries there developed over 10,000 or so specific and identifiable languages on the continent. There needs to be a few allowed in circles of diplomacy that leaders learn and adhere to when agreements are signed.
The variety of languages also allow too much 'wiggle room' for exploitation and misinterpretation. The languages used in diplomatic and government circles have to be standardized with representatives to tribes able to carry ACCURATE interpretations to the people to end conflict. This is 2018 for god sake!
I appreciate the preservation of language to history and current cultural practices, but, it can set up barriers to understanding and movement to quality of life.
Assad is getting away with murder because for Putin Syria is a proxy war with the USA.
Russian Ambassador (click here) in Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin, in Beirut, Lebanon, last year. In a television interview Zasypkin warned that Russia would "shoot down" any American missiles launched at Syria.
When any proxy war starts to smell like genocide, it is time for all those doing the killing or backing the killers to step back and reassess.
That's right, when a civil war and it's reasons for warring changes to genocide, they are no longer soldiers, but, killers.
Russia doesn't seem to be in the mood to admit it is backing a killer in Assad. I don't doubt there are places where Daesh still has sympathetic forces, but, for the most part they are defeated.
The reality in Syria as in Iraq, is the strong lines of demarcation based in ethnic and/or religious differences. While the West sees old arbitrary lines in the sand that worked for 'the colonies' the reality of the people and their place on the globe is different. War has brought a change in the concentrations of people in any particular area in the Middle East, so the West and Russia need to respect that, but, genocide is out of the question.
Any war has to end, therefore, there is something called Peace that must be resolved and accepted. War is not a matter of returning the land to it's old masters and/or regimes, but, accepting the outcomes and living with it. War rearranges things and in the case of the Middle East that rearrangement is not so much resources and wealth, but, people and their ability to live on the land and worship as they will.
It is time for the United Nations to realize the very long and fatal wars that have occurred in Iraq and Syria. It needs to begin to heal the wounds and settle a peace where by Hezbollah does not have to live in Lebanon to assure the Alawites their place along the coast. There needs to be reassurances to the Kurds by Turkey as well that is has to accept it's outcome without a new paranoid war by Erdogan.
I think the Middle East has seen enough killing in the past two decades to last the next hundred years. It was 2001 when the USA was attacked, went to Afghanistan to end the al Qaeda regime and then wrongly launched a highly destabilizing war into Iraq. Any excuse for war is not a good excuse. I would think all those in leadership then and now have learned at least that much.
If the USA is going to launch smart bombs into Syria it will be to end the ability by Assad for launching his chemical weapons and randomly killing innocent people. That level of disinterest in the causalities spells genocide to me and all too clearly. There is a reason why chemical and biological weapons were OUTLAWED. They are indiscriminate and kill innocent people with abandon.
When battles are fought with bullets, foot soldiers and other conventional means of war, there is a human mind behind 'the aim' and the innocent civilians are not suppose to be a target. Civilians, as a rule, are unarmed and trying to survive the ruthlessness of war.
The killing Assad is carrying out is indiscriminate and attacks the innocent. That is not legal warfare.
So, if Russia cannot back those that want to end the killing of innocent people in Syria and would rather back a brutal killer, those are limits most major countries recognize as dangerous, not ruthless.
President Putin needs to step back from backing Assad. Assad has gone a step to far in eliminating so called "rebels." Assad's measures are not ruthless, they are desperate and dangerous.
Every country is different and this is not North Korea. Every battlefield is different and this one is appearing to be more like genocide, then victory.
Syrian Civil War zones of control. Assad forces (red), ISIS (black), SDF (yellow), Free Syrian Army (green) March 28, 2018
Many Americans (click here) might be surprised to learn that the US has boots on the ground in Syria. They are there as “military advisors,” as trainers, forward air observers, and embedded special forces.
America’s involvement began in 2014 with airstrikes against Deash (ISIS). The US had no ground forces in Syria back then. Greater emphasis was given to Daesh’s advances in Iraq.
Beginning in late 2016 Iraq was put on the back burner in favor of Syria. Iraq was pushing back Daesh successfully, but American efforts in Syria weren’t matching up.
This is when the US increased their assistance to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). With help from the Peshmerga (Iraqi Kurdish Militia), the SDF became a major player in the Syrian conflict.
Events in Syria moved fast in 2017 with the inevitable doom of Daesh. America had to secure their geopolitical position in the Middle East. During this time the official number of US troops in Syria was 503....
The tea leaves are turning blue.
Besides, Ryan's wife is Wall Street and with the tax bill they passed, some are taking a long hard look at the outcomes and who are the real benefactors.
April 11, 2018
Washington (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, (click here) the top Republican in Congress, has told confidants he will announce soon that he will not run again in November, Axios news site reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the matter....
Go, Eric, go!
April 4, 2018
By Daniel Brice
...3. Eric Holder (click here) and his group were massive in the election: One top Democrat had this to say Tuesday night: "The full extent of the weight Holder laid down here isn't totally understood." Behind the scenes, the former Obama attorney general and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee pumped $500,000 into local groups for organizing, advertising and getting other groups, especially unions, to help Dallet.
Beyond that, Holder's outfit successfully sued Walker over his decision not to hold special elections after two GOP lawmakers stepped down to join his administration. The court fight meant two weeks of bad publicity for the governor.
Holder's help was key, given that the state Democratic Party did next to nothing to help out Dallet. While the Republican Party spent more than $345,000 on Screnock, the Dems gave a single in-kind donation of about $6,000 to her campaign....
April 11, 2018
Washington (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, (click here) the top Republican in Congress, has told confidants he will announce soon that he will not run again in November, Axios news site reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the matter....
Go, Eric, go!
April 4, 2018
By Daniel Brice
...3. Eric Holder (click here) and his group were massive in the election: One top Democrat had this to say Tuesday night: "The full extent of the weight Holder laid down here isn't totally understood." Behind the scenes, the former Obama attorney general and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee pumped $500,000 into local groups for organizing, advertising and getting other groups, especially unions, to help Dallet.
Beyond that, Holder's outfit successfully sued Walker over his decision not to hold special elections after two GOP lawmakers stepped down to join his administration. The court fight meant two weeks of bad publicity for the governor.
Holder's help was key, given that the state Democratic Party did next to nothing to help out Dallet. While the Republican Party spent more than $345,000 on Screnock, the Dems gave a single in-kind donation of about $6,000 to her campaign....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)