Baltimore Riot in Review.

As "disturbing" as these recent images are,
these could be a trend in
America in the next decade .

I thought I would never write about another , (some what) "racially charged" police brutality story . I was going to just skip the subject , but with all the burning , looting made me think.  There is no way to deny that some police tactics are a bit unreasonable , but police brutality is nothing new in our nation . (**)> It's that with he advent of technology it , so obvious it's going to get posted on YouTube. The world will see it. For a long time I was a prolific watcher of the syndicated show called (2)>  COPS  , there were numerous episodes which the police in the show used force , and entrapment with out reading the rights of the arrested .  In the case of Freddie Gray , there is a real mystery as why he was pulled over , and why he ran .+++>On a corner of an impoverished West Baltimore neighborhood two weeks ago, they seemed to recognize each other immediately.As three officers approached on bicycles along West North Avenue, the 25-year-old Gray was on the east corner of North Mount Street chatting with a friend, Gray swore, taking off on foot as the officers began hot-stepping on their pedals to catch up. One officer jumped off his bike to chase Gray on foot, police said.The reason Gray was chased by police remains unclear. Police have said it came in part because he ran, raising officers' suspicions in an area known for drug dealing. (1)>  A police report on the arrest states that Gray "fled unprovoked" and that an illegal switchblade knife was later found on him but provides no other reason for the pursuit. Oh wait a minute ! , the report said that an illegal switchblade knife was the reason that the police made the decision to go after Freddy.  Even if Freddy had an extensive criminal history, he did not deserved death, and it is not a mistake to say the cops killed him, or are even maybe hiding anything relative to his death. For all I know he had a severe asthmatic event and because he wasn't belted in his seat he fell and that caused the injury. It might just be simple error like that. it might also be a cop decided to deal a fate to Gray given his years of miscreant behavior. Or that Gray was injured before he was actually apprehended, while running to escape.The police are clearly hiding something - that point is indisputable. I wonder why whenever we seem to have a situation like this (and there is no shortage these days), people with little or no knowledge want to weigh in to disparage the victim. I feel for police and the job with which they are tasked, but they have the power of life and death, and that demands rigorous scrutiny to head off abuse...or is it just not considered abuse when the victim is Black? There are accusations that Freddy was dealing drugs . The police chased him. If he didn't run, the outcome may have been different but we will never know. Same with the other shooting of Walter Scott, which led to the arrest of Officer Michael Slager after a video surfaced showing the officer shooting and killing an unarmed running black man in the back. There is a more deeper problem , in  our American culture ##> According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide was indeed the No. 1 killer of black men between the ages of 15 and 34 in 2011, the most recent year with statistics available. Accidents were the second leading cause of death.Compared to other ethnicities, the numbers really stand out. Forty percent of African-American males 15-34 who died were murdered, according to the CDC, compared to just 3.8 percent of white males who died. Overall, 14 percent of all men 15-34 who died in 2011 were murdered.Beyond driving habits, the criminal homicide rate among young black males is significantly higher than other groups. This, experts agreed, has to do with poverty and geography.The difference in social structures, access to jobs, educational opportunities, and many other factors between impoverished black neighborhoods and others is often a matter of life and death,But quantifying that pattern is difficult. Federal databases that track police use of force or arrest-related deaths paint only a partial picture. Police department data is scattered and fragmented. No agency appears to track the number of police shootings or killings of unarmed victims in a systematic, comprehensive way.

Why the riots send the wrong message.

The world has been watching the riots that have been breaking out in major cities in America , that The protesters don’t even know what the hell they’re even protesting about. What are they doing? Really, honestly, what are they doing? They’re capitalizing on a tragedy so they can get free stuff. It makes absolutely no sense. Why would you trash your own city? Why would you do that? Because you don’t care. It’s fun. You can get free stuff.  I understand why people protest police brutality in ways that only remind us of why we need police. Burning a whole city , and excessive lawlessness is not the answer . The world media is watching , they see that  is America burning , Television images showed mobs of rioters jumping on top of a police car, destroying a taxi and setting two other patrol cars on fire after teenaged crowds ignored calls to disperse and clashed with lines of hundreds of police. Gangs had threatened to target police officers, local law enforcement said. Schools, businesses and train stations closed in Baltimore, a city of 662,000 people 40 miles (64 km) from the nation’s capital.Another failure may be how Baltimore’s mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, has handled the situation. For his part, Hot Air's Ed Morrissey blames the mayor for trying to have it both ways when it came to both respecting and controlling the protesters . It's also ludicrous that rioters are "protesting" the illegitimate, barbaric and criminal use of state force in a manner that will trigger entirely legitimate use of state force, that will likely harm or kill many. When a police officer is put in a coma by a thrown brick, they're going to respond with great force, and the great majority of Americans will actively support or tacitly agree with this decision.Then the investigation of the criminal and abusive treatment of Gray will be entirely drowned out by the vocal defense of the appropriate response to a riot. Another tragedy.

 What we are seeing  ( or I might say) is having a negative impact on the national image , and the world.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

+++> Calming racial fears, helping black neighborhoods develop economically, and ending prosecution policies that disproportionately affect young black men are some potential public policy retorts to the pain seen in the streets, urban culture experts say.Baltimore, for one, has already moved to address police brutality concerns, in part by firing more than 50 officers since 2012 and offering better training to the corps. Following Mr. Gray's death, Mayor Rawlings-Blake said she wants to make police more accountable by adding body cameras to their uniforms.Though the Maryland legislature refused to even hear a bill that would make it easier to probe police misconduct, the General Assembly did pass six bills this spring to address police brutality – including measures doubling the maximum civil lawsuit awards in cases where police injure citizens and requiring that police departments report all police-involved killings in the state. ## >In Oakland, California, the NAACP reported that out of 45 officer-involved shootings in the city between 2004 and 2008, 37 of those shot were black. None were white. One-third of the shootings resulted in fatalities. Although weapons were not found in 40 percent of cases, the NAACP found, no officers were charged. (These numbers don't include 22-year-old Oscar Grant, who was shot and killed by a transit authority officer at the Fruitvale BART station on New Year's Day of 2009.)(**)> If a white officer shoots a black person it is racial no matter what the black person was doing. If a black officer shoots a white person he is just doing his job ? TRUTHFULLY , How about when a white person is killed by the police. It does happen more often than you would think. No one gives a crap about that. (1)> It was not even clear why Gray was arrested on April 12. He made eye contact with a police officer, according to the city, and took off running — with police in pursuit.Gray had had minor drug offenses and other scrapes with the law, according to reports, but he was not wanted at the time of this arrest. He also had a switchblade in his pocket but, as Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake later said, "We know that having a knife is not necessarily a crime."When he arrived at the police station about a half hour after he was arrested, he was unable to talk or breathe, a police official told reporters. He died a week later of a spinal injury.(2)> COPS-TV SHOW . viewers tune in weekly to "ride along" with police and root against a rotating cast of nameless — sometimes faceless — street crime suspects.9 With such a narrow range of Black characters and personalities in prime time, the negative perceptions and distorted images presented by shows like COPS create an atmosphere of suspicion that desensitizes and conditions audiences to view harsher punishments and police misconduct — including police brutality and unconstitutional searches — as acceptable.the COPS formula — which relies heavily on degradation and mockery of suspects, presumption of guilt, and audience identification with unfailingly “good guy” police protagonists — hasn’t changed a bit, despite a marked, bipartisan shift away from broken “tough on crime” policies in recent years.5 The show’s creator himself admits that COPS’ singular focus on making arrests, particularly for nonviolent drug offenses, wastes scarce public resources and contributes to massive over incarceration

Brave Kurdish Women Fighters.

It's never a good thing to Glorify Violence . I am seeing a force that might transform northern Iraq with a new nation .For the birth of an independent  (1)> Kurdistan, the omens have never been so propitious. The Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga (“those ready to die”), fought indifferently. They had not been seriously tested in battle for two decades, their equipment is out of date, and they are anyway better suited to guerrilla warfare. “It was a shock,” admits a former Kurdish minister. “Our morale was badly hurt.” Only speedy action by the American-led coalition, which bombed IS forces relentlessly, kept the jihadists at bay. There is a time that you have to honor the brave women of Kurdistan fighting the Islamic State .The role of women in war, peace and revolution has long been portrayed in manifold, often contradictory ways. Images of women as victims, pacifist peace makers, protesters, and home makers have dominated literature. Opposed to these images we find that the male figure is represented as a fighter, the ones who take part in war and defend the motherland against the enemy. The homeland is thus a female body a passive and defenseless geography which requires brave men to defend and protect her. It could be argued that history is written by men; therefore they narrate it in a manner that suits the usual gender stereotypes. While we in the west were regaled with stories of Europeans and Americans rushing to Syria to join the jihad, no one mentioned that there were also men and women from the west who were rushing to fight against it. These Kurdish women like the Amazon's of old have taken up the fight long side with men to save their country from conquest . While the United States may have hid behind the sidelines ,   ***The women fighters of the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and a Kurdish Yezidi parliamentarian were chosen by CNN as the most inspiring women of 2014.“The female fighters have trained for many years but this year have become notable for their courageous role in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIL),” reads the CNN posting on the Kurdish fighters. The Kurdish female fighters who operate under their own unit (YPJ) have been recognized for their brave fight , and their role in defending the besieged Kurdish town of Kobane gained them worldwide respect. Their sacrifice is too great for us  to ignore them any longer. As they continue to drive the ISIL forces further and further from their homeland, we should be praying for their continued successes, and for the health and safety of our own men. We should know about these men and women who have put their lives on hold in order to help protect the women and children of Iraq, Syria, and the Kurdish territories. May God bless them all in their fight.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

*** The PKK was designated as terrorist organization by the NATO member only to appease NATO Muslim member Turkey who perpetrated genocidal atrocities against Kurds and other nations and religions including Christians, Alawys, Yazidies, and others. This despite the fact that PKK has fought for the right of self-determination for the Kurds as a nation subjugated by Turks, Arabs and the Islamic regime of Iran.The Western states are required to think about the grievances they caused the Kurdish people by their alliance with Turkey. They can alleviate the suffering of Kurds by supporting the Peace process between Turks and Kurds. This will definitely reflect very well on democratic development in the Middle East. If you want to learn more about the YPG/YPJ, you can visit their Facebook page and their website. (1)> What about diverting to Kurdistan the hundreds of millions of dollars we give yearly to the Palestinian Authority that end up funding terrorism anyway??? Their best bet is to be helped becoming SPARTA 2 (SPARTA 1 being Israel)Between Israel and Kurdistan, we can all have then a good night sleep and stop worrying about Middle East

2015: A SPACE ODYSSEY , Part 5.

***The "dwarf planet" Pluto and it's moon Charon
in living color.

ON (April 14, 2015), NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft team released this tantalizing first color image of Pluto and its Texas-sized moon Charon. The team called this image a preliminary reconstruction, which they said will be refined later. The spacecraft acquired the image from a distance of about 71 million miles (115 million kilometers)-roughly the distance from the sun to Venus. New Horizons is now only three months from its historic encounter with Pluto. The flyby through the Pluto system will take place on July 14, at which time the spacecraft will deliver color images that eventually show surface features as small as a few miles across. The Color pictures are stunning . I have waited so long to see what Pluto is actually like , but there are tantalizing clues to this miniature world . On one level, New Horizons caps a 50-year quest to tour the planets beyond Mars. First envisioned in the mid-1960s, the grand tour of flybys morphed into the Voyager 1 and 2 missions. Launched in 1977, these provided the first stunning, close-in observations of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Orbiters to Jupiter and Saturn for more-detailed studies would follow. Pluto, however, was struck from the tour's TripTik. Now, 26 years after Voyager 2's Neptune fly-by, New Horizons is set to introduce a new generation to the awe of seeing new worlds for the first time as something more than remote dots of light.Before you get too excited about interpreting features on the surface of Pluto from this image, you need to realize that it has been enlarged by quite a lot from the original resolution of the camera. If I've done my math right, it's been enlarged by a factor of six. Just for fun, I've "de-enlarged" the image by reducing its size by a factor of six -- these don't show you the data's actual original pixels, but it should illustrate the size of the original pixels. (They would have had to enlarge the image somewhat in order to successfully overlay the separate MVIC frames taken at different wavelengths in order to make the color photo, so there really is no original-resolution version of this picture.) My analysis of the image of Pluto shows that it might not be spherical in shape , rather Pluto looks more like a oblong object that some how has a bulge   on it's equator due to the close gravitational pull of it's moon Charon . I also suspect ct that Pluto might be geologically active with volcano's because of tidal "heating" of it's surface .  Pluto is bizarre , it is surrounded by almost 10 small moons . One of New Horizon's goals is to hunt for any additional moons as well as any extended debris disk or rings that could remain. The collision that formed Charon also could have led to the presence of an internal ocean on Pluto, at least early in its history,New Horizons will soon see Pluto, and is expected to find new moons and possibly a ring system. Could it find a moon of a moon? Or a moon with rings? Or, is that impossible? Is there anywhere else in the solar system that could have moons with moonlets?

Ceres coming to view.....

 << Ceres, after it was snapped from a distance of 21,000 (33,000 kilometers) on 10 April.NASA has promised that, from here on in, the photos of the world let will be more and more spectacular as Dawn edges ever closer to Ceres – which is the biggest body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.Ceres is only 590 miles (950 kilometers) in diameter, which is too small to clear its local neighborhood (the asteroid belt) It is, however, large enough to be spherical. Elliptical bodies can also be dwarf planets if they are in what’s known as hydrostatic equilibrium — basically they have a natural (not lumpy) shape under their own gravity. So Ceres is a dwarf planet like Pluto (721 miles) and Haumea (385 miles). The images above show the north polar region of Ceres at an altitude of 21,000 miles. They were taken on April 10th, but Dawn will continue tightening its orbit over the coming weeks. The images and data it sends back will only get better in the meantime. Two of Dawn’s reaction wheels have failed, which makes it harder to snap pictures from a distance — the entire craft has to be rotated, which uses up fuel. Still, Dawn is close to its ultimate destination and NASA will be able to take a good look at the dwarf planet up close. The map is an enhanced view, offering an expanded range of the colors on

Ceres visible to the human eye. Scientists use this process to highlight subtle differences in color, which can provide insights into the composition of materials on the surface. For example, scientists have not established clear connections between impact craters and the different colors visible here, but they are investigating the possibility.Based on observations from Nasa’s Hubble Space Telescope, planetary scientists have identified 10 bright regions on Ceres’ surface. One pair of bright spots, by far the brightest visible marks on Ceres, appears to be located in a region similar in temperature to its surroundings. But a different bright feature corresponds to a region that is cooler than the rest of Ceres’ surface.The origins of Ceres’ bright spots, which have captivated the attention of scientists, remain unknown. It appears the brightest pair is located in a crater 57 miles wide. As Dawn gets closer to the surface of Ceres, better-resolution images will become available.Dawn's earliest views of Ceres were in black and white, showing us a rocky, pockmarked body. Some unusual bright spots showed in these images, giving scientists plenty to ponder as Dawn moved closer to its goal. Researchers shared Dawn's first color map of Ceres, a fascinating enhanced-color image designed to highlight a variety of surface features.

Mars continues to intrigue .

Curiosity rover at landing site at  Gale crater near
Mt. Sharp. ( self portrait ). 

The Planet Mars has been in the news off and on . With some "interesting" hints that Mars was more"earth like" than any of the so called newly discovered exo-planets , that have been credited to orbit their stars near what is called the "Goldilocks zone".  Mars is the 4th planet and it occupies nearly the edge of our Goldilocks zone. Mars in our solar system is more close to Earth as you might say take a line from Star Trek a " class M" planet . Mars has all the ingredients for a soup dish in the Creator's plan to make a "second Earth" . Recently as of Another ingredient for life has been found on Mars.NASA announced this week that the Curiosity rover has discovered life-sustaining nitrogen on the Red Planet for the first time. By drilling into Martian rocks, the rover is said to have located evidence of nitrates -- compounds that contain nitrogen “in a form that can be used by living organisms.” Nitrogen, as Discovery News notes, is essential for life, as it’s a building block of RNA and DNA. The space agency was quick to note that "there is no evidence to suggest that the fixed nitrogen molecules found by the team were created by life.”“The surface of Mars is inhospitable for known forms of life,” NASA said. It LEAVES many questions , (1)> again Mars , thanks to the Curiosity Rover has also found evidence of "salty water - brine's" that flow on the surface . Scientists believe they have evidence of liquid water on Mars. It’s only a tiny bit, and only in certain seasons, but this salty water makes the hunt for past life on Mars all the more exciting.We know Mars has water, and we also know that Mars once had liquid water (a whole ocean, in fact) but now it seems we may have evidence of liquid water today. Or during the planet’s spring and winter months, anyway. In a study published Monday in Nature Geoscience, researchers report that the Curiosity rover has found signs that thin layers of super-salty water could form and evaporate frequently on the surface of Mars.The problem with water on Mars is that it doesn't act like water on Earth. The planet’s atmospheric pressure is so low that water acts more like dry ice would on Earth: It goes right from solid to gas, skipping the liquid step we’re used to seeing in the middle. But some water on Mars may get so flooded with salt that its freezing temperature lowers significantly.Curiosity detected salts called (2)>  perchlorates, which can absorb water from the atmosphere and turn it into briny liquid. but the possibility for liquid brines on Mars has wider implications for habitability and geological water-related processes. So we have all the "carbon base" elements on Mars right now . Nitrogen and Methane both have been found on Mars . So the question gets deeper , more "discoveries" await us........

Curiosity is now exploring a layer just above Pahrump Hills called Garden City. This layer contains mineral veins that may add a few pages to the story of early Mars.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

*** Pluto and Charon are PLANETS and that's that. Done. Over. Finished. Caput. I came to that

Mars  , Mercury and Moon ,
compare with the dwarf planets.

realization some time ago and simply ceased even arguing about and whenever I say something about the planet Pluto online, I simply call it "the planet Pluto" and you know what? Nobody even argues with me about it anymore, I think pretty much everyone is in agreement on that point now.Earth and the Moon are also considered a Binary Planet system. This is because the relative size of the Moon is huge, about 1/4 the size of the Earth. In contrast, the Galilean moons of Jupiter are less than 1/100 the size of Jupiter. Only the Earth-Moon and Pluto-Charon have such large comparisons in size. << Dawn just went 900 million miles to create an orbit around an iceball only 590 miles in diameter. It's been making a sling shot round the dark side and is approaching it's fixed orbit position.This photo looks like OpNav 6 w/17%illumination I'm all excited to see OpNav 7 dawn took on the 14th with 49% illumination. (1)> Measurements taken by NASA's Curiosity rover over the last year show a distinct possibility of salty liquid water, or brine, in the Martian soil, according to climate scientists. Readings taken from the rover's Environmental Monitoring Station have tracked temperature and humidity for over a year, while other instruments examined the chemistry of soil and rock samples — giving researchers a wealth of data to pore over. (2)> perchlorates,are the salts derived from perchloric acid—in particular when referencing the polyatomic anions found in solution, perchlorate is often written with the formula ClO₄⁻. Though produced by natural processes, the preponderance of perchlorates on Earth are produced commercially. Perchlorate salts are mainly used for propellants, exploiting their explosive properties.^[2] Perchlorate contamination in the environment has been extensively studied as it has effects on human health. Perchlorate has been linked to its negative influence on the thyroid gland. 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander performed the first wet chemical analysis of martian soil. The analyses on three samples, two from the surface and one from depth of 5 cm, revealed a slightly alkaline soil and low levels of salts typically found on Earth. Unexpected though was the presence of ~ 0.6% by weight perchlorate (ClO₄⁻), most likely as a Ca(ClO₄)₂ phase.^{[31] [32] [33]} The salts formed from perchlorates discovered at the Phoenix landing site act as "anti-freeze" and will substantially lower the freezing point of water. Based on the temperature and pressure conditions on present-day Mars at the Phoenix lander site, conditions would allow a perchlorate salt solution to be stable in liquid form for a few hours each day during the summer.^[34]

Hillary Clinton :A Cautionary Tale.

The Mystery Machine is
going to take Mrs. Clinton in
a first in American History.
Just maybe....

Mrs. Clinton is throwing her hat in the race . Obviously it was predictable . I am going to dismantle what is going right now . I am not trying to endorse Mrs. Clinton , but I WARN YOU! The GOP  (3)> is in a frenzy trying to find their candidate, and with no Mitt Romney in the race who was their strongest, Republicans tried their best for the past 2+ years to do just about everything they could to dissuade her from running, but their efforts were always going to be futile because she’s simply not afraid of them.If Mrs. Clinton doesn't have a strong opponent in the primary, that will leave her wide open to the issue of whether she feels 'entitled' to the nomination. Even if Jeb Bush would run and be the nominee, he would at least be able to say that he had presented his message to the primary voters and was their choice in an open competition.Running essentially unopposed, Hillary's pre-convention campaign would be reduced to a series of bland, pre-scripted, essentially meaningless events that, looking back through campaign history, has been the hallmark of presumptive candidates who go down in flames.  (1)> But just how terrified are Republicans of Hillary Clinton? Well, terrified enough to have basically been campaigning against her for nearly three years – something I’ve rarely seen in politics. The truth is, no matter what clown ultimately emerges from the circus that’s going to be the GOP presidential primary, she’s going to absolutely crush them. She’s already ahead of every potential Republican candidate in most polls and she hasn’t even been trying. it seems the cards are in her hand now .Exactly 40 years later, it seemed, women’s time had come. As the presidential field formed up in 2007, the best-funded, best-known, and most widely admired potential candidate in the Democratic Party was New York’s junior senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Then, it was stolen from her -- at least that’s how it seemed to many Democratic women -- by a man. He was a freshman senator from Illinois with far less national experience, but an even better story line than Hillary. And women had to stand behind a man again. They don’t want to wait any longer.  I Have to Caution that there is a great possibility that she will win .  I am assuming that women , and young women are likely to vote for her . *** The recent Huffpost polls puts her Favorable  at 48.0 % , she has had a steady decline at the polls over the years , but she and both parties Democrats and Republicans face challenging lows with the voters .It is true that Clinton has, inevitably, lost much of the popularity she won when she was serving as secretary of State and largely removed from partisan politics. Nonpartisan figures can attract broad support, while people engaged in political fights tend to revert toward the mean. Clinton’s support is, as it has been through most of her career, closely divided . Never the less  The election is next year. Clinton's quest to become the nation's first female president was derailed in 2008 when she lost out in the Democratic nomination process to Barack Obama, the nation's first black president.Her campaign said today she would spend the next six to eight weeks in a "ramp-up" period, and she would not hold her first rally and deliver a campaign kickoff speech until May  So everyone has heard the term "Scooby-do

Campaign" yet? Clinton is trying to show herself to be 'just one of the people who struggle every day" by riding across the country in a minivan talking to every-day people...a kind of Clinton 'reset-button,' but with Americans. The only reason she might make it through the primaries is that the democrats are afraid of what the Clintons hold over them in there illegal propaganda activities' And she is slamming it down their throats they owe it to her after they choose the worst debacle president in our history.Although it was purposely crafted to focus on the "everyday" people she hopes will make up her winning coalition, it wasn't all that inspiring or reassuring. It didn't make me want to get up from the sofa and do something, such as favorite or share the video on social media, plaster a bumper sticker on my car, plant a lawn sign outside my house, make a donation to her campaign or join her on her road trip.There are "hundreds" (to put it mildly) who despise the Clinton's and Hillary's lust for power. There is another thing likely to follow Mrs. Clinton , her husband Bill. Does Mrs. Clinton expect all of the  (3)>  Mr. Clinton scandals of the past to be relived through her campaign? Even if she makes it into the Oval Office , Mrs. Clinton obvious will encounter a hostile GOP controlled Congress that might only give her a one term Presidency. (4)>  The United States could be very well served by its first female president and most Americans would have no problem electing her. But as for the first female president being Hillary Rodham Clinton? "Therein lies the rub."

*****************************

For the Most part I honestly "believe" that she could (probably win ) win . I will not endorse her at all, but knowing the politics of sex , (how feminist would think)   women's issues and so on  & along with the weakness of the GOP at the present . There are conditions that could send Hillary right into the White House along with Bill.-- AGAIN!

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

*** A Pew survey released this week gives us the best answer. Pew is the gold standard of political polling, using massive surveys, with high numbers of respondents and very low margins of error. Pew’s survey shows pretty clearly that there was not a major change in public opinion from the time of Obama’s reelection through the 2014 midterms.(1)>  Mrs. Clinton's bio is bittersweet. What type of person would accept this woman as a serious candidate for President of the USA? I can list her accomplishments here: married an extremely astute politician; raised a self sufficient daughter who married a Wall Street banker; stood by her man even as he publicly humiliated her with his philandering; moved to New York state, a Democratic lock for Senate; accepted Sec.of State appointment as the payback for losing the Democratic Party nomination to the current President; flew more miles than any previous Sec.; hired the best in the business campaign organizers, many of whom are the President's previous handlers; avoids news conferences because of the campaign-crushing-questions that would be asked - Benghazi, erased emails, hidden subpoenaed documents, faulty memory, getting shot at, "What difference does it make?", violating the Constitution when pursuing Socialized Health Care, and having no accomplishments other than those listed above. She, like Obama, is the darling of the Party because of the symbolism, not because she is qualified or has any relevant experience. It would be fine to have a woman President as long as she is qualified. Mrs. Clinton is not. (2)> The only chance Republicans have is if liberals throw a giant temper tantrum because Hillary isn’t the end all be all of liberalism. The fact is, if we show up to vote in 2016, supporting the Democratic candidate for president – Republicans can’t win. The only way they can is if we allow apathy to dominate another election cycle, giving Republicans even more power. Just how many more times do we have to allow that to happen, while complaining about how we want a more “progressive nation,” before we realize that we are the ones preventing it from happening? (3)> BILL Clinton's legacy might over reach the Monica Lewinsky scandal ,UK Daily Mail reported that: Bill Clinton's name being recently linked to registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has greatly upset his wife, according to a report published Thursday.An unnamed source told Page Six 'Talk in Washington is that Hillary is furious with Bill about all this new information on Jeffrey Epstein.' Court documents from 2011 describe Clinton's connection to Epstein, the news outlet reported. Epstein was convicted in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor.An excerpt of the documents, obtained by The Smoking Gun, said from 2002 to 2005 that 'Clinton frequently flew with Epstein aboard his plane, then suddenly stopped - raising the suspicion that the friendship abruptly ended, perhaps because of events related to Epstein's sexual abuse of children. (4)> Washington Examiner, Philip Klein ably sketches the nightmare scenario for liberals. “If Hillary's performance among black voters retreats to more typical Democratic levels,” he writes, “it will hinder her efforts in swing states such as Ohio and Florida, where Democrats need to rack up huge margins in urban areas to make up for their weaknesses in other parts of the states. ... It's questionable that young voters will flock to vote at historically high levels for a 69-year-old white woman who has been a national political figure since before many of them were born.”

Iran Deal. The Nitty Gritty.

Double Dealing for Iran.

More American money headed to Iran.

For the most part the Iran Nuclear deal deserves a look . HONESTLY ( as I see it ) ## this deal was more about getting Iran involved in the war to fight the Islamic State terrorists , than preventing Iran from getting a bomb. The Wall Street Journal reports the suggestion underscores the wide gaps that still exist between Iran and the world powers who reached a framework deal April 2 that would limit Iran’s nuclear abilities and mandate international inspections. In exchange, sanctions imposed over Iran’s disputed nuclear program would be scaled back. So what is up with Iran ? Over the years ever since President Reagan , Iran was the part of the so called axis of evil. Like wise the Iranian mullahs have named  ***America as the 'Great Satan'. This name calling all starts because of 30 years of so called sanctions .Convincing China, Russia, Germany, UK, France and most of the UN General Assembly that stronger Iranian sanctions and ultimately war is something that Middle East "allies" have little or no power to control The major premise of  (3)> WaPo that Obama must convince Mideast allies that Iran is not being empowered, thus, is false. Middle East 'allies" never will be mollified. yet it is the world of nations that must be persuaded if stronger sanctions and war must be undertaken. So far, it appears that other large and small nations do not support such undertakings. Yes, why all the smoke and mirrors and not a diplomatic solution? Strange, but this is the first time Iran has even been at the table in what, 35 years? . (5)>  The United States had put Iran on the backwater for so long that much of why the middle-east is falling apart because of it. Since 1979 when the Iranian revolution began , and the whole episode with the American Hostages , one of the underlining issues was not just the Shah who was the center of the hostage deals  &  why the Americans were held so long back then , most of all the issue of (4)>  billions of dollars of assets that the old Shah kept ( if not stole ) from the Iranian people that were sized by the our  American government . However ever since the 1980's  we have been dealing with Iran in much the same way President Reagan did  using his "Iran- Contra" debacle . Now the issue of sanctions has come up.  The United States has said that sanctions removal on Iran will be phased gradually, but Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have said that sanctions on Iran must be lifted as soon as a final agreement is concluded. (1)>  Yet under the deal Obama is now trying to sell, not one of these is to be dismantled. Indeed, Iran’s entire nuclear infrastructure is kept intact, just frozen or re-purposed for the length of the deal (about a decade).The response to criticism of this "framework" is that critics offer no alternatives except war. This is a false choice. There are 2 alternatives that have been proposed. No lifting of sanctions and the crippling effect on Iran's economy will continue to limit Iran's ability to more effectively wage war. Second, walk away from the table insist on a stronger deal (more concessions by Iran) keeping sanctions in place. In short, no deal or a better deal is arguably preferable to this deal. The urgency to get a deal "now" is born out of the political imperative of giving Obama a "win" and burnishing his legacy. Remember that in September 2007, US News & World Report stated: "Amid deepening frustration with Iran, calls for shifting Bush administration policy toward military strikes or other stronger actions are intensifying." And in June 2008, President-to-be Barack Obama declared: "The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat." For most of the warmongering by Bibi . Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned last Saturday night, adding that he hopes the deal will not come to fruition. Listen up everybody. Iran is not going to detonate a nuclear device within Israel. 20% of the Israeli population is Arab and detonating a device there would ruin society and civilization for a 100 miles around. Use your heads. let's see if we can steer Iran to the development of crucial nuclear power generating systems so it can desalinate water for the region. Let's see how the 70% of Iran's population which is 35 years of or younger responds. So all else is in God's hands. Iran has agreed to cut its number of centrifuges from 19,000 to around 6,000; it will reduce its stockpiles of enriched uranium by 97 percent; its breakout capacity (i.e., ability to produce material for a bomb) has been extended from 2-3 months to one year; its nuclear facilities at Arak and Fodrow will be modified and converted to peaceful purposes, and Iran will allow for intrusive IAEA monitoring at both locations. That’s another reason why this framework is a big deal: Iran has agreed to unprecedented verification and supervision of all its facilities by the International Atomic Energy Association. IAEA inspectors will not only have access to the entire supply chain that supports Iran’s nuclear program, as well as to its uranium mines, but Iran will be required to grant access to “suspicious sites” or covert facilities anywhere in the country. There is no other country in the world that has open itself to this type verification by to international inspectors.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

## THE “KEY parameters” for an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program released Thursday fall well short of the goals originally set by the Obama administration. None of Iran’s nuclear facilities — including the Fordow center buried under a mountain — will be closed. Not one of the country’s 19,000 centrifuges will be dismantled. Tehran’s existing stockpile of enriched uranium will be “reduced” but not necessarily shipped out of the country. In effect, Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will remain intact, though some of it will be mothballed for 10 years. When the accord lapses, the Islamic republic will instantly become a threshold nuclear state. ***Bush invades Iraq and is excoriated for not finding WMDs. Obama doesn't invade Iran and hands them WMD and the Left is ecstatic.(2)>The end result left everyone puzzled about the value of the deal. A former IAEA inspection chief wonders why the US would leave Iran on the brink of making a nuclear weapon, even if they stay at that point for the next ten years: “I’m a little puzzled by the political agreement,” said Olli Heinonen, a previous inspections chief at the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. “You’re going to leave Iran as a threshold state. There isn’t much room to maneuver.” This was confirmed earlier today by Laurent Fabius, the French representative to the talks. Fabius told Europe1 Radio that France wanted to reject the deal, but Kerry preferred to capitulate to Iranian demands to get his “success,” an admission also noted by Arutz Sheva: On Friday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Europe 1 radio that France had rejected an original of the deal outline as “not solid enough”, and had held out for firmer conditions. However, Fabius told the radio station that the Iranian delegation had responded by threatening to walk out of the talks. The French delegation was considered by observers to be one of the hardest bargainers of the P5+1 countries, a group which also included the U.S., Britain, Germany, Russia and China. Fabius told Europe 1 that France wants a firm deal “to prevent other countries in the Gulf such as Saudi Arabia from embarking on nuclear proliferation.” (3)> The WaPo editorial board seems to be unaware of the standard negotiating tactic of starting out asking for considerably more than you really need and are willing to settle for so that you have room for give and take. In WaPo's view, Obama getting somewhat less than the result he originally posited is a failure of some kind. People practiced in negotiation, whether between nations or when buying a used car, know better. (4)> The QUESTION of the SHAH's money, the  deposed Shah knows exactly how much money he took with him when he left Iran on Jan. 16, 1979. However, a lot of people think they know how much the Shah is worth. The estimates range from $50 million to $100 million, according to ABC's Barbara Walters, to over $1 billion, according to columnist Alexander Cockburn, all the way up to $56 billion, according to the government of Iran.(5)> All our problems with Iran go back to the US/British coup against the legally elected Mohammed Mossadegh in order to install the Shah as our puppet, who would do our bidding in the Gulf and buy our advanced weapons. The Shah was lionized by the US press who just gobbled up the b.s. about his barren queen, Soraya, and his being forced to marry Farah Diba (pictured) in order to have an heir to the Peacock Throne. Behind the b.s publicity was the brutal fact that the Shah's secret service SAVAK tortured and disappeared Iranians in large numbers. Losing our puppet state in the Persian Gulf was an offense the US has never forgiven Iran for, but the fact is that when the revolution took US hostages and held them for a year, (and Carter failed to rescue them), Reagan's people made a secret deal with Iran not to release them til after Carter had lost the election. It's a fact that US offenses against Iran have been and are much greater than anything Iran has ever done to us, and it's a fact that our opposition to Iran's nuclear programme is mostly motivated by the Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Jewish state of Israel, who hate and fear the Shia state of Iran. Arabia's goal is a Sunni-dominated Gulf, if only it can topple Assad in secular Syria and Shia Iran. Shia Iraq is already in big trouble with the Sunni caliphate installed now in Syria/Iraq territory. All these jihadi fighters come mostly from Saudi Arabia, which is the lead exporter of terrorism to the entire world. We have a symbiotic relationship with Saudi Arabia: it provides the oil and the terrorists, we provide it with advanced weapons, use it in our vendetta against Russia (to drive down oil prices), and use our War against Terror to wipe out the terrorists that the Saudis provide us as 'enemies' that require wiping out. Everybody gets something.

  

Miscellaneous Opinions.

Officer Slager proved that
"Black Lives Matter."

This latest Police Officer shooting is a greater reason now  for Black Lives Matter. You would think that after Ferguson Missouri that a message would be out so the nations police forces might use better tactics in dealing with African -Americans ?  That there would be a turnaround to use of violence , or the use of *** officers gun to shoot down a unarmed men .Nothing changed for the latter , no right winger news media could defend . Thankfully there was a civilian with a cell phone that was filming what was going on in the middle of the scuffle . ( I wish that there was a film of the Micheal Brown shooting that would give credo to the assumption of police brutality.) So the media reported that officer, Michael T. Slager, 33, said he had feared for his life because the man had taken his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. A video, however, shows the officer firing eight times as the man, +++ Walter L. Scott, 50, fled. Wait a minute! Is that exactly the same "report" that the officer said in Ferguson Missouri as an alibi for excessive force that brought down Micheal Brown ? Honestly I believe that the reckless Cop Michael T. Slager "assumed" that he would be "acquitted" . (If no one was filming him ) Officer Darren Wilson said he shot Brown after the two struggled over Wilson's gun, and witnesses to the shooting had different accounts -- often conflicting -- of where Wilson was, where Brown was and whether Brown was surrendering or charging the officer. So if we had any filmed evidence what Officer Wilson did back then we would have an obvious different out come . For Officer Slager he could be charged for murder.  ( Finally!?) So what's changed between the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August, and that of Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina, last weekend? And did the backlash and publicity of the Ferguson shooting influence the handling of the North Charleston incident?A policeman who is about to become a father, has killed another human being just like one would shoot to kill a rabid dog... It is so surreal that it defies any logic.If someone is a known convicted murderer or rapist on the run, one might arguably understand a police officer shooting him down to prevent any further crime from being perpetrated, although a well trained policeman should in such an instance aim at the legs of the criminal... What actually happened to Mr Scott is appalling as it is clearly a racist hate crime, executed with deliberation and attention to detail meaning that officer Slager had already in mind a scenario that would get him off the hook. It would be interesting to find out how many shooting incidents are related to this policeman. He deserves a long prison sentence. 

The Middle -East : ""Going to hell in a hand basket"".

With the Obama Administration working on a nuclear deal with Iran.Well another region of the world is imploding further under the direction of President Obama. By January 2015, rulers had been forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen; civil uprisings had erupted in Bahrain and Syria; major protests had broken out in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Israel and Sudan; and minor protests had occurred in Mali, Mauritania, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Western Sahara, and Palestine.  It seems that in the last few weeks the entire parts of the Middle -east namely  Syria , Iraq and Yemen there has been a series of escalations of terrorism. Obama administration again  caught flat-footed  in the volatile Arab World when a (3)>  Shiite Muslim Houthi rebel group, with ties to Iran’s terrorist state, overthrew Yemen’s government.Yemen's monthlong crisis collapsed into such chaos that rebels ran the president out of the country, and several days after US special forces had fled the country themselves. the White House did something it has been doing for some time: it publicly hailed the Obama administration's "Yemen model" as a success in fighting terrorism. What is most interesting about this is that  (1)> American money was for years was being funneled to support the former Yemeni government.  Selling weapons for favors , and supporting a (2)>  "puppet" regime sound all too familiar in American diplomacy these days. It marks the third time during the Obama presidency that the U.S. has had to abandon its diplomatic outposts (Libya, Syria, and now Yemen) because of Middle East and North Africa hostilities.  The most recent closure of an American embassy not only damages U.S. regional foreign policy objectives but seriously hampers U.S. counter-terrorism efforts.Last September, U.S. President Barack Obama touted the counter-terrorism alliance between the U.S. and Yemeni governments as a model of success in the fight against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and other terror groups.  Today, that alliance is in tatters with the U.S.-backed Yemeni government deposed and Americans and people around the world were treated to the ugly spectacle of U.S. diplomats, intelligence personnel, and Marines fleeing their posts. The Pentagon is unable to account for more than $500 million in U.S. military aid given to Yemen, amid fears that the weaponry, aircraft and equipment is at risk of being seized by Iranian-backed rebels or al-Qaeda, according to U.S. officials. Saudi Arabia has now been dragged in crisis. So if you put the dot's together there is a thin line of U.S. dollars, why would you not think some "secret deal" was made between the Saudi government to conduct air strikes in Yemen ? The bombing campaign in Yemen has so far been limited in success, with the Houthis advancing on the loyalists despite Saudi intervention. The airstrikes so far killed at least 540 people in Yemen, including 74 children, according to World Health Organization. Aid organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross warn that the poorest Arab nation is facing a major humanitarian disaster due to the continued clashes  ALSO, this  has serious worldwide consequences. The GCC, led by Saudi Arabia, has threatened to take military action if the UN doesn't. If the GCC invades Yemen, it will almost certainly mean war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Not only would a Saudi-Iranian war cause the price of oil to reach at LEAST $300 a barrel, which means at LEAST $9.85 a gallon gas.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

*** Cops are coming more and more to resemble Alex's droogies in "A Clockwork Orange" who joined the police force. +++ First bad decision was running from the Cop.  Second bad decision was wrestling with the Cop.  Third bad decision was taking the taser from the Cop.  Fourth bad decision was attempting to flee after taking the taser.  Other bad decisions:  Driving without proper insurance.  Driving with broken tail light, which could lead you to getting pulled over in the first place. explains why the cop apprehended him but not why he shot him in the back and moved evidence afterwards in reality makes no sense since he was unarmed ? Something is wrong here. Did Walter run out of fear , sure the police nation wide have had bad press recently ,The man ran for some reason - the cop had given him no reason at all to feel threatened...unless he was feeling guilty.The hard truth for me here is that,  there's no new law, you resist arrest you're gambling trouble. Had he stayed in the car, he;d probably still be alive today. But the cop did use excessive force.(1)> What??? This just makes me sick. Let's just throw all our..wait..MY money down the toilet. We all need to start making our lawmakers pay for this type of thing. I didn't vote to send all this crap over there so why should I have to pay for it!? Funny how these go missing and Yemen know has a terrorist organization, and abnother interventions, typical US and Isreal tactics. so where do these starving poor people get weapons from hmmm.....(2)> puppet regime YES, So then the Obama administration partnered with Saleh's old vice president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who took over as a "transitional" president but did very little transitioning. Hadi was also happy to help the US to bomb terrorists, but he was not very inclusive or democratic, either. His government was ineffective at addressing Yemen's deteriorating economy and security situation, and proved deeply unpopular.(3)> The Houthis belong to a rebel group called Ansar Allah, or Partisans of God. And they adhere to Zaidism, a form of Shia Islam. Until 1962, Zaidis ruled North Yemen for nearly 1000 years. Two Arab states, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization.