tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64060799503264728042024-03-13T12:11:54.026-04:00Peaceful Resistance, Sustainable Living, and Practical Preparation for Challenging Times AheadAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.comBlogger3184125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-11818935332546157992016-10-08T12:37:00.000-04:002016-10-08T12:37:20.603-04:00The Forgotten Libyan Lessons and the Syrian War<h1 class="entry-title">
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<span class="meta-prep meta-prep-author">Posted on</span> <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/10/forgotten-libyan-lessons-syrian-war.html" rel="bookmark" title="3:38 pm"><span class="entry-date">October 7, 2016</span></a> <span class="meta-sep">by</span> <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/author/washingtonsblog" title="View all posts by WashingtonsBlog">WashingtonsBlog</a></span></div>
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<span class="author vcard"><a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/10/forgotten-libyan-lessons-syrian-war.html">http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/10/forgotten-libyan-lessons-syrian-war.html</a> </span></div>
<em>By Robert Parry. Originally published at Parry’s <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/" target="_blank" title="Consortium News">Consortium News</a> (republished with permission).</em><br />
Most
intelligent Americans – Republicans as well as Democrats – now accept
that they were duped into the Iraq War with disastrous consequences, but
there is more uncertainty about the war on Libya in 2011 as well as the
ongoing proxy war on Syria and the New Cold War showdown with Russia
over Ukraine.<br />
Today, many Democrats don’t want to admit that they
have been manipulated into supporting new imperial adventures against
Libya, Syria, Ukraine and Russia by the Obama administration as it
pulls some of the same propaganda strings that George W. Bush’s
administration did in 2002-2003.<br />
Yet, as happened with Saddam
Hussein in Iraq, we have seen a similar hysteria about the evil doings
of the newly demonized foreign leaders with the predictable Hitler
allusions and vague explanations about how some terrible misdeeds
halfway around the world threaten U.S. interests.<br />
Though people
mostly remember the false WMD claims about Iraq, much of the case for
the invasion was based on protecting “human rights,” spreading
“democracy,” and eliminating a supporter of Palestinians who were
violently resisting Israeli rule.<br />
The justification for aggression
against Iraq was not only to save Americans from the supposed risk of
Iraq somehow unleashing poison gas on U.S. cities but to free the Iraqis
from a brutal dictator, the argument which explained why Bush’s neocon
advisers predicted that Iraqis would shower American troops with rose
petals and candies.<br /> <span id="more-61666"></span><br />
Those same
“humanitarian” arguments were out in force to justify the U.S.-European
“regime change” in Libya eight years later. As former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton asserted – <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2016/04/16/yes-hillary-clinton-is-a-neocon/" target="_blank" title="even this year">even this year</a>
– Muammar Gaddafi was a “genocidal” dictator bent on slaughtering the
people of eastern Libya (though Gaddafi insisted that he was only
interested in killing the “terrorists”).<br />
After a frenzied
media reaction to Gaddafi’s supposedly genocidal plans, Western nations
argued that the world had a “responsibility to protect” Libyan
civilians, a concept known as “R2P.” In haste, the United
Nations Security Council approved a resolution to protect civilians by
imposing a “no-fly zone” over eastern Libya.<br />
But the
subsequent invasion involved U.S.-coordinated air strikes on Gaddafi’s
forces and European Special Forces on the ground working with
anti-Gaddafi rebels. Before long, the “no-fly zone” had expanded into a
full-scale “regime change” operation, ending in the slaughter of many
young Libyan soldiers and the sodomy-with-a-knife-then-murder of
Gaddafi.<br />
As Western leaders celebrated — Secretary Clinton <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgcd1ghag5Y" target="_blank" title="exulted"><u>exulted</u></a>
“We came, we saw, he died” — Libyans began the hard work of trying to
restructure their political system amid roaming bands of heavily armed
jihadist rebels. Soon, it became clear that restoring order would not be
easy and that Gaddafi was right about the presence of terrorists in
Benghazi (when some overran the U.S. consulate killing U.S. Ambassador
Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.)<br />
Libya, which once
had an envious standard of living based on its oil riches, slid into the
status of failed state, now with three governments competing for
control and with jihadist militias, including some associated with the
Islamic State and Al Qaeda, disrupting the nation. The result has been
a far worse humanitarian crisis than existed before the West invaded.<br />
<strong>Lessons from Libya</strong><br />
So,
there should be lessons learned from Libya, just as there should have
been lessons learned from Iraq. But the U.S. political/media
establishment has refused to perform a serious autopsy of these
monumental failures (U.S. inquiries only looked narrowly at the WMD
falsehoods about Iraq and the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi
for Libya). So, it has fallen to the British to take a broader view.<br />
The
British inquiries have had their own limitations, but the Chilcot
report on Iraq catalogued many of the flawed decisions that led Prime
Minister Tony Blair to sign up for President George W. Bush’s “coalition
of the willing” — and a recent parliamentary report revealed how Prime
Minister David Cameron fell into a similar pattern regarding Libya and
President Obama.<br />
Of course, it’s always easier to detect the
manipulations and deceptions in hindsight. In real time, the career
pressures on politicians, bureaucrats and journalists can overwhelm any
normal sense of skepticism. As the propaganda and disinformation swirl
around them, all the “smart” people agree that “something must be done”
and that usually means bombing someone.<br />
We are seeing the same
pattern play out today with the “group think” in support of a major U.S.
military intervention in Syria (supposedly to impose the sweet-sounding
goal of a “no-fly zone,” the same rhetorical gateway used to start the
“regime change” wars in Iraq and Libya).<br />
We are experiencing the
same demonization of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Russia’s Vladimir Putin
that we witnessed before those other two wars on Saddam Hussein and
Muammar Gaddafi. Every possible allegation is made against them, often
based on dubious and deceitful “evidence,” but it goes unchallenged
because to question the propaganda opens a person to charges of being an
“apologist” or a “stooge.”<br />
<strong>Past Is Prologue</strong><br />
But looking back on how the disasters in Iraq and Libya unfolded is not just about the past; it’s about the present and future.<br />
In that sense, <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmfaff/119/119.pdf" target="_blank" title="the findings"><u>the findings</u></a>
by the U.K. parliament’s foreign affairs committee regarding Libya
deserved more attention than they received because they demonstrated
that the Iraq case was not a one-off anomaly but rather part of a new
way to rationalize imperial wars.<br />
And the findings showed
that these tactics are bipartisan, used by all four major parties in the
U.S. and U.K.: Bush was a Republican; Blair was Labour; Obama a
Democrat; and Cameron a Conservative. Though the nuances may differ
slightly, the outcomes have been the same.<br />
The U.K. report also
stripped away many of the humanitarian arguments used to sell the Libyan
war and revealed the crass self-interest beneath. For instance, the
French, who helped spearhead the Libyan conflict, publicly lamented the
suffering of civilians but privately were eager to grab a bigger oil
stake in Libya and to block Gaddafi’s plans to supplant the French
currency in ex-French colonies of Africa.<br />
The report cited an
April 2, 2011 email to Secretary of State Clinton from her unofficial
adviser Sidney Blumenthal explaining what French intelligence officers
were saying privately about French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s real
motives for pushing for the military intervention in Libya:<br />
“a. A
desire to gain a greater share of Libya oil production, b. Increase
French influence in North Africa, c. Improve his internal political
situation in France, d. Provide the French military with an opportunity
to reassert its position in the world, e. Address the concern of his
advisors over Qaddafi’s long term plans to supplant France as the
dominant power in Francophone Africa.”<br />
Regarding France’s
“humanitarian” public rationale, the U.K. report quoted then-French
Foreign Minister Alain Juppé as warning the U.N. about the imminence of
Gaddafi engaging in a mass slaughter of civilians: “We have very little
time left — perhaps only a matter of hours.”<br />
But the report added,
“Subsequent analysis suggested that the immediate threat to civilians
was being publicly overstated and that [Gaddafi’s] reconquest of cities
had not resulted in mass civilian casualties.”<br />
The report also
found that “Intelligence on the extent to which extremist militant
Islamist elements were involved in the anti-Gaddafi rebellion was
inadequate,” including the participation of Abdelhakim Belhadj and other
members of Al Qaeda’s affiliate, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. A
senior defense official said the jihadist danger was played down during
the conflict but “with the benefit of hindsight, that was wishful
thinking at best.”<br />
The report stated: “The possibility that
militant extremist groups would attempt to benefit from the rebellion
should not have been the preserve of hindsight. Libyan connections with
transnational militant extremist groups were known before 2011, because
many Libyans had participated in the Iraq insurgency and in Afghanistan
with al-Qaeda.”<br />
(This year, Belhadj and his jihadist militia were
enlisted by U.S. officials to protect the U.S.-U.N.-backed “Government
of National Accord,” which has failed to win over the support of rival
factions, in part, because more secular Libyan leaders distrust Belhadj
and resent outsiders deciding who should run Libya.)<br />
<strong>Hyperbolic Claims</strong><br />
The
U.K. committee criticized the West’s hyperbolic claims about Gaddafi’s
intent to slaughter civilians in eastern Libya when his actions were
making clear that wasn’t happening.<br />
The report said: “Muammar
Gaddafi’s actions in February and March 2011 demonstrated an
appreciation of the delicate tribal and regional nature of Libya that
was absent in UK policymaking. In particular, his forces did not take
violent retribution against civilians in towns and cities on the road to
Benghazi. [North Africa analyst] Alison Pargeter told us that any such
reprisals would have ‘alienated a lot of the tribes in the east of
Libya’ on which the Gaddafi regime relied. …<br />
“Despite his
rhetoric, the proposition that Muammar Gaddafi would have ordered the
massacre of civilians in Benghazi was not supported by the available
evidence. The Gaddafi regime had retaken towns from the rebels without
attacking civilians in early February 2011. …<br />
“During fighting in
Misrata, the hospital recorded 257 people killed and 949 people wounded
in February and March 2011. Those casualties included 22 women and eight
children. Libyan doctors told United Nations investigators that
Tripoli’s morgues contained more than 200 corpses following fighting in
late February 2011, of whom two were female. The disparity between male
and female casualties suggested that Gaddafi regime forces targeted male
combatants in a civil war and did not indiscriminately attack
civilians.”<br />
The report added: “On 17 March 2011, Muammar Gaddafi
announced to the rebels in Benghazi, ‘Throw away your weapons, exactly
like your brothers in Ajdabiya and other places did. They laid down
their arms and they are safe. We never pursued them at all.’ Subsequent
investigation revealed that when Gaddafi regime forces retook Ajdabiya
in February 2011, they did not attack civilians. Muammar Gaddafi also
attempted to appease protesters in Benghazi with an offer of development
aid before finally deploying troops.”<br />
In another reprise from the
Iraq War run-up, the U.K. inquiry determined that Libyan exiles played
key roles in exaggerating the dangers from Gaddafi, much like the Iraqi
National Congress did in fabricating supposed “evidence” of Saddam
Hussein’s WMD. The report said:<br />
“We were told that émigrés opposed
to Muammar Gaddafi exploited unrest in Libya by overstating the threat
to civilians and encouraging Western powers to intervene. In the course
of his 40-year dictatorship Muammar Gaddafi had acquired many enemies in
the Middle East and North Africa, who were similarly prepared to
exaggerate the threat to civilians.”<br />
Qatar’s Al-Jazeera satellite
channel, which currently is hyping horror stories in Syria, was doing
the same in Libya, the U.K. committee learned.<br />
“Alison Pargeter
told us that the issue of mercenaries was amplified [with her saying]:
‘I also think the Arab media played a very important role here.
Al-Jazeera in particular, but also al-Arabiya, were reporting that
Gaddafi was using air strikes against people in Benghazi and, I think,
were really hamming everything up, and it turned out not to be true.’”<br />
<strong>Allegations Debunked</strong><br />
The
report continued: “An Amnesty International investigation in June 2011
could not corroborate allegations of mass human rights violations by
Gaddafi regime troops. However, it uncovered evidence that rebels in
Benghazi made false claims and manufactured evidence.<br />
“The
investigation concluded that much Western media coverage has from the
outset presented a very one-sided view of the logic of events,
portraying the protest movement as entirely peaceful and repeatedly
suggesting that the regime’s security forces were unaccountably
massacring unarmed demonstrators who presented no security challenge. …<br />
“In
short, the scale of the threat to civilians was presented with
unjustified certainty. US intelligence officials reportedly described
the intervention as ‘an intelligence-light decision’. We have seen no
evidence that the UK Government carried out a proper analysis of the
nature of the rebellion in Libya. …<br />
“It could not verify the
actual threat to civilians posed by the Gaddafi regime; it selectively
took elements of Muammar Gaddafi’s rhetoric at face value; and it failed
to identify the militant Islamist extremist element in the rebellion.
UK strategy was founded on erroneous assumptions and an incomplete
understanding of the evidence.”<br />
If any of this sounds familiar –
echoing the pre-coup reporting from Ukraine in 2013-2014 or the current
coverage in Syria – it should. In all those cases, Western diplomats and
journalists put white hats on one side and black hats on the other,
presenting a simplistic, imbalanced account of the complicated
religious, ethnic and political aspects of these crises.<br />
The U.K.
report also exposed how the original goal of protecting civilians merged
seamlessly into a “regime change” war. The report said:<br />
“The
combination of coalition airpower with the supply of arms, intelligence
and personnel to the rebels guaranteed the military defeat of the
Gaddafi regime. On 20 March 2011, for example, Muammar Gaddafi’s forces
retreated some 40 miles from Benghazi following attacks by French
aircraft. If the primary object of the coalition intervention was the
urgent need to protect civilians in Benghazi, then this objective was
achieved in less than 24 hours.<br />
“The basis for intervention: did
it change? We questioned why NATO conducted air operations across Libya
between April and October 2011 when it had secured the protection of
civilians in Benghazi in March 2011. … We asked [former chief of defense
staff] Lord Richards whether the object of British policy in Libya was
civilian protection or regime change. He told us that ‘one thing morphed
almost ineluctably into the other’ as the campaign developed its own
momentum. … The UK’s intervention in Libya was reactive and did not
comprise action in pursuit of a strategic objective. This meant that a
limited intervention to protect civilians drifted into a policy of
regime change by military means.”<br />
Less destructive options were
also ignored, the report found: “Saif Gaddafi is the second son of
Muammar Gaddafi. He was a member of his father’s inner circle and
exercised influence in Libya. … Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who
knew the Gaddafi regime better than most Western politicians, confirmed
that Saif Gaddafi was ‘the best, if not the only prospect’ of effecting
political change in Libya.” But that opportunity was rebuffed as was the
possibility of arranging Gaddafi’s surrender of power and exile, the
report said, adding:<br />
“It was therefore important to keep the lines
of communication open. However, we saw no evidence that the then Prime
Minister David Cameron attempted to exploit Mr Blair’s contacts. Mr
Blair explained that both Mr Cameron and former United States Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton were aware that he was communicating with
Muammar Gaddafi. We asked Mr Blair to describe Mr Cameron’s reaction to
his conversations with Muammar Gaddafi. He told us that Mr Cameron ‘was
merely listening’.<br />
“Political options were available if the UK
Government had adhered to the spirit of [U.N.] Resolution 1973,
implemented its original campaign plan [to protect civilians] and
influenced its coalition allies to pause military action when Benghazi
was secured in March 2011. Political engagement might have delivered
civilian protection, regime change and reform at lesser cost to the UK
and to Libya.”<br />
<strong>Spreading Disorder</strong><br />
There was
also the consequence of the Libyan conflict, spreading disorder around
the region because Libyan military stockpiles were plundered. The report
said: “Libya purchased some £30 billion [or about $38 billion] of
weapons and ammunition between 1969 and 2010. Many of those munitions
were not issued to the Libyan Army and were instead stored in
warehouses. After the collapse of the Gaddafi regime, some weapons and
ammunition remained in Libya, where they fell into the hands of the
militias. Other Libyan weapons and ammunition were trafficked across
North and West Africa and the Middle East.<br />
“The United Nations
Panel of Experts appointed to examine the impact of Resolution 1973
identified the presence of ex-Libyan weapons in Algeria, Chad, Egypt,
Gaza, Mali, Niger, Tunisia and Syria. The panel concluded that ‘arms
originating from Libya have significantly reinforced the military
capacity of terrorist groups operating in Algeria, Egypt, Mali and
Tunisia.’ …<br />
“The international community’s inability to secure
weapons abandoned by the Gaddafi regime fuelled instability in Libya and
enabled and increased terrorism across North and West Africa and the
Middle East. The UK Government correctly identified the need to secure
weapons immediately after the 2011 Libyan civil war, but it and its
international partners took insufficient action to achieve that
objective. However, it is probable that none of the states that
intervened in Libya would have been prepared to commit the necessary
military and political resources to secure stocks of weapons and
ammunition. That consideration should have informed their calculation to
intervene.”<br />
Despite these findings, the Obama administration and
its allies are considering an escalation of their military intervention
in Syria, which already has involved arming and training jihadists who
include Al Qaeda militants as well as supposedly “moderate” fighters,
who have aligned themselves with Al Qaeda and handed over sophisticated
American weaponry.<br />
The U.S. military has spearheaded a bombing
campaign against Al Qaeda’s spinoff, the Islamic State, inside Syria.
But the Obama administration sometimes has put its desire to oust Assad
ahead of its supposed priority of fighting the Islamic State, such as
when U.S. air power pulled back from bombing Islamic State militants in
2015 as they were overrunning Syrian army positions at the historic city
of Palmyra.<br />
Now, with Syria and its Russian ally resorting to
intense bombing to root Al Qaeda and its allies, including some of those
U.S.-armed “moderates,” from their strongholds in eastern Aleppo, there
is a full-throated demand from the West, including virtually all major
media outlets, to impose a “no-fly zone,” like the one that preceded the
“regime change” in Libya.<br />
While such interventions may “feel
good” – and perhaps there’s a hunger to see Assad murdered like Gaddafi –
there is little or no careful analysis about what is likely to follow.<br />
The
most likely outcome from a Syrian “regime change” is a victory by Al
Qaeda and/or its erstwhile friends in the Islamic State. How that
would make the lives of Syrians better is hard to fathom. More likely,
the victorious jihadists would inflict a mass bloodletting on
Christians, Alawites, Shiites, secular Sunnis and other “heretics,” with
millions more fleeing as refugees.<br />
Among the Western elites – in
politics and media – no lessons apparently have been learned from the
disaster in Iraq, nor from the new British report on the Libyan fiasco.<br />
<strong>Investigative
reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The
Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book,
<em>America’s Stolen Narrative,</em> either in <a href="https://org.salsalabs.com/o/1868/t/12126/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=1037" target="_blank" title="print here"><u>print here</u></a> or as an e-book (from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Stolen-Narrative-Washington-ebook/dp/B009RXXOIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350755575&sr=8-1&keywords=americas+stolen+narrative" target="_blank" title="Amazon"><u>Amazon</u></a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/americas-stolen-narrative?keyword=americas+stolen+narrative&store=ebook&iehack=%E2%98%A0" target="_blank" title="barnesandnoble.com"><u>barnesandnoble.com</u></a>).</strong>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-72041741022634770472016-10-08T12:34:00.000-04:002016-10-08T12:34:36.144-04:00Syria – Is The U.S. Preparing A “False Flag” Bombing?http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/10/syria-u-s-preparing-false-flag-bombing.html#more-61662<br />
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<span class="meta-prep meta-prep-author">Posted on</span> <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/10/syria-u-s-preparing-false-flag-bombing.html" rel="bookmark" title="2:57 pm"><span class="entry-date">October 7, 2016</span></a> <span class="meta-sep">by</span> <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/author/washingtonsblog" title="View all posts by WashingtonsBlog">WashingtonsBlog</a></span></div>
<em>By <a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/" target="_blank" title="Moon of Alabama">Moon of Alabama</a>. Originally posted at Moon of Alabama under <a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/10/is-the-us-preparing-a-false-flag-bombing-in-syria.html#more" target="_blank" title="Syria - Is The U.S. Preparing A ">Syria – Is The U.S. Preparing A “False Flag” Bombing?</a>.</em><br />
There
is a curious coincidence of a remark Secretary of State Kerry made to
Syrian opposition activists and a new paint scheme applied to some U.S.
military jets.<br />
October 1 2016: <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/01/politics/kerry-audio-recording-syria/" target="_blank" title="Kerry in leaked audio: ‘I lost the argument’ for use of force in Syria">Kerry in leaked audio: ‘I lost the argument’ for use of force in Syria</a><br />
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<br />
<blockquote>
Washington
(CNN) Secretary of State John Kerry’s frustration with the failure of
American diplomacy was on display as he defended US efforts to help end
the five-year civil war in Syria <strong>during a meeting last week with a group of Syrian civilians, according to an audio recording obtained by CNN</strong>.<br /> …<br />
Kerry’s comments came at a meeting that took place at the Dutch Mission
to the United Nations on the sidelines the UN General Assembly, where
Kerry was going from session to session in a frenzied effort to
resuscitate a ceasefire that seemed poised to collapse.</blockquote>
A complete audio recording of the meeting between Kerry, some of his staff, and some Syrians <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3grHmI44mg" target="_blank" title="is available on youtube">is available on youtube</a>.<br />
Of interest is a short segment about alleged Russian bombing beginning <a href="https://youtu.be/t3grHmI44mg?t=11m19s" target="_blank" title="at 11:18">at 11:18</a>.
The female Arab-English interpreter translates remarks by a Syrian,
believed to be the Syrian front-man of the White Helmets scam <a href="http://www.businessinsider.de/raed-saleh-white-helmets-syria-us-white-helmets-2016-4?r=US&IR=T" target="_blank" title="Raed Saleh">Raed Saleh</a>, about the difficulties of supervising ceasefires.<br /> <span id="more-61662"></span><br />
<blockquote>
<strong>Interpreter</strong>
(translating from a male Arabic speaker): We don’t believe that Russia
can be the guarantor of the actions of the regime. We see Russia is a
partner of the regime in bombing Syrians, Syrian civilians, market
places, even our own team, the Syrian Civil Defense team. We documented
since the start of the Russian intervention in Syria from day one until
February of this year more than 17 of our Syrian Civil Defense personal
have been killed by Russian airstrikes.<br />
<strong>Kerry</strong>: <u>Do you have any videos of the airplanes of these strikes</u>?<br />
(crosstalk interpreter and male Arab voice)<br />
<strong>Kerry</strong>: Can we get that (unintelligible) videos the agents have been asking for?<br />
(crosstalk interpreter and male Arab voice)<br />
<strong>Kerry staff member</strong>: So can I just say – we get a lot of videos of the victims of these attacks, they are terrible, but they don’t help us. <u>We need videos of the actual aircrafts</u>
and ammunition. And there is a lot of them on the internet but we don’t
know whether they are real or not. Verified videos of the actual
aircraft is the most useful thing. …</blockquote>
These men can be helped, though someone in the U.S. military – or not.<br />
A Canadian journalist based in Eastern/Central Europe, Christian Borys <a href="https://twitter.com/ItsBorys/status/784132399798034432" target="_blank" title="tweeted">tweeted</a> yesterday:<br />
<blockquote>
Christian
Borys @ItsBorysThe U.S is painting their F/A-18’s to match the paint
schemes of Russian jets in #Syria. Standard training, but interesting
nonetheless. <a href="https://twitter.com/ItsBorys/status/784132399798034432/photo/1" target="_blank" title="pic.twitter.com/FVN6tMj2Ji">pic.twitter.com/FVN6tMj2Ji</a><br />
1:45 PM – 6 Oct 2016</blockquote>
This is the attached pic:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="aligncenter" src="http://www.moonofalabama.org/images5/russianpaintplane-s.jpg" /><a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/images5/russianpaintplane.jpg" target="_blank" title="bigger">bigger</a></div>
The
first three pics are of an U.S. F/A-18 fighter and attack aircraft in
Russian coloring. (The wingtips are raised for storage as this is a
carrier enabled plane. The windows of the raised cockpit hood are
covered with white sun protection sheets.) On the bottom right is a
picture of a Russia SU-34 in the usual Russian color scheme as it is
also used by the Russian contingent in Syria.<br />
It would be extremely difficult to distinguish these like-colored planes from each other in a shaky fly-by and “bombing” video.<br />
The U.S. regularly uses planes in “enemy” color schemes as “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggressor_squadron" target="_blank" title="aggressor force">aggressor force</a>”
during training and maneuvers. It helps U.S. pilots to get used to
“enemy” targets during air-to-air combat training. So this can all be,
like Christian Borys assumes, “standard training”.<br />
But there is
also Kerry’s talk with the Syrian opposition and his explicit request
for videos of “Russian” jets bombing in Syria.<br />
This may be an innocent coincidence: Secretary Kerry is asking the <a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/06/gallery-dramatic-rescue-man-with-kid-runs-towards-camera-43-staged-pictures.html" target="_blank" title="scam artists">scam artists</a>
of the White Helmets for video of Russian jets “bombing civilians” in
Syria and, just by chance, the U.S. military is painting one of its jets
to look like a “Russian” Su-34 strike fighter like those deployed in
Syria.<br />
But many incidents in Syria, the Ghouta gas attack, the
recent aid convoy attack, get attributed to Russia or the Syrian
government without any proof (or even despite <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1006045-possible-implications-of-bad-intelligence.html" target="_blank" title="contrary evidence">contrary evidence</a>).
The media always eat these falsehoods up based simply on some
official’s say-so, some unverified pictures or video and without asking
any further questions. A “Russian attack” on some large civilian target
like a refugee camp, <em>documented on video!</em>, would be a very easy
sell. The propagandized “uproar” over such an attack could be easily
used to launch a wider war. The attack on the Gleiwitz Radio tower, the
Gulf of Tonkin incident and “Saddam’s WMDs” come to mind. Kerry is not
shy of such lying. Today he invented a new hospital attack, said it was a
war crime and that Russia and Syria should be <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-kerry-russia-syria-should-face-war-crimes-investigation/" target="_blank" title="investigated">investigated</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/GebeilyM/status/784431886219304961" target="_blank" title="No such attack">No such attack</a> happened.<br />
The Russian parliament <a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/10/%22https://sputniknews.com/russia/20161007/1046105588/russia-ratification-russian-aviation-syria.html" target="_blank" title="ratified">ratified</a>
an agreement with Syria about the indefinite stationing of Russian
forces in Syria. Yesterday the Russian Ministry of Defense warned that
Russian soldiers are embedded with Syrian units on the ground and that
they would be defended against any attempt of air attacks by the Russian
air-defense in Syria. U.S. media called such matter of course statement
<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/obama-john-kerry-russian-ridicule-229259" target="_blank" title="bellicose talk">bellicose talk</a>.<br />
There is plenty of lose talk in U.S. media about attacking Syrian and Russian forces in Syria. The U.S. recently <a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/09/us-launches-open-war-on-syrian-government-forces.html" target="_blank" title="bombed">bombed</a>
a Syrian unit in a well known position it had held for many month. 82
Syrian soldier died and many more were wounded. The strike furthered the
advance of ISIS on the besieged Deir Ezzor. That was no ‘mistake’ as
the U.S. claimed.<br />
Russia will defend its forces in Syria and it will defend Syria’s sovereignty. It is not alone. A Chinese navy frigate just <a href="https://twitter.com/mansourtalk/status/784393823313092608" target="_blank" title="arrived">arrived</a>
in the Syrian port Tartus. Should that trip-wire get touched 1.3
billion Chinese would join the Russians, Iranians and Syrians in waging
war against the U.S. “regime change” attempt in Syria. Washington is
warned. No cheap paint scheme trickery will be accepted as reason to
hold back. Russia WILL hit back should the need arise.<br />
Any attack
on Russian or Syrian forces would be illegal. Kerry himself, in the
above linked talk, says that the U.S. has absolutely no legal grounds
for any such attack. It would be illegitimate and a crime. But the U.S.
is not known for staying strictly within the framework of international
law. Russia is well advised to warn of the eventual consequences of any
breach. There is nothing “bellicose” about that.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-67573322491223367362016-09-04T13:09:00.000-04:002016-09-04T13:09:06.276-04:00ALERT: CDC Proposes Rule to Apprehend and Detain anyone, anywhere, at any time, for any duration, without Due Process or right of Appeal – and administer forced vaccines<div class="td-post-header">
<header class="td-post-title">
<h1 class="entry-title">
</h1>
<div class="td-module-meta-info">
<div class="td-post-author-name">
By <a href="http://www.healthnutnews.com/author/erin/" itemprop="author">Erin Elizabeth</a> - </div>
<div class="td-post-date">
<time class="entry-date updated td-module-date" datetime="2016-09-03T10:59:01+00:00" itemprop="dateCreated">September 3, 2016</time></div>
</div>
</header></div>
http://www.healthnutnews.com/cdc-proposes-rule-to-apprehend-and-detain-anyone/<br /><div class="td-post-featured-image">
<img alt="" class="entry-thumb" height="234" itemprop="image" src="http://cdn.healthnutnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cdc-logo-696x511.jpg" title="cdc-logo" width="320" /></div>
This news should be on the front page of EVERY paper in the
U.S. and the top news story on every news channel because if the CDC
gets their way- you can kiss your right to Due Process GOODBYE. This is
no joke.<br />
The Centers for Disease Control (hereafter referred to as the CDC)
has proposed a rule- and given the public until 10/14/16 to comment-
giving them the power to apprehend and detain <strong>ANYONE, ANYWHERE, AT ANY TIME,</strong> <em>without Due Process or any right of appeal:</em><br />
<ul>
<li>to hold them (or entire groups/cities) in quarantine for as long as they want</li>
<li>and forcibly vaccinate them if needed.</li>
</ul>
You may not refuse them and you may not leave. Make no mistake, this is tyranny.<br />
From the article:<br />
<blockquote>
“INDIVIDUALS WHO VIOLATE THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT OR
THE TERMS OF THE FEDERAL ORDER FOR QUARANTINE, ISOLATION, OR CONDITIONAL
RELEASE (EVEN IF NO AGREEMENT IS IN PLACE BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND
THE GOVERNMENT), HE OR SHE MAY BE SUBJECT TO CRIMINAL PENALTIES”</blockquote>
The CDC has currently listed the communicable disease they are trying to protect the public from as:<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="">Measles</td>
<td>Pertussis</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="">Tuberculosis</td>
<td>Rubella.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="">Rabies</td>
<td>Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="">Meningococcal disease</td>
<td>Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronovirus (MERS).</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="">Varicella</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
However, do not think for a MOMENT that it is beyond them to suddenly
view, and sneak in, any other disease they have a vaccination for- onto
this list. To read their entire proposal, and EVERY American should, <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/08/15/2016-18103/control-of-communicable-diseases" target="_blank">click here</a>. It is imperative that we understand that <strong>the CDC is giving itself the power to forcibly <em>apprehend</em> healthy people- en masse- and detain them indefinitely with no process of appeal</strong>.<br />
<blockquote>
<em>“When an apprehension occurs, the individual <strong>is not free to leave or discontinue his/her discussion</strong> with an HHS/CDC public health or quarantine officer.” </em><br />
</blockquote>
<h3>
Our friends at RedFlag News have outlined the CDC’s three stage process for us:</h3>
<ol>
<li><strong>You or your city/group are declared “precommunicable” </strong></li>
<li><strong>You are apprehended and detained</strong></li>
<li><strong>You are ordered to isolation, quarantine, or given a conditional release</strong></li>
</ol>
Stage 1:<br />
<blockquote>
<em>“</em><em>CDC defines precommunicable stage to mean
the stage beginning upon an individual’s earliest opportunity for
exposure to an infectious agent”,</em></blockquote>
The CDC doesn’t need to have medical proof that you or your city is
“precommunicable”. Rather, all that is required is for someone to say
you or your city has had an opportunity for exposure- meaning you could
be perfectly healthy. Again, you will have ZERO due process to prove
otherwise. You are completely at their will.<br />
Stage 2:<br />
As if Stage 1 wasn’t terrifying, Stage 2 is where stuff can get really dark for us as the CDC has <strong>unlimited and unchecked authority</strong>.
They’ve explained how they generally expect things to work but they
have also clearly stated their decision making is open-ended. You have
no say.<br />
In fact, to understand how the CDC’s concept of unlimited city-wide
Apprehension and Detention would play out, watch the CDC’s 2011
propaganda movie- <a href="http://amzn.to/2crQSnG" target="_blank">Contagion</a> (<a href="http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/media/pdf/Contagion.pdf" target="_blank">click here for the CDC’s press release about the film</a>).<br />
Stage 3:<br />
From the article:<br />
<blockquote>
“IF an order of isolation, quarantine, or conditional
release is issued, the CDC gives those so ordered one chance in the
first 72 hours to ask CDC to change their minds, after which <strong>unlimited detention is again on the table</strong>.”</blockquote>
Remember, you can ask, but they don’t have to answer you, let you go,
and are not required to have any further discussions on the matter.
Period. That’s what unlimited power looks like. All in the name of
public health. Or perhaps in the name of money for Big Pharma. Because
it is looking more and more like this is what they are ultimately after.<br />
From RedFlag News:<br />
<blockquote>
“CDC may enter into an agreement with an individual, upon
such terms as the CDC considers to be reasonably necessary, indicating
that the individual consents to any of the<strong> public health
measures authorized under this part, including quarantine, isolation,
conditional release, medical examination, hospitalization, vaccination,
and treatment</strong>; provided that <strong>the individual’s consent shall not be considered as a prerequisite to any exercise of any authority under this part.</strong>“</blockquote>
It is reasonable to even expect the CDC may soon create their own
armed police force to carry these actions out. It can’t be far off.<br />
Please make sure to let the CDC know how you feel about this tyranny by visiting this <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=CDC-2016-0068-0001" target="_blank">site</a>.
They have unfortunately proven NOT TO BE TRUSTWORTHY and we must fight
against any possibility of the state forcibly quarantining or
vaccinating us.<br />
Please, spread the word. This info is all public record and comes
from government and CDC websites with links included. Use your voice
while you still have the right.<br />
Source: <a href="http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines-2016/cdc-proposes-rule-to-apprehend-and-detain-anyone-anywhere-at-any-time-for-any-duration-without-due-process-or-right-of-appeal-and-administer-forced-vaccinations" target="_blank">RedFlag News</a> and <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/08/15/2016-18103/control-of-communicable-diseases#h-32" target="_blank">FederalRegister.gov</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-19231354285791308662016-08-31T21:00:00.002-04:002016-08-31T21:04:29.608-04:00Growing and Harvesting Sorghum: Raising Cane and Gettin' Juiced - Part 1<div class="Title">
<h2>
</h2>
</div>
<div class="Date">
8/30/2016 2:19:00 PM
</div>
<div class="Byline">
By <a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/biographies/susan-tipton-fox-north-carolina-maple-tapping-farmer-and-homesteader.aspx" target="_self">Susan Tipton-Fox, The Mushroom Hut @ Fox Farms/Micro Dairy</a></div>
<div class="Byline">
<a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/sorghum-raising-cane-and-gettin-juiced.aspx">http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/sorghum-raising-cane-and-gettin-juiced.aspx</a></div>
<img alt="Sorghum seed head and juice" src="http://www.motherearthnews.com/%7E/media/Images/MEN/Editorial/Blogs/Organic%20Gardening/Sorghum%20%20Raisin%20Cane%20and%20Gettin%20Juiced/10406715_905379096141496_539349518521906367_n.jpg?h=412&w=550&la=en" style="height: 412px; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; vertical-align: top; width: 550px;" /><br />
Sorghum is one of the topics we cover when we speak at the MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR. We also did a "juicing" demonstration.<br />
We are a small farm and we stick mainly with the traditional crops
that have always been grown here in the mountains (Western North
Carolina). Although, we try to find more economical ways of growing,
processing and/or marketing those crops — which tends to be
non-traditional ways.<br />
I'm a genealogy nut, so I love to find out what my ancestors were
growing and how. I want to connect land and family. I found an 1880
Agricultural Census with my great great grandfather listed. In that time
Molasses, Maple Syrup, hops, wine, cheese and milk were a few listed. I
was so excited! If they could produce those then we could surely do it
now! <br />
<b>
</b>
<h3>
<b>
Is it Cane or Sorghum?</b></h3>
<b>
</b>
We tried the sorghum cane because we knew our land did well with corn
and since they require much of the same nutrients we went with this. We
needed another “sweet” option here on the farm too. We’ve always called
it "cane." Sorghum is known by many names: sweet sorghum, sorghum cane
and all are correct.<br />
Sorghum is actually a type of grass, not unlike corn. Sorghum
actually looks like a small variety of corn when growing. There are
larger varieties of cane but, most of those are grown in South America
and other hotter climates. This sugar cane doesn't produce as dark a
syrup as does Sorghum cane.<br />
<h3>
<b>Getting Started: Where to Find Sorghum Seed</b></h3>
We've been growing cane now for over 5 years. So, for us, we save
seed each year. We chose Rox Orange which is a versatile cane. When
getting started I recommend buying seed from a reputable dealer. There
are many dealers out there and many choices when deciding which seed to
buy. A company we have used is <a href="http://sustainableseedco.com/sorghum/" target="_blank">Sustainable Seed Company</a>.<br />
If you are looking for untreated seed make sure that is listed
because too often you'll receive seed that has been treated. When you
buy "organic" this will be untreated seed. As I said earlier, there are
many varieties of sorghum. There are many purposes for sorghum. You can
use the sorghum for juice, making molasses, using seed heads for making
gluten-free flour, seed heads for animal/bird feed, and the bagasse
(scraps from juicing) for livestock feed.<br />
<h3>
<b>When to Plant</b></h3>
We usually plant our seed when we plant our corn. We are in Zone 7
and usually don't have a hard frost after May 10th. When the ground
becomes warm, at least 60 degrees, we start planting our seed. We don't
use a seed sower, we just sow by hand. The seeds are very small so the
seeds are sowed thickly.<br />
If you have a corn planter, there are attachments that would
accommodate this size seed. The concerns for this crop is too much
rainfall that can loosen the ground and/or wind that can cause
"lodging". Falling over of the crops. It is very hard to "weed" this
crop since it is planted so densely. Make sure weeds are removed from
between the rows.<br />
<img alt="Growing Sorghum" src="http://www.motherearthnews.com/%7E/media/Images/MEN/Editorial/Blogs/Organic%20Gardening/Sorghum%20%20Raisin%20Cane%20and%20Gettin%20Juiced/23439_118316928181054_6104378_n.jpg?h=412&w=550&la=en" style="height: 412px; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; vertical-align: top; width: 550px;" /><br />
<b>
</b>
<h3>
<b>
When and How to Harvest Sorghum</b></h3>
<b>
</b>
Days to maturity varies between varieties. At least 80 days for
silage. Left to mature longer makes the juice sweeter. We like to start
cutting cane by the 2nd week in September and you want to cut it before
the first hard frost in your area. You simply cut the stalks as close to
the ground as possible and gather. I use my Daddy's old tobacco knife
to cut cane.<br />
<img alt="Harvesting sorghum" src="http://www.motherearthnews.com/%7E/media/Images/MEN/Editorial/Blogs/Organic%20Gardening/Sorghum%20%20Raisin%20Cane%20and%20Gettin%20Juiced/1532088_905381319474607_1415145443444684025_n.jpg?h=412&w=550&la=en" style="height: 412px; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; vertical-align: top; width: 550px;" /><br />
There is the argument as to strip the leaves first or not. Some will
strip the leaves and top the seed heads and leave a few days before
gathering. There is some research that says this will increase sugar
content and yields while other research says it makes no difference in
the outcome. So, we do not strip the leaves and seed heads first.<br />
You want to be ready to process all the cane you gather in the same
day. The stalks lose moisture/juice from evaporation after cutting. We
only process a limited amount at a time. <br />
<img alt="Hand harvesting" src="http://www.motherearthnews.com/%7E/media/Images/MEN/Editorial/Blogs/Organic%20Gardening/Sorghum%20%20Raisin%20Cane%20and%20Gettin%20Juiced/10678850_905381159474623_3816268788193323621_n.jpg?h=412&w=550&la=en" style="height: 412px; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; vertical-align: top; width: 550px;" /><br />
<i>Photo of Alan "hand" harvesting.</i><br />
<img alt="Ready for processing" src="http://www.motherearthnews.com/%7E/media/Images/MEN/Editorial/Blogs/Organic%20Gardening/Sorghum%20%20Raisin%20Cane%20and%20Gettin%20Juiced/23439_118393564840057_3592630_n.jpg?h=412&w=550&la=en" style="height: 412px; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; vertical-align: top; width: 550px;" /><br />
Now, with the first cutting ready and the seed heads bundled, it's
time for processing. You can follow Part 2 (stay tuned) to see our take
on "Gettin' Juiced!"<br />
<i><a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/biographies/susan-tipton-fox-north-carolina-maple-tapping-farmer-and-homesteader.aspx" target="_self">Susan Tipton-Fox</a> continues
the farming and preserving practices that had been passed down to her
by her family. She presents on-farm workshops in Yancey County, North
Carolina, and growing her on-farm agritourism by promoting "workshop
stays" on the farm (extending the farm experience). Find Susan on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susantiptonfox" target="_blank">Facebook</a></i><i>, and read all of her MOTHER EARTH NEWS posts <a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/search.aspx?tags=%22Susan%20Tipton%20Fox%22" target="_self">here</a>.</i> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-26427592646900437372016-08-31T20:57:00.003-04:002016-08-31T20:57:07.494-04:00Why Is The DHS Preparing To Take Control Of The US Election?<h1 class="title">
</h1>
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<a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-31/obama-planning-seize-control-state-election-infrastructure">http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-31/obama-planning-seize-control-state-election-infrastructure</a> </div>
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<span title="Aug 31, 2016 5:00 PM">Aug 31, 2016 5:00 PM</span> </div>
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What do you do when you're the dictatorial
leader of an oppressive government regime looking to maintain power
while simultaneously preserving the facade of free and open elections? <strong>Well, if you're the Obama administration then you look for avenues to nationalize state-run election infrastructure.</strong><br />
But you can't just seize control of infrastructure that has been
successfully run at the state level for a couple hundred years...that
kind of stuff only happens in Venezuela and we're better than that. <strong>
No, you need a catalyst for this kind of blatant power grab.
"Coincidentally", a catalyst just like the FBI's warning a couple of
days ago about "foreign hackers [read Putin] penetrating state election
systems." </strong>Then, once you've defined the super villain, all you
need is a couple of political cronies to go on a fear mongering tour to
whip the electorate into a frenzy. And wouldn't you know it...Harry
Reid recently did just that by sending a letter to the FBI voicing his
"concerns" that the "Russian government" may be looking to tamper with
the upcoming presidential election. Per the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/30/us/politics/harry-reid-russia-tampering-election-fbi.html?mtrref=undefined&_r=2&mtrref=go.redirectingat.com&gwh=6934868D2B566F66ECF9830E1CD87491&gwt=pay">New York Times</a>, Harry Reid's letter to the FBI included the following:<br />
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<blockquote>
"<strong>I have recently become concerned that the threat of the Russian government tampering in our presidential election</strong> is more extensive than widely known and may <strong>include the intent to falsify official election results.</strong>"<br />
</blockquote>
<strong>The combination of all these things might be just enough to
scare the American electorate into forfeiting another chunk of their
individual sovereignty to the elite political class in Washington DC
while plunging us one step closer to the inevitable end game of
"fundamentally transforming" our constitutional democracy into a police
state.</strong><br />
Per the <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/homeland-eyes-special-declaration-to-take-charge-of-elections/article/2600592">Washington Examiner</a>,
this sort of scenario is precisely what Department of Homeland Security
Secretary, Jeh Johnson, discussed at an event hosted by The Christian
Science Monitor earlier this month. <br />
<blockquote>
"<strong>We
should carefully consider whether our election system, our election
process, is critical infrastructure like the financial sector, like the
power grid.</strong>"<br />
<br />
"There's a vital national interest in our election process, so I do
think we need to consider whether it should be considered by my
department and others critical infrastructure."<br />
<br />
"<strong>There's no one federal election system. There are some 9,000 jurisdictions involved in the election process.</strong>"<br />
</blockquote>
<div data-mediaconductor-processed="true">
Jeh Johnson's comments related to election infrastructure can be viewed below. His full comments can be viewed <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?413496-1/homeland-security-secretary-jeh-johnson-speaks-christian-science-monitor-breakfast">here</a>.</div>
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<br />
As an added little benefit, seizing control of state election
infrastructure makes it so much easier to move toward the ultimate end
game of standardized federal voting laws. Fighting intense legal
battles in multiple states on voter ID laws and the rights of convicted
felons to vote is just too tedious and the costs of expensive lawyers
keeps adding up for Soros (see "<a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-23/soros-emerges-mastermind-behind-plan-expand-us-electorate-10-million-voters">Soros Emerges As Mastermind Behind Plan To "Enlarge Electorate By At Least 10 Million Voters</a>").<br />
So how is "critical infrastructure" defined and exactly how is it managed? Well the <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/topic/critical-infrastructure-security">Department of Homeland Security</a> has a whole website dedicated to that topic.<br />
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<blockquote>
The nation's critical infrastructure provides the <strong>essential services that underpin American society and serve as the backbone of our nation's economy, security, and health.</strong>
We know it as the power we use in our homes, the water we drink, the
transportation that moves us, the stores we shop in, and the
communication systems we rely on to stay in touch with friends and
family.<br />
<br />
<strong>Overall, there are 16 critical infrastructure sectors that
compose the assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual,
so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction
would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic
security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof.</strong>
The National Protection and Programs Directorate's Office of
Infrastructure Protection (IP) leads the coordinated national effort to
manage risks to the nation's critical infrastructure and enhance the
security and resilience of America's physical and cyber infrastructure.
Read more about how IP leads this national effort.<br />
</blockquote>
<strong>And why shouldn't we trust political appointees to run federal elections?</strong> They've proven themselves time and again to be impartial, disinterested parties, right? <strong>Well there is that one time when the IRS targeted Tea Party groups but that was just one time.</strong> We're sure that would never happen again...<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-32787420697957488922016-08-19T21:52:00.000-04:002016-08-19T21:52:11.833-04:00Shocking Government Report Finds $6.5 Trillion In Taxpayer Funds "Unaccounted For"<h1 class="title">
</h1>
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<a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-19/government-report-finds-65-trillion-taxpayer-funds-unaccounted"> by Tyler Durden</a> </div>
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<span title="Aug 19, 2016 4:42 PM">Aug 19, 2016 4:42 PM</span></div>
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<span title="Aug 19, 2016 4:42 PM"> <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-19/government-report-finds-65-trillion-taxpayer-funds-unaccounted">http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-19/government-report-finds-65-trillion-taxpayer-funds-unaccounted</a></span> </div>
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<div class="content">
Last week, we first touched on a topic which,
in any non-banana republic, would be a far greater scandal than what
Ryan Lochte may or may not have been doing in a Rio bathroom: namely,
government corruption, falsification and potential fraud and
embezzlement, which has resulted in the Pentagon being unable to <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-11/staggering-corruption-reveals-natonasa-lies-heart-pentagon">account for up to $8.5 trillion in taxpayer funding</a>. <br />
Today, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-audit-army-idUSKCN10U1IG">Reuters follows up on this disturbing </a>issue, and reveals that the Army’s finances are so jumbled it <strong>had to make trillions of dollars of improper accounting adjustments to create an illusion that its books are balanced.</strong> The Defense Department’s Inspector General, in a June report, <strong>said <span style="text-decoration: underline;">the
Army made $2.8 trillion in wrongful adjustments to accounting entries
in one quarter alone in 2015, and $6.5 trillion for the year</span>. </strong>Yet the Army lacked receipts and invoices to support those numbers or simply made them up.<br />
As a result, the Army’s financial statements for 2015 were
“materially misstated,” the report concluded. The “forced” adjustments
rendered the statements useless because “DoD and Army managers could not
rely on the data in their accounting systems when making management and
resource decisions.”<br />
For those wondering, this is what $1 trillion in $100 bills looks like.<br />
<div data-mediaconductor-processed="true">
<a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/08/13/trillion%20dollars.jpg"><img height="327" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/08/13/trillion%20dollars_0.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .75em; margin-top: 0.25em;">
</div>
Now multiply by 6.<br />
This is not the first time the DoD has fudged its books: disclosure
of the Army’s manipulation of numbers is the latest example of <strong>the severe accounting problems plaguing the Defense Department for decades.</strong> The report affirms a 2013 Reuters series revealing how the Defense Department <strong>falsified accounting on a large scale as it scrambled to close its books. </strong>As
a result, there has been no way to know how the Defense Department –
far and away the biggest chunk of Congress’ annual budget – spends the
public’s money.... The Army lost or didn’t keep required data, and much
of the data it had was inaccurate, the IG said.<br />
In other words, it is effectively impossible to account how the US
government has spent trillions in taxpayer funds over the years. It also
means that since the money can not be accounted for, a substantial part
of it may have been embezzled.<br />
<strong>“Where is the money going? Nobody knows,” </strong>said Franklin Spinney, a retired military analyst for the Pentagon and critic of Defense Department planning, cited by Reuters.<br />
The significance of the accounting problem goes beyond mere concern
for balancing books, Spinney said. Both presidential candidates have
called for increasing defense spending amid current global tension; the
only issue is that more spending may not be necessary - all that is
needed is less government corruption and theft. <br />
An accurate accounting could reveal deeper problems in how the
Defense Department spends its money. Its 2016 budget is $573 billion,
more than half of the annual budget appropriated by Congress. The Army
account’s errors will likely carry consequences for the entire Defense
Department. Congress set a September 30, 2017 deadline for the
department to be prepared to undergo an audit. <br />
What's worse is that the "fudging" of the numbers is well known to
everyone in the government apparatus. For years, the Inspector General –
the Defense Department’s official auditor – has inserted a disclaimer
on all military annual reports. The accounting is so unreliable that <strong>“the basic financial statements may have undetected misstatements that are both material and pervasive.</strong>”<br />
Not surprisingly, trying to figure out where the adjustments are has proven to be impossible. <br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quote_start">
</div>
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</div>
Jack Armstrong, a former Defense Inspector General official in charge
of auditing the Army General Fund, said the same type of unjustified
changes to Army financial statements already were being made when he
retired in 2010. <br />
<br />
The Army issues two types of reports – a budget report and a
financial one. The budget one was completed first. Armstrong said he
believes fudged numbers were inserted into the financial report to make
the numbers match. <br />
<br />
<strong>“They don’t know what the heck the balances should be,” </strong>Armstrong said.<br />
</blockquote>
Meanwhile, for government employees, such as those at the Defense
Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS), which handles a wide range of
Defense Department accounting services, the whole issue is one big joke,
and they refer to preparation of the Army’s year-end statements as <strong>“the grand plug,” </strong>Armstrong said. “Plug”, of course, being another name for made-up numbers.<br />
Finally, how on earth can one possibly "not account" for trillions?
As Reuters adds, at first glance adjustments totaling trillions may seem
impossible. The amounts dwarf the Defense Department’s entire budget.
However, when making changes to one account also require making changes
to multiple levels of sub-accounts. That creates a domino effect where
falsifications kept falling down the line. In many instances this
daisy-chain was repeated multiple times for the same accounting item.<br />
<blockquote>
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</div>
The IG report also blamed DFAS, saying it too made unjustified
changes to numbers. For example, two DFAS computer systems showed
different values of supplies for missiles and ammunition, the report
noted – but rather than solving the disparity, DFAS personnel inserted a
false “correction” to make the numbers match. <br />
<br />
DFAS also could not make accurate year-end Army financial statements
because more than 16,000 financial data files had vanished from its
computer system. Faulty computer programming and employees’ inability to
detect the flaw were at fault, the IG said.<br />
</blockquote>
DFAS is studying the report “and has no comment at this time,” a
spokesman said. We doubt anyone else will inquire into where potentially
trillions in taxpayer funds have disappeared to; meanwhile the two
presidential candidates battle it out on the topic of tax rates when the
real problem facing America is not how much money it draws in - after
all the Fed can and will simply monetize the deficit - but how it spends
it. Sadly, we may never know. <br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-18841626688119661942016-08-19T21:50:00.000-04:002016-08-19T21:50:43.409-04:00Federal Judge Protects Hillary From Sworn Email Server Deposition, Rules For Written Q&A Instead<h1 class="title">
</h1>
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by <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" title="View user profile.">Tyler Durden</a> </div>
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<span class="a2a_svg a2a_w__default a2a_w_email"></span><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-19/federal-judge-protects-hillary-sworn-email-server-deposition-rules-written-qa-instea">http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-19/federal-judge-protects-hillary-sworn-email-server-deposition-rules-written-qa-instea</a><a class="button_print" href="http://www.zerohedge.com/print/570068" target="_blank">
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As of today, Hillary Clinton hasn't given a press conference in 258 days, something even the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/18/hillary-clinton-hasnt-held-a-press-conference-in-257-days-thats-ridiculous/">deeply pro-Clinton Washington Post </a>finds
troubling. And while Hillary may have spoken to the FBI in an unsworn
testimony, there is no transcript of it, and only the FBI's own
subjective notes serve as proof it ever happened. Which is why on July
8, conservative watchdog organization Judicial Watch, the source of so
much headache for the Democratic presidential nominee, had <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/document-archive/jw-v-state-hillary-deposition-01363/">requested permission </a>to depose Hillary in sworn testimony, and in public, as relates to the use of her private email server. <br />
That however, will not happen as U.S. District Court Judge Emmet
Sullivan rejected the request to force Hillary Clinton to submit to a
sworn deposition, ruling instead that she must respond in writing to
questions about the issue: <br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quote_start">
</div>
<div class="quote_end">
</div>
The Court is persuaded that Secretary Clinton’s testimony is
necessary to enable her to explain on the record the purpose for the
creation and operation of the clintonemail.com system for State
Department business.<br />
</blockquote>
Sullivan said Judicial Watch had not demonstrated that an in-person
deposition of Clinton was necessary to attempt to clarify whether the
former secretary of state set up the system in order to avoid complying
with the Freedom of Information Act. <br />
<blockquote>
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Judicial Watch’s argument that a deposition is preferable in this
case because of the ability to ask follow-up questions is not
persuasive. Given the extensive public record related to the
clintonemail.com system, a record which Judicial Watch has acknowledged,
Judicial Watch will be able to anticipate many follow-up questions. For
those follow-up questions that Judicial Watch is unable to anticipate,
it can move this Court for permission to serve additional
interrogatories.<br />
</blockquote>
Furthermore, to spend Hillary the indignity of appearing in public
and answering questions in real-time - instead giving her a 30 day
window in which to answer the questions - the judge decided to goalseek
his conclusion, saying it appeared Judicial Watch "<strong>likely has a very limited number of questions for Secretary Clinton," </strong>making it more plausible that the issue could be resolved in writing, thus justifying his decision to give Hillary a way out<br />
<div data-mediaconductor-processed="true">
It was unclear how the judge had any idea about the scope ot content of Judicial Watch's questions.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .75em; margin-top: 0.25em;">
</div>
Finally, Sullivan noted that under legal precedents applicable to
current and former Cabinet officials, the court should only require
Clinton to appear at a deposition if "exceptional circumstances"
justified such an approach.<br />
<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/judge-wont-order-deposition-of-clinton-in-email-suit-227214">As Politico adds,</a> the ruling makes it far less likely that Clinton will <strong>face the potentially politically damaging step of having to leave the presidential campaign trail </strong>in
the coming months to testify under oath about her controversial email
set-up. However, it is still possible one of several other judges
considering similar cases could issue such an order.<br />
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement
regarding Judge Sullivan’s decision granting Judicial Watch permission
to submit interrogatories to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
and to depose the former Director of Information Resource Management of
the Executive Secretariat (“S/ES-IRM”) John Bentel: <br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quote_start">
</div>
<div class="quote_end">
</div>
“We are pleased that this federal court ordered Hillary Clinton to
provide written answers under oath to some key questions about her email
scandal,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “We will move
quickly to get these answers. <strong>The decision is a reminder that Hillary Clinton is not above the law.”</strong><br />
</blockquote>
Alas, we have to disagree with Fitton's conclusion.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-84572975676312612302016-08-19T21:17:00.004-04:002016-08-19T22:24:06.202-04:00John Oliver's bit on objecting to Trump's statements about Hillary and Obama being the founders of ISIS<div class="title">
<a class="title may-blank " href="https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/4yj7fn/just_watched_john_olivers_bit_on_objecting_to/" rel="" tabindex="1">Just
watched John Oliver's bit on objecting to Trump's statements about
Hillary and Obama being the founders of ISIS. As a USAF Staff Sergeant
who follows the events, this is what I have to say.</a> </div>
<div class="title">
</div>
<div class="title">
<span class="domain"></span></div>
<div class="tagline">
<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/4yj7fn/just_watched_john_olivers_bit_on_objecting_to/">https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/4yj7fn/just_watched_john_olivers_bit_on_objecting_to/</a><br />
<time class="live-timestamp" datetime="2016-08-19T14:26:08+00:00" title="Fri Aug 19 14:26:08 2016 UTC"></time><time class="edited-timestamp" datetime="2016-08-19T15:13:19+00:00" title="last edited 9 hours ago"></time><span class="userattrs"></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/gilded"><span class="gilded-icon" data-count="1" title="a redditor has gifted reddit gold to DenseBonerJihad for this submission."></span></a></div>
For
those that may be lost when Trump talks about Obama and Hillary being
the founders of ISIL, here is a quick guide to what he is talking about.<br />
<a href="https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06DAMASCUS5399_a.html">Diplomatic
cables were leaked in reference to the intentions of the U.S.
government to overthrow the government of Syria, Bashar Al-Assad</a>.
The cables basically stated that the U.S. Intended to install a
US-backed puppet-government in Syria and the Al-Assad could either step
aside and let us do just that or that we would force him out. Bashar
Al-Assad basically told the United States to go fuck themselves and thus
began the financial and support campaigns for rebels in Syria on behalf
of the U.S, foreign policy that we have conducted many times in the
past. <br />
Rewind...In 2005,<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RC1Mepk_Sw"> former Army 4-star General Wesley Clark leaked</a>,
very publically, stated that shortly after 9/11 the Joint Chiefs of
Staff planned the overthrow of 7 countries over the course of 5 years.
What were those countries? Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iran,
and Sudan. Think about what has happened in those countries over the
last 16 years...
Enter John McCain, the catalyst that was used to finance ISIS. Sound
hard to believe? Go to <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=John+mccain+isis&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8">Google and type in ‘John McCain ISIS.’</a> You will find a treasure trove of pictures of <a href="https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-05d975c1327bc3b47eadd55f3d561fdf-c?convert_to_webp=true">John McCain in the same room and posing with Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi</a>, one of the founding members of ISIS, in 2013 when McCain went to Syria to facilitate arms trades to rebel factions in Syria. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgLj5s0Xk8A">There
is also a massive amount of footage of John McCain stating he has
friends in the rebellion in Syria and that he is in frequent contact
with them</a>. We provided cash, weapons, and various supplies to the rebel factions. <a href="http://www.mintpressnews.com/213352-2/213352/">We are still providing this aid to "moderate" rebel factions to this day, all of which are aligned and have treaties with ISIL.</a> When Hillary Clinton is questioned, she will use to following excuses:<br />
<ol>
<li>She is the head of the state department, her job is to serve the
objectives of U.S. Foreign Policy, as directed by the President of the
United States.</li>
<li>The parties supported were “freedom fighters” fight a oppressive
regime. Any actions, such as beheadings, torture, extermination based
on religion, was unknown and not condoned. </li>
<li>The regime mentioned used chemical weapons and violated laws of armed conflict(which will later be dispelled). </li>
</ol>
For those that think that sounds far fetched,<a href="https://williamblum.org/essays/read/overthrowing-other-peoples-governments-the-master-list"> here is a list of over 50 countries that the CIA worked to overthrow over the last 70 years</a>.
Just to set the record straight, this isn’t a conspiracy theory, these
are countries that were were overthrown by the CIA’s Special Activity
Division and is a part of history; not theory, not made up bullshit;
this all actually happened and is openly admitted to by the United
States government and has been documented by multiple reputable sources.<br />
(This is hearsay) Supposedly the death of Chris Stevens in the Beghazi
attacks were brought about because Ambassador Stevens was going to blow
the Whistle on the head of the State Department, Hillary Clinton, for
funneling weapons, supplies, and fighters in to Syria out of Libya,
violating the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act">Logan Act</a>.
The accusation implicating Hillary Clinton in the death of Chris
Stevens is that sensitive information was purposely made available to
local terrorist cells in Benghazi and Quick Reaction Forces were
recalled when requests for support were made, thus facilitating the
assassination of Chris Stevens and silencing his potential expose of
Hillary Clinton. <br />
(As mentioned previously)So what about this whole talk that the
Syrian Government used chemical weapons against civilians and rebels? <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/how-the-syrian-chemical-weapons-videos-were-staged/5350471">Well that information was found to have been altered by the United States media to garner support for war against Syria in 2013</a>. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p54hHhlLjRk">The
BBC was caught blantantly falisfying evidence and stated the Syrian
government was responsible for the chemical weapon attacks.</a> The MSM
was forced to drop the narrative after multiple exposes revealed that
the MSM altered the footage and blamed the Syrian Government when in
fact it was the Free Syrian Army and Al-Nusra that launched the attacks,
a rebel faction that was heavily funded and supplied by the United
States Government. <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/6/syrian-rebels-used-sarin-nerve-gas-not-assads-regi/">The U.N. even later made statements clearing the government of Syria and blamed rebel factions for the attacks.</a><br />
When the government campaigned for war to support the al-Qaedia backed rebels, this is when we saw<a href="http://static.infowars.com/bindnfocom/2013/09/military.jpg">
troops posting pictures in their uniforms with signs stating “I didn’t
join the United States military to support al-qaeda in Syria.”</a> After massive amounts of<a href="http://static.infowars.com/bindnfocom/2013/09/military2.jpg"> similar pictures</a>
and likely very stern statements being said, the United States was
forced to drop the narrative all together to avoid a mass mutiny within
the U.S. Military, though there exists some statements that <a href="http://www.infowars.com/live-now-pentagon-soft-coup/">"soft-coups" did occur within the Pentagon in 2015.</a><br />
The purpose of funding these factions was that through US aid the
rebels would overthrow Bashar Al-Assad and we could then install a
puppet government. <br />
All this information is public and evidence is <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-02/isis-enemy-us-created-armed-funded">readily available</a>
and ranges from high-ranking leakers to diplomatic cables to former
members of the DoD coming forward admitting that the U.S. founded ISIS
through funding rebels to overthrow the government of Syria.. CNN, Fox,
and MSNBC wont be reporting this information. Why? These news sources
are bought and paid for by the U.S. Government. Does that sound far
fetched? Well, <a href="http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/cnn-exposed-emmy-winning-former-cnn-journalist-blows-the-whistle-cnn-is-paid-by-foreign-and-domestic-government-agencies-for-specific-content">here
is CNN, award winning reporter, Amber Lyon, stating that multiple
governments pay CNN, and other news agencies, to report and fake news
stories and highlight news stories that put governments in a positive
light.</a><br />
The narrative is now aimed to demonize Russia, the biggest country
that is actively wiping out ISIS in Syria and is directly supporting the
government of Syria. Why do we demonize Russia? There exists residual
cold-war hatred of Russia and Russia has publically denounced the
globalist objectives of the United States. Russia is also allied with
Syria and since we are using rebel factions and ISIL to facilitate the
removal of Bashar Al-Assad, the same people we claim to be against but
are using to facilitate regime change, we are inherently against them. <br />
Bombing of hospitals? Both sides did it. Why? Both sides are at
the mercy of shitty intelligence objectives by blowing up the hospital
of their enemies. Both the United States and Russia and have bombed
hospitals. Only the United States had bombed schools full of children,
as well, in multiple theaters of war, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/11/amnesty-us-concealed-troops-war-crimes-in-afghanistan-as-recently-as-last-year.html">many times</a>.
And if you want to make the argument that somehow the United States is
above other countries bombing the wrong targets, I have personally
worked with contractors that were led to believe that their targets were
valuable targets only to watch small children flee burning buildings
after airstrikes. <br />
It is important to note that what I have laid out transcends both
republican and democratic parties and that what is happening today isn’t
a democrat problem, nor a republican problem; it is a bad government
and foreign policy problem that has been dictated at echelons above the
government. Hillary Clinton is at the very tip of the spear and will
continue the diplomatic objectives that were laid out under the Bush,
continued by the Obama administration, and will lead us further down the
path of war, the loss of our troops, and further drive us in to debt
under the guise of spreading democracy and freedom. <br />
This has to stop. The problems we face today were created by us to
fuel the war-machine. Our economy prospers while millions suffer and
our only effort in solving the problem is to throw more gas on the fire
so that a select few politicians and corporations make financial gains.
Stop Hillary. Elect Trump. Make the media transparent again. <br />
Stay focused on this issue because what is happening in Syria will be
the catalyst for future events. This is important extremely important,
and my words cannot impart how significant the coming months will be in
regards to Syria and the elections. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-39628168620123280942016-08-19T21:17:00.003-04:002016-08-19T21:18:40.790-04:00John Oliver's bit on objecting to Trump's statements about Hillary and Obama being the founders of ISIS<div class="title">
<a class="title may-blank " href="https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/4yj7fn/just_watched_john_olivers_bit_on_objecting_to/" rel="" tabindex="1">Just
watched John Oliver's bit on objecting to Trump's statements about
Hillary and Obama being the founders of ISIS. As a USAF Staff Sergeant
who follows the events, this is what I have to say.</a> </div>
<div class="title">
</div>
<div class="title">
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<time class="live-timestamp" datetime="2016-08-19T14:26:08+00:00" title="Fri Aug 19 14:26:08 2016 UTC"></time><time class="edited-timestamp" datetime="2016-08-19T15:13:19+00:00" title="last edited 9 hours ago"></time><span class="userattrs"></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/gilded"><span class="gilded-icon" data-count="1" title="a redditor has gifted reddit gold to DenseBonerJihad for this submission."></span></a></div>
For
those that may be lost when Trump talks about Obama and Hillary being
the founders of ISIL, here is a quick guide to what he is talking about.<br />
<a href="https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06DAMASCUS5399_a.html">Diplomatic
cables were leaked in reference to the intentions of the U.S.
government to overthrow the government of Syria, Bashar Al-Assad</a>.
The cables basically stated that the U.S. Intended to install a
US-backed puppet-government in Syria and the Al-Assad could either step
aside and let us do just that or that we would force him out. Bashar
Al-Assad basically told the United States to go fuck themselves and thus
began the financial and support campaigns for rebels in Syria on behalf
of the U.S, foreign policy that we have conducted many times in the
past. <br />
Rewind...In 2005,<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RC1Mepk_Sw"> former Army 4-star General Wesley Clark leaked</a>,
very publically, stated that shortly after 9/11 the Joint Chiefs of
Staff planned the overthrow of 7 countries over the course of 5 years.
What were those countries? Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iran,
and Sudan. Think about what has happened in those countries over the
last 16 years...
Enter John McCain, the catalyst that was used to finance ISIS. Sound
hard to believe? Go to <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=John+mccain+isis&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8">Google and type in ‘John McCain ISIS.’</a> You will find a treasure trove of pictures of <a href="https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-05d975c1327bc3b47eadd55f3d561fdf-c?convert_to_webp=true">John McCain in the same room and posing with Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi</a>, one of the founding members of ISIS, in 2013 when McCain went to Syria to facilitate arms trades to rebel factions in Syria. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgLj5s0Xk8A">There
is also a massive amount of footage of John McCain stating he has
friends in the rebellion in Syria and that he is in frequent contact
with them</a>. We provided cash, weapons, and various supplies to the rebel factions. <a href="http://www.mintpressnews.com/213352-2/213352/">We are still providing this aid to "moderate" rebel factions to this day, all of which are aligned and have treaties with ISIL.</a> When Hillary Clinton is questioned, she will use to following excuses:<br />
<ol>
<li>She is the head of the state department, her job is to serve the
objectives of U.S. Foreign Policy, as directed by the President of the
United States.</li>
<li>The parties supported were “freedom fighters” fight a oppressive
regime. Any actions, such as beheadings, torture, extermination based
on religion, was unknown and not condoned. </li>
<li>The regime mentioned used chemical weapons and violated laws of armed conflict(which will later be dispelled). </li>
</ol>
For those that think that sounds far fetched,<a href="https://williamblum.org/essays/read/overthrowing-other-peoples-governments-the-master-list"> here is a list of over 50 countries that the CIA worked to overthrow over the last 70 years</a>.
Just to set the record straight, this isn’t a conspiracy theory, these
are countries that were were overthrown by the CIA’s Special Activity
Division and is a part of history; not theory, not made up bullshit;
this all actually happened and is openly admitted to by the United
States government and has been documented by multiple reputable sources.<br />
(This is hearsay) Supposedly the death of Chris Stevens in the Beghazi
attacks were brought about because Ambassador Stevens was going to blow
the Whistle on the head of the State Department, Hillary Clinton, for
funneling weapons, supplies, and fighters in to Syria out of Libya,
violating the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act">Logan Act</a>.
The accusation implicating Hillary Clinton in the death of Chris
Stevens is that sensitive information was purposely made available to
local terrorist cells in Benghazi and Quick Reaction Forces were
recalled when requests for support were made, thus facilitating the
assassination of Chris Stevens and silencing his potential expose of
Hillary Clinton. <br />
(As mentioned previously)So what about this whole talk that the
Syrian Government used chemical weapons against civilians and rebels? <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/how-the-syrian-chemical-weapons-videos-were-staged/5350471">Well that information was found to have been altered by the United States media to garner support for war against Syria in 2013</a>. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p54hHhlLjRk">The
BBC was caught blantantly falisfying evidence and stated the Syrian
government was responsible for the chemical weapon attacks.</a> The MSM
was forced to drop the narrative after multiple exposes revealed that
the MSM altered the footage and blamed the Syrian Government when in
fact it was the Free Syrian Army and Al-Nusra that launched the attacks,
a rebel faction that was heavily funded and supplied by the United
States Government. <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/6/syrian-rebels-used-sarin-nerve-gas-not-assads-regi/">The U.N. even later made statements clearing the government of Syria and blamed rebel factions for the attacks.</a><br />
When the government campaigned for war to support the al-Qaedia backed rebels, this is when we saw<a href="http://static.infowars.com/bindnfocom/2013/09/military.jpg">
troops posting pictures in their uniforms with signs stating “I didn’t
join the United States military to support al-qaeda in Syria.”</a> After massive amounts of<a href="http://static.infowars.com/bindnfocom/2013/09/military2.jpg"> similar pictures</a>
and likely very stern statements being said, the United States was
forced to drop the narrative all together to avoid a mass mutiny within
the U.S. Military, though there exists some statements that <a href="http://www.infowars.com/live-now-pentagon-soft-coup/">"soft-coups" did occur within the Pentagon in 2015.</a><br />
The purpose of funding these factions was that through US aid the
rebels would overthrow Bashar Al-Assad and we could then install a
puppet government. <br />
All this information is public and evidence is <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-02/isis-enemy-us-created-armed-funded">readily available</a>
and ranges from high-ranking leakers to diplomatic cables to former
members of the DoD coming forward admitting that the U.S. founded ISIS
through funding rebels to overthrow the government of Syria.. CNN, Fox,
and MSNBC wont be reporting this information. Why? These news sources
are bought and paid for by the U.S. Government. Does that sound far
fetched? Well, <a href="http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/cnn-exposed-emmy-winning-former-cnn-journalist-blows-the-whistle-cnn-is-paid-by-foreign-and-domestic-government-agencies-for-specific-content">here
is CNN, award winning reporter, Amber Lyon, stating that multiple
governments pay CNN, and other news agencies, to report and fake news
stories and highlight news stories that put governments in a positive
light.</a><br />
The narrative is now aimed to demonize Russia, the biggest country
that is actively wiping out ISIS in Syria and is directly supporting the
government of Syria. Why do we demonize Russia? There exists residual
cold-war hatred of Russia and Russia has publically denounced the
globalist objectives of the United States. Russia is also allied with
Syria and since we are using rebel factions and ISIL to facilitate the
removal of Bashar Al-Assad, the same people we claim to be against but
are using to facilitate regime change, we are inherently against them. <br />
Bombing of hospitals? Both sides did it. Why? Both sides are at
the mercy of shitty intelligence objectives by blowing up the hospital
of their enemies. Both the United States and Russia and have bombed
hospitals. Only the United States had bombed schools full of children,
as well, in multiple theaters of war, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/11/amnesty-us-concealed-troops-war-crimes-in-afghanistan-as-recently-as-last-year.html">many times</a>.
And if you want to make the argument that somehow the United States is
above other countries bombing the wrong targets, I have personally
worked with contractors that were led to believe that their targets were
valuable targets only to watch small children flee burning buildings
after airstrikes. <br />
It is important to note that what I have laid out transcends both
republican and democratic parties and that what is happening today isn’t
a democrat problem, nor a republican problem; it is a bad government
and foreign policy problem that has been dictated at echelons above the
government. Hillary Clinton is at the very tip of the spear and will
continue the diplomatic objectives that were laid out under the Bush,
continued by the Obama administration, and will lead us further down the
path of war, the loss of our troops, and further drive us in to debt
under the guise of spreading democracy and freedom. <br />
This has to stop. The problems we face today were created by us to
fuel the war-machine. Our economy prospers while millions suffer and
our only effort in solving the problem is to throw more gas on the fire
so that a select few politicians and corporations make financial gains.
Stop Hillary. Elect Trump. Make the media transparent again. <br />
Stay focused on this issue because what is happening in Syria will be
the catalyst for future events. This is important extremely important,
and my words cannot impart how significant the coming months will be in
regards to Syria and the elections. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-15855267532105261182016-08-19T21:14:00.002-04:002016-08-19T21:14:44.683-04:00Photographer of Bombed Syrian Boy, Pictured/on Video With Militant Rebels Who Cut the Head off a Young Child.<div class="post-title-container">
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<span class="post-action-stats pointer"><span class=""> </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-16016451352228527522016-08-16T18:31:00.001-04:002016-08-16T18:31:21.853-04:00Edward Snowden Explains The Historic NSA Hack: "This Escalation Could Get Messy Fast"<h1 class="title">
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<span title="Aug 16, 2016 3:58 PM"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-16/edward-snowden-explains-historic-nsa-hack-escalation-could-get-messy-fast">http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-16/edward-snowden-explains-historic-nsa-hack-escalation-could-get-messy-fast</a> </span> </div>
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Yesterday we <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-15/mysterious-group-hacks-nsa">reported that in a historic first</a>,
an unknown group of hackers, the "Shadow Brokers" had hacked the NSA's
cuberattack hacking division, "The Equation Group." Many were wondering
what are the strategic implications of this dramatic escalation, which
took place just as the US was accusing Russia of virtually every other
recent prominent hacking, and whether it suggested something bigger was
taking place behind the scenes. <br />
Today, the most famous NSA (ex) employee, Edward Snowden, chimed in
on this topic in a tweetstorm in which he tries to explain who did it: <br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quote_start">
</div>
<div class="quote_end">
</div>
Circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates Russian
responsibility. I suspect this is more diplomacy than intelligence,
related to the escalation around the DNC hack<br />
</blockquote>
... why they did it:<br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quote_start">
</div>
<div class="quote_end">
</div>
This leak is likely a warning that someone can prove US responsibility for any attacks that originated from this malware server.<br />
</blockquote>
... and the consequences:<br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quote_start">
</div>
<div class="quote_end">
</div>
That could have significant foreign policy consequences. Particularly
if any of those operations targeted US allies. Particularly if any of
those operations targeted elections. <strong>Accordingly, this may be an
effort to influence the calculus of decision-makers wondering how
sharply to respond to the DNC hacks.</strong><br />
</blockquote>
<div data-mediaconductor-processed="true">
and concludes as follows: </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .75em; margin-top: 0.25em;">
</div>
<blockquote>
<div class="quote_start">
</div>
<div class="quote_end">
</div>
<strong>this leak looks like a somebody sending a message that an escalation in the attribution game could get messy fast.</strong><br />
</blockquote>
In effect, Snowden suggest that Russia has either had enough of being
accused for every hack in the US, or of being hacked itself, and is now
retaliating. If he is correct, this is a far greater transgression by
the Kremlin, and one which would absolutely necessitate a proportional
US response to something which very well may have originated in Russia.
The question is whether the administration, which has so far lobbed
softballs as Putin for DNC hacks which may well have been done by 16
year old American hacker, will have the guts to retaliate to what is the
first real act of global cyberagression.<br />
Here is his full series of tweets on the topic (it <a href="https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/765513662597623808">can be found here in its original</a>).<br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quote_start">
</div>
<div class="quote_end">
</div>
The hack of an NSA malware staging server is not unprecedented, but
the publication of the take is. Here's what you need to know: <br />
<ul>
<li>1) NSA traces and targets malware C2 servers in a practice called
Counter Computer Network Exploitation, or CCNE. So do our rivals.</li>
<li>2) NSA is often lurking undetected for years on the C2 and ORBs
(proxy hops) of state hackers. This is how we follow their operations.</li>
<li>3) This is how we steal their rivals' hacking tools and
reverse-engineer them to create "fingerprints" to help us detect them in
the future.</li>
<li>4) Here's where it gets interesting: the NSA is not made of magic.
Our rivals do the same thing to us -- and occasionally succeed.</li>
<li>5) Knowing this, NSA's hackers (TAO) are told not to leave their
hack tools ("binaries") on the server after an op. But people get lazy.</li>
<li>6) What's new? NSA malware staging servers getting hacked by a rival
is not new. A rival publicly demonstrating they have done so is.</li>
<li>7) Why did they do it? No one knows, but I suspect this is more
diplomacy than intelligence, related to the escalation around the DNC
hack.</li>
<li>8) Circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates Russian responsibility. Here's why that is significant:</li>
<li>9) This leak is likely a warning that someone can prove US
responsibility for any attacks that originated from this malware server.</li>
<li>10) That could have significant foreign policy consequences. Particularly if any of those operations targeted US allies.</li>
<li>11) Particularly if any of those operations targeted elections.</li>
<li>12) Accordingly, this may be an effort to influence the calculus of
decision-makers wondering how sharply to respond to the DNC hacks.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
A convenient summary:<br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quote_start">
</div>
<div class="quote_end">
</div>
<strong>13) TL;DR: This leak looks like a somebody sending a message that an escalation in the attribution game could get messy fast.</strong><br />
</blockquote>
And a bonus take:<br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quote_start">
</div>
<div class="quote_end">
</div>
Bonus: When I came forward, NSA would have migrated offensive
operations to new servers as a precaution - it's cheap and easy. So?
So...<br />
The undetected hacker squatting on this NSA server lost access in
June 2013. Rare public data point on the positive results of the leak.<br />
You're welcome, @NSAGov. Lots of love.<br />
</blockquote>
The ball is now in the NSA's court.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-61372605734092630092016-08-09T01:36:00.000-04:002016-08-09T01:36:37.881-04:00Retired Green Beret Blasts "Make No Mistake, Everyone Warning About Clinton Is A Target And They Are Marked"<h1 class="title">
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<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/make-no-mistake-everyone-who-is-warning-about-clinton-is-a-target-and-they-are-marked_08082016"><em>Submitted
by Jeremiah Johnson (nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the
United States Army Special Forces (Airborne)) via SHTFPlan.com,</em></a><br />
The Obama Administration has been characterized by not only a lack of
transparency on issues that surface, but a deliberate obfuscation to
mask true actions and intentions.<strong> There are literally no limits
to what the man and his handlers will do outside of the law to attain
their ends, while simultaneously “crafting” legislation to enslave the
citizenry. </strong>The fawning, lying press trumpets his victories and
quietly spins his defeats: objectivity cannot be maintained by
journalists on the government payroll and command.<br />
Hence a sitting American president, a man who should have been hauled
off of a stage in 2012 and clapped in irons for treason is able to do
whatever he wants. Remember?<br />
<blockquote>
<strong>“Tell Vladimir I’ll have more leeway after the election.”</strong><br />
</blockquote>
Now the Congress and the State Department labeled Iran both a “rogue
state that supports terrorism” and “a supporter of Hezbollah and
Al-Qaeda.” So my question is where did Obama secure the necessary
Congressional approval to airlift $400 million to Iran on January 17,
2016? More: Since this was Obama’s move, did he not use his position
unilaterally and without any Congressional approval to provide funding
to a nation that supports (and conducts direct action missions to
complement) terrorist activities? And this is with Iran, that vows to
strike the U.S.?<br />
<div data-mediaconductor-processed="true">
Just as in the same vein, how can we join Russia in a bombing campaign of “boogeyman” ISIL/ISIS when we, the U.S., created it?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .75em; margin-top: 0.25em;">
</div>
Just as in the same vein, how can we send a QRF (Quick Reaction
Force) of our military’s finest commandos to stop the slaughter of an
American ambassador and his staff in Libya…when we approved of and
enabled it?<br />
The “administration,” if you prefer that ludicrous term to the <em>true</em> state, the “regime,” is made of Teflon…<strong>nothing can touch it</strong>.
Fast and Furious proved it. Hillary’s e-mails proved it. The
cashiering of half of the admiralty and general staff of the United
States Armed Forces proved it. The removal of TARS, of the scrambling
of fighters, the scrapping of the A-10 Warthog, the cessation of
Tomahawk production…all of these measures prove it. Obamacare
steamrolling through the (at the time) Democrat-controlled
Congress…enabled by Senator Olympia Snow (R, Maine) proved it. The
hearings and the deciding vote.<br />
<strong>Nothing can stop the administration. <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nothing</span>. And nothing will be able to stop the <em>next</em> one.</strong><br />
Does everyone really think that Trump will be elected? Really?
Throughout the past two weeks, he has literally run on “self-destruct”
and must have a lobotomized campaign manager. Haven’t we seen this
before, when Romney won the first debate and made a fool out of Obama,
and then turned into a neutered eunuch for the next debates?<br />
<strong>Do not be fooled: it is all intentional.</strong><br />
There is no such thing as an election, only a controlled paradigm
shift with a force-fed theatrical playbill that the dumbed-down public
gobbles up. The two “camps” of Democrat and Republican, and the
illusion of a colossal battle, a political “Clash of the Titans” between
conservatism and socialism drawing the focus and attention of the
people away from surrounding events nationally and in the world.<br />
Look at Hanna, the alleged Republican…the first of the jackasses to
come out and support Hillary Clinton. Look at the moneyed interests
pooling behind her: Meg Whitman, Warren Buffet, and the invisible but
ever-present incubus of George Soros, the man who destroys countries for
a hobby and a price. Look at Hillary, the “good wife,” the “good
mother,” the “good 501-C-3” member with a billion dollar “kitty” in the
Clinton Foundation and three Delaware shell corporations to hide her
loot. The “good speaker,” snagging $50 – 200 K dollars per speech.<br />
<strong>The good fundraiser who raised $90 million dollars in the month of July alone.</strong><br />
<div id="container_wb1d441eb56" style="margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
</div>
By her campaign slogan… <strong>“I’m with Her” </strong>…<span style="text-decoration: underline;">by those very words</span>
are such notables as James Comey, Loretta Lynch, Houma Abedin, Debbie
Wassermann-Schultz…all of them…complicit with her in the crimes she has
committed. She would provoke a nuclear war with Russia in order to
prevent those e-mails from coming to light.<br />
<strong>Her “candidacy” is a degradation and an abasement, not only
of the American Justice system, but of the entire Constitution of the
United States and the freedom of every citizen.</strong> Those who are
“with her” don’t even realize they’ll be the first ones in the gristmill
when the time arrives. That time is almost here. It’s all been smoke
and mirrors, but soon there won’t need to be. The obfuscations and
treacherous maneuvers are masked but in a short time they’ll all be
completely unveiled.<br />
The 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment will be completely destroyed and/or
nullified. The face of this entire country is going to change, and akin
to most bad things, it’ll have to happen before people realize it and
take action.<br />
<strong>Everybody who criticizes the incoming dictator is marked</strong>, <a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/conspiracy-fact-and-theory/as-hillary-steals-the-white-house-five-more-added-to-clinton-body-count_08052016" target="_blank">make no mistake about it</a>. We still have a little bit of time, but not much, and <strong>effects generated need to have substance, not form</strong>.
No juvenile displays of occupying a shed/storage room/visitor center in
a National Park or Forest. No standoffs with a disbandment and then
everyone is arrested individually. The torch is being passed. <strong>Everyone who is criticizing Obama and warning about Clinton is a target and they are <span style="text-decoration: underline;">marked</span></strong>, along with countless others of the 325 million of us.<br />
<strong>If Hillary Clinton takes the presidency, it is the end of the United States.</strong><br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-39282028893731162882016-08-07T10:12:00.003-04:002016-08-07T10:12:57.740-04:00It's Not Too Late To Plant These Veggies In August<h1 class="title" id="title-node-40126">
</h1>
<h4 class="field-dek">
Late to the game this year? These end-of-summer
edibles delight in hot days and muggy nights and grow quickly enough to
produce a harvest in two months or less.</h4>
<section class="info">
<span class="byline-wrapper"><span class="byline-role">By </span><span class="field-author"><a href="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/author/cristina-santiestevan">Cristina Santiestevan</a></span></span>
<span class="date">August 13, 2015</span></section><section class="info"><span class="date"><a href="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august/slide/6">http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august/slide/6</a> </span>
</section>
<section class="slide" data-slide-title="It's Not Too Late To Plant These Veggies In August" data-slide-url="/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august" id="slide-1">
<div class="pinit">
<img alt="boy with lettuce" height="225" src="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/sites/rodalesorganiclife.com/files/styles/slideshow-desktop/public/summercrops-override.jpg?itok=JM1TsMH3" title="boy with lettuce" width="400" /> </div>
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1/6</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="slide-text">
<sup class="p1">PHOTOGRAPH BY LANE OATEY/GETTY</sup><br />
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
When
the heat brings an end to the harvest of lettuce, peas, and many other
cool-weather crops, it’s time to compost the sun-scorched remains of
those spring edibles to open up garden space for the next round of
vegetables. Before selecting your crops, calculate the number of growing
days left for your garden, so your harvest won’t be cut short by frost.
(Your county’s cooperative extension service can tell you when to
expect the first killing frost in fall.) Then use the “days to maturity”
numbers on seed packets to help choose varieties that will mature
within the remaining growing season. The veggies that follow are all
suited to mid- to late-summer sowing directly into the garden. All
germinate quickly in warm, moist soil and thrive in summertime heat.</div>
</div>
<div class="listicle-interstitial-ad">
</div>
<div class="next-slide listicle-next">
<a data-slide="slide-2" href="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august/slide/2" name="slide-2">Summer Squash</a>
</div>
</section>
<section class="slide" data-slide-title="Summer Squash" data-slide-url="/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august/slide/2" id="slide-2">
<div class="pinit">
<img alt="yellow squash" height="225" src="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/sites/rodalesorganiclife.com/files/styles/slideshow-desktop/public/summercrops-squash1-885.jpg?itok=7qgop63G" title="yellow squash" width="400" /> </div>
<div class="header clearfix">
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2/6</div>
</div>
<div class="slide-title">
Summer Squash</div>
</div>
<div class="slide-text">
<sup class="p1">PHOTOGRAPH BY THOMAS MACDONALD</sup><br />
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Summer
squashes—a group that includes zucchinis, yellow crookneck squash, and
those cute scalloped pattypan squashes—are the ultimate summer-sprinter
crop. Few plants can compete with them for vigor, rate of growth, or
sheer quantity of production. If your spring-sown squashes peter out or
succumb to pests or disease, start a second round in summer. Many summer
squashes begin to produce in less than 60 days, and some are true speed
demons, such as Golden Egg (41 days), Limelight zucchini (50 days), or
Ronde de Nice (45 days).</div>
</div>
<div class="listicle-interstitial-ad">
</div>
<div class="next-slide listicle-next">
<a data-slide="slide-3" href="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august/slide/3" name="slide-3">Bush Beans</a>
</div>
</section>
<section class="slide" data-slide-title="Bush Beans" data-slide-url="/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august/slide/3" id="slide-3">
<div class="pinit">
<img alt="beans" height="225" src="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/sites/rodalesorganiclife.com/files/styles/slideshow-desktop/public/summercrops-beans-885.jpg?itok=vmOlQChV" title="beans" width="400" /> </div>
<div class="header clearfix">
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3/6</div>
</div>
<div class="slide-title">
Bush Beans</div>
</div>
<div class="slide-text">
<sup class="p1">PHOTOGRAPH BY THOMAS MACDONALD</sup><br />
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Few
crops are better than bush beans for filling in midsummer gaps in the
vegetable garden. Most varieties grow quickly, thrive in heat, and
tolerate variable amounts of water. For best results, stick with
fast-maturing snap bean varieties, such as Provider (50 days), Royal
Burgundy (55 days), or Blue Lake Bush (52 days). Gardeners in warmer
zones may still have time to plant and harvest slower-growing pole beans
or shelling beans.</div>
</div>
<div class="listicle-interstitial-ad">
</div>
<div class="next-slide listicle-next">
<a data-slide="slide-4" href="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august/slide/4" name="slide-4">Cucumbers</a>
</div>
</section>
<section class="slide" data-slide-title="Cucumbers" data-slide-url="/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august/slide/4" id="slide-4">
<div class="pinit">
<img alt="cucumber insides" height="225" src="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/sites/rodalesorganiclife.com/files/styles/slideshow-desktop/public/summercrop-cucumber-885.jpg?itok=gvrHOCql" title="cucumber insides" width="400" /> </div>
<div class="header clearfix">
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4/6</div>
</div>
<div class="slide-title">
Cucumbers</div>
</div>
<div class="slide-text">
<sup class="p1">PHOTOGRAPH BY COMSTOCK</sup><br />
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
It
takes surprisingly little time to grow a crisp, crunchy cuke. This
vining vegetable grows best and fastest when treated to a nice dose of
summer heat; many varieties shoot from seed to first harvest in less
than two months. Varieties worth trying include Straight Eight (58
days), Sweeter Yet (50 days), and Northern Pickling (48 days).</div>
</div>
<div class="listicle-interstitial-ad">
</div>
<div class="next-slide listicle-next">
<a data-slide="slide-5" href="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august/slide/5" name="slide-5">Root Crops</a>
</div>
</section>
<section class="slide" data-slide-title="Root Crops" data-slide-url="/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august/slide/5" id="slide-5">
<div class="pinit">
<img alt="carrots" height="225" src="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/sites/rodalesorganiclife.com/files/styles/slideshow-desktop/public/summercrops-carrots-885.jpg?itok=vbWTFfi_" title="carrots" width="400" /> </div>
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5/6</div>
</div>
<div class="slide-title">
Root Crops</div>
</div>
<div class="slide-text">
<sup class="p1">PHOTOGRAPH BY MITCH MANDEL</sup><div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Carrots,
turnips, and beets are sweeter when the roots are harvested in cool
weather, but they don’t mind heat while they grow. Time your summer
seeding so the crops are ready to harvest a few weeks before first
frost—and plant an extra row of carrots for winter storage. As soon as
the seedlings appear, surround them with straw <a class="vglnk" href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=mulch" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span>mulch</span></a>
to keep the soil cool and moist. Try early varieties of carrots, such as
Mokum or Nelson (56 days); Red Ace beets (50 days); and crisp, white
Hakurei turnips (38 days).</div>
</div>
<div class="listicle-interstitial-ad">
</div>
<div class="next-slide listicle-next">
<a data-slide="slide-6" href="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/its-not-too-late-to-plant-these-veggies-in-august/slide/6" name="slide-6">Hot-Weather Greens</a>
</div>
</section>
<div class="pinit">
<img alt="red chard" height="225" src="http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/sites/rodalesorganiclife.com/files/styles/slideshow-desktop/public/summercrops-chard-885.jpg?itok=6SoOoWSY" title="red chard" width="400" /> </div>
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6/6</div>
</div>
<div class="slide-title">
Hot-Weather Greens</div>
</div>
<sup class="p1">PHOTOGRAPH BY MITCH MANDEL</sup><br />
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Summer’s
heat makes impossible most of the delicate spring greens, but there are
other options. For a bit of leafy green in the late-summer garden,
consider chard (approximately 50-60 days, less for baby greens), kale
(approximately 50-60 days, less for baby greens), or New Zealand spinach
(50 days).</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-9911560526331721662016-08-06T18:32:00.000-04:002016-08-06T18:32:31.286-04:00WikiLeaks CONFIRMS Hillary Sold Weapons to ISIS… Then Drops Another BOMBSHELL! <h2>
</h2>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-8 col-sm-7" id="article">
<div class="byline clearfix">
<div class="byline-image">
<img alt="" class="avatar avatar-50 photo" height="50" src="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/2411b398a70a86af5e8722031301f679?s=50&d=mm&r=pg" width="50" /></div>
<div class="byline-author">
<a href="http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/author/kosar/">Kosar</a></div>
<div class="byline-author">
<a href="http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/wikileaks-confirms-hillary-sold-weapons-isis-drops-another-bombshell-breaking-news/">http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/wikileaks-confirms-hillary-sold-weapons-isis-drops-another-bombshell-breaking-news/</a>
<div class="byline-title">
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="article-body">
<br />
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is a controversial
character. But there’s no denying the emails he has picked up from
inside the Democrat Party are real, and he’s willing to expose Hillary
Clinton. <br />
<div class="insert_post_ads col-lg-12 col-md-12 col-sm-12 col-xs-12">
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<img src="http://intermarkets-d.openx.net/w/1.0/rr?ts=1fHJpZD01MzgzZGNlNS0yYzNlLTRjYzctYWZjYi0zN2Q3NWQxNTVmNTR8cnQ9MTQ3MDUyMjQ1MXxhdWlkPTUzODIwMzAzOXxhdW09RE1JRC5XRUJ8c2lkPTUzNzIyMzc4N3xwdWI9NTM3MTIxNTE1fHBjPVVTRHxyYWlkPWRkMTc2ZGMzLWU1MjktNDc5OS05MTg0LTM4M2EwMGE3MDZkYnxjbD0xfGFpZD01MzgwNzA3MzZ8dD00fGFzPTF4MnxsaWQ9NTM3NjA2ODQ1fG9pZD01MzczMDE1NTF8cD0xMTcwfHByPTExNzB8YXRiPTExNzB8YWR2PTUzNzEyMTUxNnxhYz1VU0R8cG09UFJJQ0lORy5DUE18Ym09QlVZSU5HLk5PTkdVQVJBTlRFRUR8Y2k9MXx1cj1KWDJrQ0ZLcnYx" /></div>
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</div>
Now, he’s announcing that Hillary Clinton and her State Department
was actively arming Islamic jihadists, which includes the Islamic State
(ISIS) in Syria. <br />
Clinton as repeatedly denied these claims, including during multiple
statements while under oath in front of the United States Senate. <br />
WikiLeaks is about to prove Hillary Clinton deserves to be arrested:<br />
<blockquote>
The Reagan administration officials hoped to secure the release of
several U.S. hostages, and then take proceeds from the arms sales to
Iran, to fund the Contras in Nicaragua.<br />
Sounds familiar?<br />
In Obama’s second term, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton authorized
the shipment of American-made arms to Qatar, a country beholden to the
Muslim Brotherhood, and friendly to the Libyan rebels, in an effort to
topple the Libyan/Gaddafi government, and then ship those arms to Syria
in order to fund Al Qaeda, and topple Assad in Syria.<br />
Clinton took the lead role in organizing the so-called “Friends of
Syria” (aka Al Qaeda/ISIS) to back the CIA-led insurgency for regime
change in Syria.<br />
Under oath Hillary Clinton denied she knew about the weapons
shipments during public testimony in early 2013 after the Benghazi
terrorist attack.<br />
In an interview with Democracy Now, Wikileaks’ Julian Assange is now
stating that 1,700 emails contained in the Clinton cache directly
connect Hillary to Libya to Syria, and directly to Al Qaeda and ISIS.
</blockquote>
via <a href="http://theduran.com/julian-assange-says-1700-emails-hillary-clintons-collection-proves-sold-weapons-isis-syria/" target="_blank">The Duran</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vnWWgKxWvtY/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vnWWgKxWvtY?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
Here is the incredible transcript:<br />
<blockquote>
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Julian, I want to mention something else. In March, you
launched a searchable archive for over 30,000 emails and email
attachments sent to and from Hillary Clinton’s private email server
while she was secretary of state. The 50,547 pages of documents span the
time from June 2010 to August 2014; 7,500 of the documents were sent by
Hillary Clinton herself. The emails were made available in the form of
thousands of PDFs by the U.S. State Department as the result of a
Freedom of Information Act request. Why did you do this, and what’s the
importance, from your perspective, of being able to create a searchable
base?<br />
JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, WikiLeaks has become the rebel library of
Alexandria. It is the single most significant collection of information
that doesn’t exist elsewhere, in a searchable, accessible, citable form,
about how modern institutions actually behave. And it’s gone on to set
people free from prison, where documents have been used in their court
cases; hold the CIA accountable for renditions programs; feed into
election cycles, which have resulted in the termination of, in some
case—or contributed to the termination of governments, in some cases,
taken the heads of intelligence agencies, ministers of defense and so
on. So, you know, our civilizations can only be as good as our knowledge
of what our civilisation is. We can’t possibly hope to reform that
which we do not understand.<br />
So, those Hillary Clinton emails, they connect together with the
cables that we have published of Hillary Clinton, creating a rich
picture of how Hillary Clinton performs in office, but, more broadly,
how the U.S. Department of State operates. So, for example, the
disastrous, absolutely disastrous intervention in Libya, the destruction
of the Gaddafi government, which led to the occupation of ISIS of large
segments of that country, weapons flows going over to Syria, being
pushed by Hillary Clinton, into jihadists within Syria, including ISIS,
that’s there in those emails. There’s more than 1,700 emails in Hillary
Clinton’s collection, that we have released, just about Libya alone.</blockquote>
It appears that Hillary Clinton committed perjury, just like her husband was caught doing as President. <br />
<strong>This is a breaking news story. We will update this as more details become available.</strong> </div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
<br /><a href="http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/wikileaks-confirms-hillary-sold-weapons-isis-drops-another-bombshell-breaking-news/#ixzz4Gat1ETkq" style="color: #003399;"></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-46277854185877740672016-08-06T13:23:00.002-04:002016-08-06T13:23:51.484-04:00Solar-powered electric fencing<h1 class="atitle">
</h1>
<h4 class="abyline">
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM</h4>
<h4 class="abyline">
<a href="http://www.backwoodshome.com/solar-powered-electric-fencing/">http://www.backwoodshome.com/solar-powered-electric-fencing/</a></h4>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tcenter" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
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<td class="text3i">
Issue #147 • May/June, 2014<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" height="333" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-01.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="500" />
<div class="text2ic">
A new electric fence attached to older traditional wood fencing</div>
</div>
More and more people are turning to electric fences as the cost of
standard metal and wood fencing continues to climb each year. Those who
are concerned about the reliability of the electric grid are turning to
solar-powered electric fencing.<br />
Traditional fences are nothing new to a life-long farmer or
cattleman. Large-scale cattle ranchers and farmers are very familiar
with installing and maintaining all types of fencing. However, the
weekend farmer may not have the experience, special tools, or power
equipment required to install traditional fencing. Not only is electric
fencing much less expensive than traditional wood or metal fencing, but
it can be installed with a minimum amount of tools and little or no
prior experience.<br />
<h3>
Why fence?</h3>
Any gardener soon learns the importance of fencing after the garden
they spent months cultivating is destroyed in one night by groundhogs or
deer.<br />
Fencing is not only used to keep wild animals from getting in, but is
also used to keep domestic animals from getting out. Temporary fencing
is normally used to section off small grazing areas inside larger fenced
acreage to rotate pastures and keep cattle out of cultivated areas.
Taller fencing is used to keep high-jumping animals like horses and deer
from sailing over, while lower but more substantial fencing may be used
to keep bears out of a beekeeper’s hives. Metal fencing with
closely-spaced wires is used to keep smaller animals like rabbits or
goats out of a vegetable or herb garden. In other words, the type of
fencing you need depends entirely on what you are trying to keep in or
out. These considerations should be the most important concern when
buying fencing, not what’s on sale or available locally.<br />
Before getting into a detailed discussion about installing your own
solar-powered electric fencing, perhaps a brief review of fencing basics
will be helpful to those who are new to the subject.<br />
<h3>
General guidelines</h3>
<div class="floatright" style="width: 300px;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="410" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-02.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="300" />
<div class="text2ic">
Temporary electric fencing using removable plastic fence posts</div>
</div>
In this brief overview of electric fence installation, I’ve included
many suggestions and installation tips. However, it is still necessary
that you follow all manufacturers’ installation instructions, and comply
with all state and county regulations governing the proper installation
and use of an electric fence in your area. It’s not uncommon for local
codes to require distinctive warning signage or other installation
requirements.<br />
The first thing to understand about a properly installed electric
fence is that it does not harm the animals (or people!) that happen to
rub against the energized wires. After any new electric fence
installation, you should first entice your animals or pets to approach
the fencing. This is usually accomplished with food placed on the
opposite side of a new fence as a training exercise. After one or two
attempts, most animals quickly recognize the need to stay clear of an
electric fence and are then able to be safely moved into a larger
pasture protected by electric fencing. Although an electric fence only
consists of a few bare wires strung between some lightweight insulator
supports, it’s their learned fear of a fence they recognize and not the
strength of the wire that keeps an animal contained.<br />
The next important consideration is deciding how many strands of wire
you will need, and determining what distance apart should they be
spaced. I am sure readers with prior experience with electric fencing
will have their own installation guidelines that worked best for them,
but what follows are generally accepted installation directions supplied
by multiple electric fence manufacturers.<br />
Most animals making initial contact with an electric fence will
immediately back up if this contact is near the front of their face. In
this case a grazing animal like a cow may make initial contact when
their nose touches an energized wire near the ground. However, if the
energized wires are spaced too far apart, it may be possible for a cow
or horse to extend their head through to the other side of the fencing
before their neck touches one of energized wires. When this occurs, the
startled animal thinks something unpleasant just happened behind them
and is more than likely to bolt straight through the flimsy wires, no
doubt dragging a large section of your new electric fence along with it.
This is why initial training is important. You want the animals to
learn to recognize an electric fence and know to stay clear.<br />
While bare wire for electric fencing comes in various sizes and
different metals, it still is hard to see. Lower-cost electric fences or
temporary installations may use the less expensive 17-gauge galvanized
steel wire, but permanent electric fencing usually consists of heavier
14- to 16-gauge aluminum wire, which is stronger and will not rust.<br />
While more expensive than bare wire, some electric fence wire is
“woven” into a brightly-colored flat tape or rope, which makes it easier
for the animals to see and remember what happens when they get near.
This woven fencing consists of multiple tiny aluminum wires,
high-strength fiberglass, and special UV sunlight protection. It is
available in ½” to 1½” widths. Yellow and black or all white fencing
tape colors are ideal for temporary fencing that is moved regularly,
since it is easier for the animals to see where the electric fence is
currently located.<br />
If any object, fence post, or tall weed comes in contact with the
electrified fence wire, it can significantly lower the shock value, and
possibly even short all of the voltage to ground. If this happens, the
entire fence will lose its ability to contain your animals. Therefore,
it’s important to walk your fence line regularly and keep all weeds and
tall grass at least five feet away from both sides of the fencing.<br />
Hand-held testers are available that allow a quick test of the
electrified fence anywhere along the entire length. Lower-cost units
utilize a stacked group of small neon lamps that illuminate in steps
based on the level of voltage detected. Higher-cost units may include a
digital readout of voltage levels. A standard volt-meter will get
damaged if used to check electric fencing, since fence voltages are
typically more than 5,000 volts. Most electrical wire sold by builder
supply outlets rarely has an insulation covering that is
sunlight-resistant and rated for higher than 600 volts, making this wire
unsuitable for connecting the fence energizer to the fence wires. The
voltage output of an electric fence energizer is just like the voltage
supplied from a car’s distributor to the spark plugs, and spark plug
wires have very thick insulation to prevent arcing and shorts.<br />
<div class="floatcenter" style="width: 500px;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="247" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-03.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="500" />
<div class="text2ic">
Standard wire insulator with attached nail designed for trees or round posts</div>
</div>
<h3>
Sizing fence energizers</h3>
Comparing different brands of electric fence energizers can be
confusing since there are few rating standards. Some units are
advertised as having a 5,000-volt output, while other energizers may
advertise their output in “joules.” Some brands advertise how many
fenced acres their unit can power, while others advertise their output
in miles of fencing.<br />
The best measurement of any electric fence energizer is how many
joules it generates. A joule is the international term for measuring
energy, much like the kilowatt-hour (kWh) is used in the United States
to measure energy. However, the main difference is the unit of time each
uses. A joule equals one watt per second (not watt per hour). While a
solar fence energizer with a rating of two joules might appear to be a
small number, this output level can easily energize several miles of
fence wire. Although my solar fence charge supplies less than two joules
of energy, this is more than enough high-voltage charge to make you
wish you never touched the fence.<br />
The largest off-the-shelf fence energizer I could find locally had a
rating of just over six joules, and was advertised to power 100 miles of
fence wire. I don’t know about the fencing experience of large
ranchers, but I would rather utilize several smaller energizers instead
of placing my entire fencing system on a single energizer. If this unit
failed, all 100 miles of fencing would become instantly useless. If your
fence requires five strands of wire, a 100 mile “fence wire rating”
would actually mean a fence 20 miles long (100 miles/5 wire strands).
Using multiple energizers, any single failure would mean only one of the
fenced areas would become non-energized.<br />
Using a 120-volt AC fence energizer could be a problem on very large
fencing systems since utility power outlets may not be available at
other locations around the fence line. This is the main reason to
consider multiple smaller fence energizers powered by their own
solar-charged battery. These units can be located at multiple points
around your property without concern for what happens if the utility
grid goes down.<br />
<div class="floatcenter" style="width: 500px;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="260" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-04.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="500" />
<div class="text2ic">
Wire insulator with attached nail designed for square wooden fence posts</div>
</div>
<h3>
Solar fence energizers</h3>
Many people do not want to deal with batteries and opt for a standard
120-volt AC fence energizer. For those of you who appreciate the
benefits of a totally off-grid lifestyle or are concerned about the
reliability of the utility grid, a solar-powered fence energizer may be
the best solution. These units typically come in two different designs,
one with a built-in battery, and one using a separate external battery.<br />
Self-contained solar-powered fence energizers have a small internal
battery and a small solar module attached to the top of the unit. Some
people with battery energizers use a car or truck battery for power, and
periodically travel around the fence line to switch out the recently
discharged battery with a fully-charged battery they carry to the site.
This is far too much work for me, so I use a separate solar module and
solar charge controller to keep my larger external battery fully
charged.<br />
I found that the fence energizers designed for connection to an
external 12-volt battery were almost half the cost of the energizers
that included a small built-in solar module and internal battery. This
price savings helps offset the added cost of buying a larger external
battery, solar charge controller, and solar module. Not only does this
approach allow the use of a wider selection of solar modules, but the
larger battery provides many more days of stand-alone operation during
extended periods of bad weather. However, even those self-contained
fence energizers with small internal batteries are still advertised to
operate a week or more with no sun.<br />
<div class="floatright" style="width: 300px;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="530" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-05.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="300" />
<div class="text2ic">
Low-cost electric fence wire insulator supports are available for every type of mounting requirement</div>
</div>
Part of the reason for the longer battery life of a fence energizer
is that their high-voltage output is “pulsed” on and off each second
rather than staying on continuously. While this cycled off period may
not seem like it would provide much of an energy savings, it does allow
time for the control circuits to ramp up the small 12-volt DC battery
voltage to more than 5,000 volts and then discharge in short electrical
bursts. In addition, this pulsing effect provides more shock value to an
animal in the form of multiple “strings” rather than a single
continuous voltage discharge.<br />
<h3>
Grounding</h3>
Probably one of the most neglected areas of electric fence
installation is “grounding” the system. Any time an animal comes in
contact with an energized fence wire, they are completing an electrical
circuit. High-voltage electricity at a very low current leaves the
positive (+) terminal of the fence energizer and travels along the fence
wire which is supported by electrical insulators. This electrical
energy then travels along the surface skin of the animal from the point
of contact with the energized fence and then down to their foot or hoof
and into the ground. This high-voltage and low-current electrical flow
then travels through the earth all the way back to two or more ground
rods driven into the ground near the solar-powered energizer. This
electrical energy then travels through the connecting wire from these
ground rods and up to the negative (-) post on the solar-powered fence
energizer, completing the electrical circuit.<br />
Fenced areas where the surface of the ground stays fairly damp
year-round may allow utilizing only one ground rod, but most locations
will require two or more ground rods for proper operation. These ground
rods are the same as those sold for grounding home electrical services
and usually consist of a copper-clad steel rod 1/2″ in diameter and
driven six to eight feet into the earth.<br />
Multiple ground rods must be spaced at least 10 feet apart, wired
together, then wired back to the energizer. Never locate ground rods
near underground electrical services, phone lines, metal water pipes, or
other ground rods connected to different electrical systems. If this
happens, animals could be shocked when touching a metal drinking tank.
This can also cause noise or interference in nearby phones and radios.
You should never route electric fencing parallel to or near high-voltage
power transmission lines, as these can induce electrical energy into
the fence wiring and destroy your fence energizer.<br />
If you are located in a geographic area having very limited rainfall
or perhaps suffering through an unseasonably dry summer, you can
significantly improve the performance of any electric fence by
increasing the soil conductivity around the ground rods. By filling an
old five-gallon plastic paint bucket or soft drink bottle with water and
punching a tiny hole near the bucket bottom or bottle cap, the
resulting slow water drip will keep the soil damp around the ground rod.
Depending on the size of the container and rate of water drip near the
ground rods, you may be able to go several days at a time between adding
more water.<br />
Lightning is one of the main reasons an electric fence energizer gets
damaged. If you are in an area with a high potential for lightning
strikes, you may want to add one or more lightning arrestors to your
energized electric fence. One terminal in this small device is connected
to each bare wire in an electric fence, with a second terminal
connected to a nearby ground rod. If there is a lightning-induced
voltage spike traveling along this fence wire, the lightning arrestor
will divert this excess energy into the ground rod and away from the
fence energizer. This can significantly reduce the risk of lightning
damage to your electric fence.<br />
<div class="floatcenter" style="width: 500px;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="224" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-06.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="500" />
<div class="text2ic">
Electrical path during a shock</div>
</div>
<h3>
Electric fence installation</h3>
The installation of an electric fence is very straightforward once
you have selected the type of fence wire or woven tape you plan to use.
Each type of fencing material has an amazing selection of low-cost
devices intended to make installation easy and fast. Other than a good
set of fence pliers and a wire barrel crimper, this is all you need for
most electric fence installations.<br />
<div class="floatright" style="width: 300px;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="303" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-07.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="300" />
<div class="text2ic">
Basic fence installation tools include a wire barrel crimper,<br />
fence pliers, and electric fence tester.</div>
</div>
Coils of electric fence wire continuing a mile or more are not
uncommon on long fence installations — these can be very heavy to lift.
There are several types of extension handles and un-spooling devices
available that allow dragging or rolling the wire spool across the
ground behind you or your ATV. If you will be attaching your electric
fence wire to a row of trees, wood fence posts, metal “T” bar fence
posts, or all-plastic temporary posts, there are very low-cost
insulators designed for each specific type of post.<br />
Plastic insulators that include an attached nail to drive into a wood
post or tree are typically sold in bags of 50 for less than $10 and can
be installed as fast as you can drive a nail. Some plastic insulators
are designed to “twist” onto metal “T” rails or rods which is easy and
fast. Low-cost insulated handles with an internal tension spring are
available to make access points or gates, along with insulators designed
for turning corners or ending a fence run. Multiple fence wires are
interconnected electrically to each other using pre-made electrical wire
jumpers. All sizes and types of crimp-on connectors are available to
make wire splices fast and reliable.<br />
<h3>
Gates</h3>
There are several ways to deal with access through an electrified
fence. The easiest method is to add a low-cost insulated gate handle as
mentioned earlier. This insulated handle uses an internal tension spring
to keep the electrified wire tight across the opening between two
posts. Each energized wire can be safely disconnected from a hook at one
end using the insulated handle to allow you to pass, then reattach
without having to walk back and turn off the energizer.<br />
<div class="floatright" style="width: 300px;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="411" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-08.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="350" />
<div class="text2ic">
Use crimped barrel fittings for all wire splices so
there will be no loss of electrical contact due to corrosion, which is
not the case when wires are just twisted together</div>
</div>
For more permanent metal or wooden hinged gates, the electric circuit
can be carried between the electric fence sections on each side of the
gate using an insulated interconnect cable. This insulated cable is
usually installed in flexible hose running under the walk or drive.
However, due to the higher potential for being shorted by low-lying
water, I prefer to carry the insulated interconnecting wire up and over
the gate or driveway without any breaks or disconnects. Obviously, you
want to make sure the raised supports will keep this energized wire
above the maximum height of people or vehicles that may pass through any
gate.<br />
<h3>
Using solar power</h3>
First, select the fence energizer sized for your specific needs. My
energizer (rated slightly over one joule) cost $100, but you may find a
sale when suppliers want to move out the old designs to make room for
newer models. Larger units with a rating of five to six joules will cost
more than $300, so make sure the unit you select is adequate for your
needs, but not too large. Unless you are trying to fence in your entire
county, I think you will find a unit rated for two to three joules
should meet all but the longest fencing requirements.<br />
Since a solar-powered fence energizer is not tied to a utility
outlet, if your fencing requirements exceed a mile or more, it may be
more cost effective to utilize several small electric fence energizers,
with each powering a separate section of fencing. Never attach more than
one fence energizer to the same section of fence wiring. You will want
to electrically isolate each run of fence when using multiple
energizers.<br />
<div class="floatright" style="width: 300px;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="370" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-09.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="300" />
<div class="text2ic">
Solar module facing south with tilt angle equal to site latitude, fence energizer, and battery housing</div>
</div>
Make sure the fence energizer you purchase is intended for 12-volt DC
power with an external battery if you plan on assembling your own
custom solar-powered system. A standard RV/marine battery will provide
far more days of operation with no sun than a smaller internal battery.
These deep-cycle batteries are designed for continuous charge/discharge
cycling and are usually available locally. Most car batteries have much
thinner plates to reduce weight and are not designed for daily
charge/discharge cycling. Car batteries should not be used to power an
electric fence energizer as they will have a very short life.<br />
I prefer using a sealed gel-cell battery instead of a “wet cell”
battery, but these are more expensive and usually must be custom
ordered. Since they are totally sealed, they can be mounted in any
position so there is no danger of an animal tipping one over and
spilling liquid acid.<br />
When you select a solar module to keep your battery fully charged,
make sure it is rated for 12 volt battery charging. Typically it will
have a 16 to 17 volts DC “open circuit voltage” rating listed on the
nameplate. While the actual amp-hour load for a fence energizer is
rarely provided in the advertizing or owner’s manual, a solar module in
the 10 watt range should be able to keep a one joule rated energizer
battery fully charged, while a six joule rated energizer will require a
solar module rated at 60 watts or higher, depending on your local
weather conditions.<br />
Being able to mix and match separately-purchased solar modules and
external batteries can result in much better performance than a
self-contained solar fence energizer with limited internal space for a
battery and a small surface area for the solar module.<br />
<div class="floatcenter" style="width: 500px;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="280" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-10.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="500" />
<div class="text2ic">
View inside metal enclosure showing 12-volt battery, fuse, and solar charger</div>
</div>
<h3>
Testing</h3>
After you have installed your electric fence wire, ground rods, and
solar-powered fence energizer, it’s time to test. As mentioned earlier,
this is best performed using an electric high-voltage fence tester.
These typically cost about $10, which is cheap insurance to keep your
valuable animals from heading to town. As you walk along your fence
line, check the output of each wire and note any section of wire that is
not energized or shows a low-voltage level. This tester includes a
ground-probe about the size of an ice pick at the end of an attached
cable that is pushed into the ground near where you are testing the
fence voltage.<br />
<div class="floatright" style="width: 300px;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="391" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-11.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="300" />
<div class="text2ic">
Hand-held high-voltage fence tester</div>
</div>
Make sure there are no tree branches or tall grass touching the
wires, as these can easily drain off a significant level of voltage.
While it is understood that the voltage will drop as you move further
and further away from the fence energizer, you should still measure at
least 3,000 volts at the extreme end of a long fence run when using a
fence energizer with a 5,000-volt output rating.<br />
If this voltage loss is too high and you have verified there are no
places where the wires are being shorted to ground, you may need to use a
larger-gauge wire which will have a lower electric resistance. If this
is not possible, you will either need to use an energizer with a higher
joule rating, or divide the fencing into separate electrically-isolated
circuits and utilize multiple solar-powered energizers.<br />
<h3>
Closing comments</h3>
Never rely totally on any electric fence for perimeter fencing or to
keep valuable animals away from dangerous cliffs, highways, or bodies of
water. You should still use traditional metal or wood fencing for
property boundaries, and use electric fencing for internal division of
pastures and farmland. A solar electric fence energizer with reusable
plastic posts is perfect for portable or temporary fencing needs.<br />
Also remember to follow all installation guidelines given for your
specific animal or pets. Using too few wire runs or spacing wires too
far apart may allow a large animal to become entangled by a
poorly-installed electric fence. You should use brightly-colored plastic
flagging or signage to let people know they are approaching an
electrified fence. Finally, remember to check the entire length of all
electrified fencing on a regular basis using a tester to verify the
system is working properly.<br />
<div class="floatcenter" style="width: 500px;">
<img alt="" border="0" height="360" hspace="0" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/yago147-12.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="500" />
<div class="text2ic">
Wiring diagram</div>
</div>
<div class="widget-area sidebar_extra per-page-articles_about_yago text3" id="per-page-widget" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<ul class="xoxo"><aside class="widget widget_text" id="text-22"> <div class="textwidget">
<i>Jeff
Yago is a licensed professional engineer and certified energy manager
with more than 30 years of experience in the energy conservation field.
He has extensive solar and emergency preparedness experience, and has
authored numerous articles and texts. His website is <a href="http://www.offgridprepper.com/" target="_blank">www.offgridprepper.com</a>.</i></div>
</aside></ul>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-69768738326323829652016-08-06T12:58:00.002-04:002016-08-06T12:58:49.153-04:00Members in US politics who hold dual US/Israeli citizenship:<div class="post-headline">
<h1>
</h1>
</div>
<div class="post-byline">
Submitted by IWB, on December 4th, 2014 </div>
<a href="http://investmentwatchblog.com/members-in-us-politics-who-hold-dual-usisraeli-citizenship/">http://investmentwatchblog.com/members-in-us-politics-who-hold-dual-usisraeli-citizenship/</a><br />An older list but you get the point...<br />
June 2013<br />
Past and Present:<br />
1.Attorney General – Michael Mukasey<br />
2. Head of Homeland Security – Michael Chertoff<br />
3. Chairman Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board – Richard Perle<br />
4. Deputy Defense Secretary (Former) – Paul Wolfowitz<br />
5. Under Secretary of Defense – Douglas Feith<br />
6. National Security Council Advisor – Elliott Abrams<br />
7. Vice President Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff (Former) – “Scooter” Libby<br />
8. White House Deputy Chief of Staff – Joshua Bolten<br />
9. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs – Marc Grossman<br />
10. Director of Policy Planning at the State Department – Richard Haass<br />
11. U.S. Trade Representative (Cabinet-level Position) – Robert Zoellick<br />
12. Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board – James Schlesinger<br />
13. UN Representative (Former) – John Bolton<br />
14. Under Secretary for Arms Control – David Wurmser<br />
15. Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board – Eliot Cohen<br />
16. Senior Advisor to the President – Steve Goldsmith<br />
17. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Christopher Gersten<br />
18. Assistant Secretary of State – Lincoln Bloomfield<br />
19. Deputy Assistant to the President – Jay Lefkowitz<br />
20. White House Political Director – Ken Melman<br />
21. National Security Study Group – Edward Luttwak<br />
22. Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board – Kenneth Adelman<br />
23. Defense Intelligence Agency Analyst (Former) – Lawrence (Larry) Franklin<br />
24. National Security Council Advisor – Robert Satloff<br />
25. President Export-Import Bank U.S. – Mel Sembler<br />
26. Deputy Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families – Christopher Gersten<br />
27. Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Public Affairs – Mark Weinberger<br />
28. White House Speechwriter – David Frum<br />
29. White House Spokesman (Former) – Ari Fleischer<br />
30. Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board – Henry Kissinger<br />
31. Deputy Secretary of Commerce – Samuel Bodman<br />
32. Under Secretary of State for Management – Bonnie Cohen<br />
33. Director of Foreign Service Institute – Ruth Davis<br />
<div id="container_wb1808185f2" style="left: -9999px; margin: 0; overflow: hidden; padding: 0; position: absolute;">
</div>
Current members as best I could find:<br />
Senate:<br />
•Senator Barbara Boxer (California)<br />
•Senator Benjamin Cardin (Maryland)<br />
•Senator Russ Feingold (Wisconsin)<br />
•Senator Al Franken (Minnesota)<br />
•Senator Dianne Feinstein (California)<br />
•Senator Herb Kohl (Wisconsin)<br />
•Senator Frank Lautenberg (New Jersey)<br />
•Senator Joe Lieberman (Connecticut) (Independent)<br />
•Senator Carl Levin (Michigan)<br />
•Senator Bernard Sanders (Vermont) (Independent)<br />
•Senator Charles Schumer (New York)<br />
•Senator Ron Wyden (Oregon)<br />
<div data-mediaconductor-processed="true">
House of Representatives:<br />
•Representative Gary Ackerman (New York)<br />
•Representative John H. Adler (New Jersey)<br />
•Representative Shelley Berkley (Nevada)<br />
•Representative Howard Berman (California)<br />
•Representative Steve Cohen (Tennessee)<br />
•Representative Susan Davis (California)<br />
•Representative Eliot Engel (New York)<br />
•Representative Bob Filner (California)<br />
•Representative Barney Frank (Massachusetts)<br />
•Representative Gabrielle Giffords (Arizona)<br />
•Representative Alan Grayson (Florida)<br />
•Representative Jane Harman (California)<br />
•Representative Paul Hodes (New Hampshire)<br />
•Representative Steve Israel (New York)<br />
•Representative Steve Kagen (Wisconsin)<br />
•Representative Ronald Klein (Florida)<br />
•Representative Sander Levin (Michigan)<br />
•Representative Nita Lowey (New York)<br />
•Representative Jerry Nadler (New York)<br />
•Representative Jared Polis (Colorado)<br />
•Representative Steve Rothman (New Jersey)<br />
•Representative Jan Schakowsky (Illinois)<br />
•Representative Adam Schiff (California)<br />
•Representative Allyson Schwartz (Pennsylvania)<br />
•Representative Brad Sherman (California)<br />
•Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Florida)<br />
•Representative Henry Waxman (California)<br />
•Representative Anthony Weiner (New York)<br />
•Representative John Yarmuth (Kentucky)<br />
zatetic June 2013<br />
<a href="http://jewishcurrents.org/the-112th-congress-3476">http://jewishcurrents.org/the-112th-congress-3476</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-39778034115373536742016-08-06T12:30:00.001-04:002016-08-06T12:30:47.245-04:00Libya - Part III - The Return Of "The King" Saif Gaddafi
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
by <strong>Richard Galustian</strong><br />
<div>
In an article in early May, I wrote "<em>Keep in the back off your mind the potential future importance of Saif Gaddafi."</em></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaddafi-s-son-released-prison-libya-1632253259">news</a>
of the release from a Libyan prison in Zintan of Saif Al Islam Gaddafi,
heir apparent to his late father, is surprising to many outsiders but
it nothing to what may come next - a return in some form to power.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In Libya’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising, Saif joined his father and
sons on the barricades, castigating NATO-backed rebels in a bitter
revolutionary war. While those rebels later cornered and killed his
father Muammar and brother Moatasim in Sirte, Saif was captured alive
trying to flee through the Sahara desert to Niger.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It may be his good fortune that the units capturing him were from
Zintan, a mountain town south of Tripoli, who later went to war with
Islamist led Libya Dawn which captured the capital in 2014. When a mass
trial was held of former regime figures there, Zintan refused to hand
Saif over, sparing him the brutalities inflicted on other prisoners
including former intelligence chief Abdullah al Senussi and his younger
brother Saadi, who was filmed being beaten in a Tripoli prison cell.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Zintanis were no friends of the former regime, fighting against
Gaddafi’s forces as one of the most effective rebel outfits during the
uprising that was won by NATO bombing.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
But from the few accounts of those allowed to visit him in a
closely guarded compound somewhere in the town, he has been treated
well, living under what amounts to house arrest, until now.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
A year ago a Tripoli court operating under Libya Dawn auspices
sentenced him, and either others including Al Senussi, to death. Up in
Zintan, not much changed for Saif, with Zintan still digging in its
heels and refusing to hand him over to Tripoli’s grim Al Hadba prison.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The shambolic UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) under a
puppet PM who operates out of Tripoli naval base, the only part of the
city they control, however appears to be responsible for the amnesty
order given in April to Saif and other prisoners removing their death
sentences and ordering them to be freed.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Since then, Saif’s location is a mystery, but Zintan’s attitude to
him is tempered by their alliance with former Gaddafi-supporting tribes,
including those from Beni Walid and Warshefani, in their brutal battle
with Libya Dawn’s Islamists. The Gaddafi tribe itself has a base south
of Zintan around Sebha, making common cause with the Zintanis against
Libya Dawn militias who control the capital and lord it over the GNA.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Before the Libya uprising, Saif criss-crossed the globe pushing an
agenda for democratization he hoped would reform the country. Whether
the drive was not serious, or whether it was frustrated by his hardline
siblings Moatsem and Khamis, is impossible to know, but he emerges from
captivity to find Libya a changed place something he predicted.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Saif al-Islam in February 2011 gave a speech foretelling of what
was to come. And he was right “There will be civil war in Libya … we
will kill one another in the streets and all of Libya will be destroyed.
We will need 40 years to reach an agreement on how to run the country,
because today, everyone will want to be president, or emir, and
everybody will want to run the country.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Saif knew his country would be torn apart if his father regime was forced out by the West. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The brutalities of his father’s regime have since been matched by
those of some of the militias that overthrew him, most visibly the grim
beating of his brother Saadi in a Tripoli jail which his captors filmed
in gruesome detail.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Many of the tribes that once supported Gaddafi are now battling
Islamists and their opportunistic Misratan allies of Libya Dawn, and
will see in Saif a figure who can unify their demands not to be squeezed
out of Libyan political life.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Opposition to him taking a political role it can be argued is
softening because he was never part of the “muscle” of the Gaddafi
regime, spending much of his time in London moving around the gilded
circle of rich tycoons, academics and Tony Blair’s political elite.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
There is, in other words, an opening for a man who was castigated
by rebels for dismissing their rebellion on Gaddafi’s green TV during
the uprising, but who never fired a shot in anger. With his release, he
might get a shot at the plan he always said he wanted; to reform his
country and unite key tribes who feel marginalized by Libya’s power
brokers. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Pieces are falling into place for him to possibly take part in some
kind of grand council. With the GNA unable to persuade either of
Libya’s other two governments to join it, there are calls for a wider
mediation effort, with Saudi Arabia and importantly Oman, offering
mediation, to be discussed in Brussels on 18th July with US Secretary of
State John Kerry. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In this battered, chaotic country, with governments fighting each
other and IS, Saif Gadaffi may find a new role as part of the solution
rather than the problem.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In the past 24 hours since the news broke he had been freed,
Libyans across the country from different towns and cities have held
pictures of Saif shouting his name. To my knowledge it's the first time
any pro-Gaddafi demonstrations have been evident in so many parts of the
country since 2011.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It's time Saif played a role with other libertarians in and outside
Libya promoting the old constitution and particularly banishing members
of the former AQ affiliate, LIFG.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Rumors are abound that Saif will give a press conference very soon. That's going to be very interesting indeed if it happens.</div>
<div class="posted">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-78794857267434475742016-08-06T12:29:00.000-04:002016-08-06T12:29:16.393-04:00U.S. Delivers 3,000 Tons Of Weapons And Ammo To Al-Qaeda and Co. in Syria
<br />
<div class="author">
By <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/author/moon-of-alabama" title="Posts by Moon of Alabama">Moon of Alabama</a></div>
<div class="grDate">
Global Research, April 08, 2016</div>
<div class="grDate">
<a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/04/us-delivers-3000-tons-of-weapons-and-ammo-to-al-qaeda-co-in-syria.html"> http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/04/us-delivers-3000-tons-of-weapons-and-ammo-to-al-qaeda-co-in-syria.html</a></div>
<div class="grDate">
<div class="postThumbnail">
<img alt="cia-isis" class="attachment-single-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" height="254" src="http://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/cia-isis-400x254.jpg" title="cia-isis" width="400" />
</div>
The United States via its Central Intelligence Service is still
delivering thousands of tons of additional weapons to al-Qaeda and
others in Syria.<br />
The British military information service <em>Jane’s</em> <a href="http://www.janes.com/article/59374/analysis-us-arms-shipment-to-syrian-rebels-detailed">found</a> the transport solicitation for the shipment on the U.S. government website <a href="https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=list&tab=list&pageID=2">FedBizOps.gov</a>. <em>Janes</em> writes:<br />
<blockquote>
The FBO has released two solicitations in recent months
looking for shipping companies to transport explosive material from
Eastern Europe to the Jordanian port of Aqaba on behalf of the US Navy’s
Military Sealift Command. Released on 3 November 2015, the first
solicitation sought a contractor to ship 81 containers of cargo that
included explosive material from Constanta in Bulgaria to Aqaba.<br />
…<br />
The cargo listed in the document included AK-47 rifles, PKM
general-purpose machine guns, DShK heavy machine guns, RPG-7 rocket
launchers, and 9K111M Faktoria anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) systems.
The Faktoria is an improved version of the 9K111 Fagot ATGW, the primary
difference being that its missile has a tandem warhead for defeating
explosive reactive armour (ERA) fitted to some tanks.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a class="cboxElement" href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Screen-Shot-2016-04-08-at-17.38.41.png" rel="lightbox[5519413]" title="Screen Shot 2016-04-08 at 17.38.41"><img alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-5519416" height="553" src="http://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Screen-Shot-2016-04-08-at-17.38.41-1024x790.png" title="Screen Shot 2016-04-08 at 17.38.41" width="717" /></a></div>
Screenshot of<a href="http://www.janes.com/article/59374/us-arms-shipment-to-syrian-rebels-detailed"> Jane’s Report</a><br />
The <em>Jane’s</em> author <a href="https://twitter.com/JeremyBinnie/status/718456819128131585/photo/1">tweeted</a> the full article (copy <a class="cboxElement" href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/images4/janes-syria.jpg" rel="lightbox[5519413]" title="U.S. Delivers 3,000 Tons Of Weapons And Ammo To Al-Qaeda and Co. in Syria">here</a>).<br />
One ship with nearly one thousand tons of weapons and ammo left
Constanta in Romania on December 5. The weapons are from Bulgaria,
Croatia and Romania. It sailed to Agalar in Turkey which has a military
pier and then to Aqaba in Jordan. Another ship with more than
two-thousand tons of weapons and ammo left in late March, followed the
same route and was last recorded on its way to Aqaba on April 4.<br />
We already <a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/03/how-the-us-continues-to-arm-al-qaeda.html">knew</a> that
the “rebels” in Syria received plenty of weapons during the official
ceasefire. We also know that these “rebels” regularly deliver <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/03/29/the-syrian-revolution-against-al-qaeda-jabhat-al-nusra-fsa/">half</a> of their weapon hauls from Turkey and Jordan to al-Qaeda in Syria (aka Jabhat al-Nusra):<br />
<blockquote>
Hard-core Islamists in the Nusra Front have long
outgunned the more secular, nationalist, Western-supported rebels.
According to FSA officers, Nusra routinely harvests up to half the
weapons supplied by the Friends of Syria, a collection of countries
opposed to Assad, ..</blockquote>
U.S. and Turkey supported “rebels” <a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/04/syria-as-rebels-break-ceasefire-army-gathers-for-new-campaign.html">took part</a> in
the recent attack on Tal al-Eis against Syrian government forces which
was launched with three suicide bombs by al-Qaeda in Syria. This was an
indisputable breaking of the ceasefire agreement between Russia and the
U.S. It is very likely that some of the weapons and ammunition the U.S.
delivered in December were used in this attack.<br />
Millions of rifle, machine-gun and mortar shots, thousands of new
light and heavy weapons and hundreds of new anti-tank missiles were
delivered by the U.S.. Neither Turkey nor Jordan use such weapons of
Soviet providence. These weapons are going to Syria where, as has been
reported for years by several independent sources, half of them go
directly to al-Qaeda.<br />
From historic experience we can be sure that the consequence of this
weaponizing of takfiris will be not only be the death of “brown people”
in the Middle East, but also attacks on “western” people and interests.<br />
Skyscrapers falling in New York and hundreds of random people getting
killed in Paris, Brussels, London and (likely soon) Berlin seem not be
enough to deter the politicians and “experts” that actively support this
criminal war on Syria and its people.<br />
<div class="copyright">
The original source of this article is <a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/04/us-delivers-3000-tons-of-weapons-and-ammo-to-al-qaeda-co-in-syria.html" target="_blank">Moon of Alabama</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-63029052908770506262016-08-06T11:54:00.001-04:002016-08-06T11:54:24.290-04:00Hillary Clinton: "I May Have Short-Circuited The Truth" (LIED) About Email Scandal<h1 class="title">
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<span title="Aug 6, 2016 10:30 AM"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-06/hillary-clinton-i-may-have-short-circuited-truth-about-email-scandal">http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-06/hillary-clinton-i-may-have-short-circuited-truth-about-email-scandal</a> </span> </div>
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One of the biggest surprises over the past
week was Donald Trump's dramatic meltdown, and subsequent escalation,
with the family of Humayun Khan, the US Muslim captain killed in
Afghanistan in 2014, who during the DNC, tangentially accused Trump and
his potential policies of being responsible for their son's death (he
wasn't). What is most striking is that instead of ignoring this attempt
to bait the Republican candidate in public, to which he most gladly
obliged, he should have simply moved on and stayed on the offensive,
pressing Hillary over the recent Wikileaks disclosure revealing the
cronyism and corruption within the Democratic Party, as well push the
familiar narrative of her email scandal.<br />
Conveniently, Hillary helped him do just that yesterday, when she acknowledged on Friday afternoon that she may have <strong>"short-circuited" </strong>when
she claimed in recent interviews that FBI Director James Comey said she
was "truthful" about her use of a private email server as secretary of
state. In doing so Hillary once again shifted the news spotlight away
from Trump and back on to herself, as she once again revealed that the
only consistent thing about Hillary Clinton are the constant lies.<br />
Following a heavily covered interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace,
Hillary stated that Comey had found her statements "truthful" and
"consistent" with what she has said publicly. Clinton’s lying led The
Atlantic to publish an article titled “ <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/why-hillary-clinton-keeps-lying/493841/">Why Can't Hillary Clinton Stop Lying</a>?” and the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/07/31/clintons-claim-that-the-fbi-director-said-her-email-answers-were-truthful/">Washington Post’s</a>
fact checker Glenn Kessler awarded her four “Pinocchios”, adding that
“Clinton is cherry-picking statements by Comey to preserve her narrative
about the unusual setup of a private email server<em>. This allows her to skate past the more disturbing findings of the FBI investigation</em>.” Notably, the <a href="http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/08/02/hillary-clinton-fox-email-interview-liz-spayd-public-editor/?_r=0">NYTimes</a>
did not publish anything related to this flop and it took the Public
Editor, whose job it to be the readers' advocate at The NYT, to write an
op-ed titled The Clinton Story You Didn’t Read Here.<br />
After an almost universally bad week for her opponent Donald Trump,
Hillary went out of her way once again to explain away her home-brew
server, only this time it led to a less than favorable outcome.<br />
<div data-mediaconductor-processed="true">
Clinton insisted in two
televised interviews aired this week, including one with Fox News' Chris
Wallace aired Sunday, that Comey had found her statements "truthful"
and "consistent" with what she has said publicly. The Democratic
nominee, speaking at a joint convention for African-American and
Hispanic journalists, remarked that she was "pointing out in both of
those instances that the Director Comey had said that my answers in my
FBI interview were truthful." She then reiterated the "truthful"
assessment in an interview with a Colorado television station later in
the week.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .75em; margin-top: 0.25em;">
</div>
According to <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/clinton-email-truthful-answer-226725">Politico</a>,
Hillary stressed that "that's really the bottom line here. And I have
said during the interview and many other occasions over the past months,
<strong>that what I told the FBI, which he said was truthful, is consistent with what I have said publicly," </strong>Clinton explained Friday. "<strong>So
I may have short-circuited it and for that, I, you know, will try to
clarify because I think, you know, Chris Wallace and I were probably
talking past each other because of course, he could only talk to what I
had told the FBI and I appreciated that."</strong><br />
"But I do think, you know, having him say that my answers to the FBI
were truthful and then I should quickly add, what I said was consistent
with what I had said publicly. And that's really sort of in my view
trying to tie both ends together," she added.<br />
Notice the difference between her original statement and revision. <strong>In
the first one, James Comey confirmed her statements about her email
setup were consistent and truthful. In her revision, the FBI director
confirmed that what she told the FBI was truthful. Perhaps because lying
to the FBI is a crime but lying to the American population is not?</strong><br />
Her word choice of “short-circuiting” confirms what many voters in this election feel about Hillary. <em>Her
answers are memorized, poll tested and scrutinized by hundreds of
staffers, almost in a robotic fashion, to ensure she does not “bend” the
truth</em>. This is why Hillary does a press interview every<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/289972-240-days-and-counting-why-hillary-wont-do-press"> 240 days</a> at best<br />
Finally, having finally found a new opening to dig itself out of the
hole it has found itself in, Donald Trump's campaign laced into Clinton
over her latest "<em>pretzel-like response</em>."<br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quote_start">
</div>
<div class="quote_end">
</div>
“Hillary Clinton’s habitual lying about the use of her secret server
to send and receive classified, top secret information shows her blatant
disregard for national security and a continued pattern of bad
judgment," senior communications adviser Jason Miller said in a
statement. "Clinton knows the actions she has taken are disqualifying
for someone wishing to become commander-in-chief, and that is why
today’s painful, pretzel-like response to a simple question about her
illegal server was obvious to everyone watching."<br />
</blockquote>
Now the only question is whether Trump can keep his mouth shut long
enough to give Hillary more chances to stick her foot in hers, and do to
her own polling what Trump has been so eager to do to his over the past
two weeks.<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-87088121832061427342016-08-04T22:08:00.000-04:002016-08-04T22:08:22.072-04:00U.S. Government To Lift Ban On Part-Human, Part-Animal Embryos<h1 class="title">
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<a href="http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2016/08/04/u-s-government-to-lift-ban-on-part-human-part-animal-embryos/"><em>Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,</em></a><br />
Here’s your feel-good story of the day...<br />
From an <em><a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/04/488387729/nih-plans-to-lift-ban-on-research-funds-for-part-human-part-animal-embryos?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=movies&utm_term=artsculture&utm_content=20160804" target="_blank">NPR</a> </em>article published this morning:<br />
<div>
<blockquote>
<strong><em>The federal government announced plans Thursday to lift a
moratorium on funding of controversial experiments that use human stem
cells to create animal embryos that are partly human.</em></strong><br />
<br />
<em>The National Institutes of Health is proposing a new policy to
permit scientists to get federal money to make embryos, known as
chimeras, under certain carefully monitored conditions.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The NIH imposed a <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/11/06/454693391/should-human-stem-cells-be-used-to-make-partly-human-chimeras" target="_blank">moratorium</a> on funding these experiments in September because they could raise ethical <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/18/478212837/in-search-for-cures-scientists-create-embryos-that-are-both-animal-and-human" target="_blank">concerns</a>.</em><br />
<br />
<em><strong>One issue is that scientists might inadvertently create
animals that have partly human brains, endowing them with some semblance
of human consciousness or human thinking abilities.</strong> <strong>Another
is that they could develop into animals with human sperm and eggs and
breed, producing human embryos or fetuses inside animals or hybrid
creatures.</strong></em><br />
<br />
<em>But scientists have argued that they could take steps to prevent
those outcomes and that the embryos provide invaluable tools for medical
research.</em><br />
<br />
<em>For example, scientists hope to use the embryos to create animal
models of human diseases, which could lead to new ways to prevent and
treat illnesses. <strong>Researchers also hope to produce sheep, pigs
and cows with human hearts, kidneys, livers, pancreases and possibly
other organs that could be used for transplants.</strong></em><br />
<div id="container_wbae296e27d" style="margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<br />
<em>In addition, the NIH would even consider experiments that could
create animals with human sperm and human eggs since they may be useful
for studying human development and infertility. But in that case steps
would have to be taken to prevent the animals from breeding.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Several scientists said they are thrilled by the new policy.
“It’s very, very welcome news that NIH will consider funding this type
of research,” says <a href="http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/faculty/ross/" target="_blank">Pablo Ross</a>,
a developmental biologist at the University of California, Davis,
trying to grow human organs in farm animals. “We need funding to be able
to answer some very important questions.”</em><br />
<br />
<em>But critics denounced the decision. “Science fiction writers
might have imagined worlds like this — like The Island of Dr.
Moreau, Brave New World, Frankenstein,” says <a href="https://www.nymc.edu/faculty/directory/by-name/newman-stuart/" target="_blank">Stuart Newman</a>, a biologist at New York Medical College. “They’ve been speculations. But now they’re becoming more real. <strong>And I think that we just can’t say that since it’s possible then let’s do it.”</strong></em><br />
<br />
<em>The public has 30 days to comment on the proposed new policy. NIH could start funding projects as early as the start of 2017.</em><br />
</blockquote>
</div>
Probably nothing to worry about, right?<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-76390883795756501472016-08-04T21:39:00.000-04:002016-08-04T21:39:01.237-04:00Iran's Ayatollah: "The US Created ISIS"<h1 class="title">
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Even as the Obama administration is embroiled
in a scandal involving the paradropping of a crate of cash with $400
million in it in non-USD denominated bills to Iran, the same Iran
continues to heap scorn upon the US president, culminating yesterday
with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khemenei, accusing the U.S. of
creating and supporting ISIS as a means of creating conflict among
Muslims and promoting a false form of Islam in the world. <br />
In an English language Twitter account affiliated with Iranian Supreme Leader, the country’s highest authority, tweeted: <br />
He alleged that the US aim of making and backing ISIS is to sow
discord in Islamic Ummah, defame true Islam & promote Wahabbi Islam
which is far from true Islam, in fact it is the religion of Saudi
Arabia, some of the most ardent supporters of the Clintons. The claim is
not the first time Khamenei has accused the U.S. and the West of
creating the current conflict in Syria and Iraq. <br />
Last December, Khamenei accused U.S. officials of sowing discord
among Muslims by “creating terrorist groups like Daesh (the Arabic word
for the ISIL) and other groups that have been created through the
funding of the US affiliates and their political aids," according to
Iran’s state-run media outlet, Fars News. <br />
<div data-mediaconductor-processed="true">
Following prostate surgery in
late 2014, he suggested America, Zionism and “the wicked government of
Britain” created Al Qaeda and Da'esh (ISIS) as way to contain Iran, but
that instead these groups “have turned on them.” </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .75em; margin-top: 0.25em;">
</div>
Ironically, the relentless attacks against Obama take place as his
administration has spent the past few years cozying up to Iran brokering
an agreement last July between the Islamic Republic and world powers to
curb Iran’s nuclear program and lift international sanctions. It
recently culminated with news of secret monetary paradrops coinciding
with a prominent prisoner exchange. Obama has denied the money was paid
as a ransom.<br />
We are confident Obama will deny the ISIS creation allegations as well, despite the previously documented <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-23/secret-pentagon-report-reveals-us-created-isis-tool-overthrow-syrias-president-assad">existence of a secret Pentagon memo which revealed that the US "created" ISIS as a "tool" to overthrow Syria's president Assad</a>.<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-2919647543239747122016-08-04T21:00:00.000-04:002016-08-04T21:00:03.728-04:00Obama Just Signed A GMO Labeling Law: Here’s What You’re Not Being Told<h1 class="title">
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<a href="http://theantimedia.org/gmo-labeling-not-told/"><em>Submitted by Carey Wedler via TheAntiMedia.org,</em></a><br />
Last week, President Barack Obama signed <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/president-obama-expected-to-sign-industry-backed-gmo-bill-into-law-1921861535.html/" target="_blank">legislation requiring</a> manufacturers of genetically modified (GM) food to provide labeling on their products. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>But there’s just one problem — err, a couple problems . . . actually a lot of problems. There are <em>a lot</em> of problems with this bill.</strong></span><br />
The new law originated in the Senate as <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s764/text/enr" target="_blank">S. 764</a>, “A bill to reauthorize and amend the National Sea Grant College Program Act, and for other purposes.” Lawmakers commonly <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/10/politics/policy-riders-spending-bill/" target="_blank">insert policies</a> on controversial issues into other, more amenable bills to keep them hidden and ensure their passage.<br />
Sure enough, the new GM labeling bill, focused around a <a href="http://seagrant.noaa.gov/" target="_blank">college program</a>, contains language that appears, on its face, to address the concerns of millions of Americans regarding GM foods.<strong> While establishment institutions and experts <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/viewpoints/issafe.html">insist </a>they are safe, others worry not enough research has been conducted to guarantee as much.</strong><br />
<div data-mediaconductor-processed="true">
While the lawmakers who crafted
the bill, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.),
argue it is an appropriate <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/16/470677241/bill-that-would-block-states-from-mandating-gmo-labels-stalls-in-senate" target="_blank">compromise</a>
in response to fears surrounding GM products, food advocacy groups
found multiple holes in its wording prior to the bill’s passage.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .75em; margin-top: 0.25em;">
</div>
The first — and most contentious — is S. 764’s decree that<strong> food companies are <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-07-13/obama-ready-to-sign-food-label-bill-consumer-groups-find-suspect" target="_blank">not necessarily required</a> to label genetically modified products in text form. </strong>While doing so is an <em>option,</em>
according to the new law, food manufacturers may also choose to denote
GM ingredients with a symbol or a QRC (quick response code) that, when
scanned by a smartphone, will take the consumer to a website detailing
further information about the product. The QRC method requires the
consumer to have both a smartphone and access to the internet.<br />
While the QRC option sounds high-tech, some lawmakers and activists
have criticized its limitations. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) argued on
the House floor that<strong> “<em>It is an intentional measure to deny consumers information,</em>” as <a href="http://thehill.com/regulation/overnights/287605-overnight-regulation" target="_blank">reported</a> by <em>The Hill</em>. “<em>The reality is that not every American has access to a smartphone or the Internet</em>.”</strong><br />
Another problem with the bill is its lax standards and broad
definitions. For example, the bill stipulates that if a majority of a
product contains meat, it need not be labeled as containing GM
ingredients, even if other ingredients <em>are</em> genetically modified
(in contrast, a pepperoni pizza would need to be labeled if the flour
in the pizza came from GM grain). While genetically modified animal meat
is only <a href="http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm472487.htm" target="_blank">beginning to make its way into the food supply</a>, the new labeling bill establishes a concerning exemption for the future. Eggs will also not be subject to GM labels.<br />
Further,<strong> the new law “<em>prohibit[s] a food derived from an
animal to be considered a bioengineered food solely because the animal
consumed feed produced from, containing, or consisting of a
bioengineered substance.</em>” In other words, if an animal ate GM feed throughout its life, food companies would not need to inform the consumer.</strong><br />
Even the FDA, known for its <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/pharmalot/2014/09/15/the-fda-revolving-door-fosters-conflicts-on-advisory-panels/" target="_blank">collusion with various powerful industries</a>,
expressed concerns about the bill’s language. The agency stressed its
opposition to labeling, maintaining GM foods are safe, but still <a href="http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/fda-to-senate-ag-on-draft-legislation_29928.pdf" target="_blank">pointed out</a> confusion and conflicts within the bill.<br />
The FDA noted the definition of “bioengineering” “<em>will likely
mean that many foods from GE sources will not be subject to this bill.
For instance, oil made from GE soy would not have any genetic material
in it. Likewise, starches and purified proteins would not be covered.</em>”<br />
<strong>Though the language of the bill is vague, it explicitly nullifies the GM labeling law passed in Vermont last year. </strong>That bill, which industry lobbyists <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/vermont-forces-nationwide-gmo-labeling_us_56f30ac2e4b0c3ef5217dafd" target="_blank">aggressively attacked</a>, would be overruled by S. 764, which dictates that “state-imposed labeling requirements would be banned,” as <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-07-13/obama-ready-to-sign-food-label-bill-consumer-groups-find-suspect" target="_blank">noted</a> by <em>Bloomberg</em>. Vermont’s bill only took effect on July 1 of this year.<br />
<strong>Yet another issue with the bill stems from the powerful organizations that supported its passage. </strong>As <em>Bloomberg</em> <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-07-13/obama-ready-to-sign-food-label-bill-consumer-groups-find-suspect" target="_blank">reported</a>, Monsanto, Walmart, and the National Corn Growers Association all pushed for the legislation to pass (currently, <a href="http://time.com/3840073/gmo-food-charts/" target="_blank">over 90% of all corn acreage</a> in the United States is used to grow genetically modified crops).<br />
Still another powerful industry lobbying group pushed for S.764’s passage. As <em>Mother Jones</em> <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/06/senate-deal-would-crush-vermonts-gmo-labeling-law" target="_blank">reported</a> earlier this year when the bill was still being negotiated, “<em>Grocery Manufacturers Association [GMA], a </em><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000000512&year=2014" target="_blank"><em>deep-pocketed trade group</em></a><em>
funded by major food processors as well as agrichemical/GMO titans like
Monsanto, DuPont, and Dow, praised [the proposed law] as the
‘commonsense solution for consumers, farmers and businesses.</em>” The GMA also <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/vermont-gmo-idUSL2N0OT20620140612">sued</a> Vermont over its recent GM labeling bill.<br />
<div id="container_wb15bdbb8fc" style="margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
</div>
While the Organic Trade Association (OTA) did <a href="https://ota.com/GMO-labeling-letter-from-leadership" target="_blank">endorse</a>
the bill, its support sparked division within the organic food
industry. Shortly after the group announced its support, one of its
member organizations, the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Organization
(OSGTO), responded by withdrawing its membership.<br />
<strong>The OSGTO <a href="http://www.osgata.org/2016/organic-dumps-ota/?platform=hootsuite" target="_blank">statement</a> accused the OTA of “duplicity,”</strong> adding:<br />
<blockquote>
“<em>Recent revelations have made clear that the OTA has created numerous close </em><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/nancyhuehnergarth/2016/05/31/monsanto-pays-to-train-journalists-what-could-go-wrong/#3d94a4005480" target="_blank"><em>partnerships with Monsanto</em></a><em> including intensive </em><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/at-crucial-moment-for-gmo_b_10724758.html" target="_blank"><em>lobbying
efforts by the notorious biotech-linked lobbyist Podesta Group on
behalf of the deal brokered by Senators Stabenow (D-MI) and Roberts
(R-KS)</em></a><strong><em>.</em></strong><strong>”</strong><br />
</blockquote>
The statement also accused the OTA of partnering with organic
companies run by food conglomerates who lobby Congress for favorable
legislation.<br />
<strong>In fact, the two lawmakers who crafted the bill, Debbie Stabenow and Pat Roberts, are <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=2016&cid=N00004118&type=I" target="_blank">direct beneficiaries</a> of lobbyists.</strong> Stabenow’s <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=2016&cid=N00004118&type=I" target="_blank">sixth largest donor</a> in 2016 was Dow Chemical, which, coincidentally, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientbills.php?id=D000000188&year=2016" target="_blank">lobbied</a> for S. 764’s passage. (Stabenow’s other donors include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co.) Stabenow <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/pacs.php?cycle=2016&cid=N00004118&type=I" target="_blank">accepted more money</a> from agribusiness political action committees (PACs) in 2016 than from any other industry PACs.<br />
<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=2016&cid=N00005285&type=I" target="_blank">Similarly</a>, Roberts’ top PAC donations came from special interests. One of his <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/pacs.php?cycle=2016&cid=N00005285&type=I" target="_blank">top donors</a> is DuPont, another chemical company that <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientbills.php?id=D000000495&year=2016" target="_blank">lobbied</a> in favor of S. 764. Like Stabenow, he has received money from <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=2016&cid=N00005285&type=I" target="_blank">other powerful donors</a>, including Goldman Sachs, Koch Industries, and Pfizer.<br />
Congress follows a similar path to Stabenow and Roberts, evident in that lawmakers have <a href="http://truthinmedia.com/monsanto-rider-possibly-hidden-within-government-budget-bill/" target="_blank">attempted</a> to push <a href="http://www.ewg.org/agmag/2014/12/shedding-light-dark-act" target="_blank">anti-labeling legislation</a> — often dubbed <a href="http://cdn3.ewg.org/sites/default/files/u165/DARK%20Act%20Fact%20Sheet%20April2015.pdf" target="_blank">Deny Americans the Right to Know</a> (DARK) acts — through Congress before. “Big Agriculture” <a href="http://coalitionforsafeaffordablefood.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CFSAF-House-Letter.pdf" target="_blank">lobbied intensely</a> for the latest version of S. 764 and <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.php?ind=A&Bkdn=Source&cycle=2016" target="_blank">contributes regularly</a> to political campaigns.<br />
Nevertheless, prior to the bill’s passage, White House spokesperson Katie Hill told <em>Bloomberg</em>, <strong>“<em>While
there is broad consensus that foods from genetically engineered crops
are safe, we appreciate the bipartisan effort to address consumers’
interest in knowing more about their food, including whether it includes
ingredients from genetically engineered crops.</em>”</strong><br />
But considering the numerous flaws in the bill, activist
organizations remain steadfast in their opposition. As Dana Perls,
senior food and technology campaigner for Friends of the Earth, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-07-13/obama-ready-to-sign-food-label-bill-consumer-groups-find-suspect" target="_blank">said</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
<strong>“<em>This
bill is a travesty, an undemocratic and discriminatory bill which
preempts state laws, while offering no meaningful labeling for GMOs</em>.”</strong><br />
</blockquote>
Pursuant to the new law, the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) has two years to formulate specific standards for labeling,
meaning the controversy surrounding the labeling of GM foods is far from
over.<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-10215982640988711012016-08-04T20:56:00.001-04:002016-08-04T20:56:16.824-04:00Donald Trump's race for the White House: A conspiracy?<hgroup><h1 class="heading-story">
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There are more than a few Republicans who believe his campaign is geared at simply clearing a path for Hillary Clinton.</h4>
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<figure class="article-main-image"><img class="article-main-img" height="224" src="http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2016/7/31/22ae8eb4146640b08f8660d226942b31_18.jpg" width="400" /><figcaption>The rise of Trump has been unusual and unexpected, with many conspiracies arising as people try to make sense of it [Reuters] </figcaption></figure><section class="profile clearfix"><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/profile/a/2015/02/alan-fisher.html" rel="author"><img class="img-profile-large" src="http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/profile/mritems/Images/2015/6/3/a29cac2f080b472a9adbd38280c78e3c_6.jpg" /></a><div class="heading-section">
By</div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/profile/a/2015/02/alan-fisher.html" rel="author">Alan Fisher</a><br />
<div class="meta twitterAccount">
<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/americas/2016/08/donald-trump-conspiracy-160804193712791.html">http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/americas/2016/08/donald-trump-conspiracy-160804193712791.html</a></div>
</section>As
David Moyes’ troubled time at Manchester United was coming to an end, a
banner appeared at Anfield, home of arch rivals, Liverpool. It read
"Agent Moyes: Mission Accomplished".<br />
The idea was that the only way to destroy the dynasty built by Alex
Ferguson, United’s legendary manager, was to do it from the inside.<br />
I was reminded of the banner thinking about Donald Trump.<br />
There are more than a few Republicans who believe his entire campaign
is not geared at winning the White House but simply clearing a path for
Hillary Clinton. A so-called "false flag" operation.<br />
Remember, the Democratic nominee for president would be the least
trusted candidate to run for the presidency if she wasn't topped by one
other candidate. And that would be Donald Trump.<br />
It’s just one of the incredible conspiracies that have circled around the businessman’s campaign.<br />
It’s no surprise. Conspiracy theories tend to arise as people try to
make sense of unusual events. In fact in the book American Conspiracy
Theories two respected academics found that "inducing anxiety of loss of
control triggers respondents to seen nonexistent patterns and evoke
conspiratorial explanations". And the rise of Trump has been unusual and
unexpected.<br />
The suggestion that Trump is somehow a Democrat insider was given
real credence in a tweet last December by none other than Jeb Bush. He
wrote “Maybe Donald negotiated a deal with his buddy @HillaryClinton.
Continuing this path will put her in the White House”<br />
<hr />
<a class="internallink" href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/07/donald-trump-show-republicans-united-states-160728141249919.html" target="_self">OPINION: Welcome to the Trump show</a><br />
<hr />
So how could that possibly be true? Well first of all, Trump used to
be a Democrat. He held and - in some cases - still holds views which are
closer to Democratic orthodoxy than that of his own party. He was a
friend of the Clintons. They attended his wedding in 2005. And he
praised both Clintons, but especially Hillary, calling her “a terrific
woman”.<br />
In the view of the man who first floated the idea, the self-described
"conservative-Paleo-libertarian" Justin Raimondo, Trump’s
pronouncements, "the open racism, the demagogic appeals….sound like
something out of a democratic political consultant’s imagination, a
caricature of conservatism as performed by a master actor".<br />
Sceptics also point to the fact that any other political outsider
would have been ignored by the media. Instead when Trump spoke it was
covered wall to wall by the cable news networks and given extensive
coverage in newspapers. Conservative talk radio lapped it up and
promoted it.<br />
<div data-embed-id="5044119953001" data-embed-type="Brightcove">
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What does the world really think about a President Donald Trump?</div>
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And that in part is why Trump is where he is at. No other candidate
could compete with his free media. He blew them off the air, and he blew
them off message. People like Jeb Bush weren’t able to push their own
points or put forward their own policies because they were too busy
responding to the latest Trump outburst.</div>
He had toyed with a presidential run before and enjoyed the media and
attention that came with it - this was the time he had to get in the
race or be forever branded a political tease.<br />
Donald Trump won the nomination because unlike any other Republican
politician he tapped into the fear and anxiety of America’s working
classes and gave it a voice. He understood what they worried about most;
a lack of economic advancement; the fear of immigration and a concern
that their world was changing too fast and they couldn’t pump the
brakes.<br />
Yet his most recent pronouncements - repeatedly calling Hillary
Clinton “crooked”, claiming the election will be rigged and stolen from
the Republicans, are not the words of someone who wants a smooth
transition of power or someone who wants his former buddy sitting behind
the Resolute desk in the White House.<br />
Trump is doing what he’s doing because he wants to win the White House. Not for anyone else. For himself.<br />
<div style="margin-top: 3em;">
<span style="color: #8e8e8e !important;">Source:</span> <span style="color: #212121 !important;">Al Jazeera</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-60402106310150841422016-08-03T19:37:00.004-04:002016-09-11T21:42:20.078-04:00How to Root Tomato Suckers and Grow New Plants:<br />
<header class="entry-header"><a href="http://growagoodlife.com/root-tomato-suckers/">http://growagoodlife.com/root-tomato-suckers/</a><br /><div class="entry-meta">
<time class="entry-time" datetime="2016-07-27T08:56:19+00:00" itemprop="datePublished">July 27, 2016</time> By <span class="entry-author" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><a class="entry-author-link" href="http://growagoodlife.com/author/grafixmuse/" itemprop="url" rel="author"><span class="entry-author-name" itemprop="name">©Rachel Arsenault</span></a></span> <span class="entry-comments-link"></span> </div>
<img alt="Did you know you could root tomato suckers for a second crop of fresh and healthy plants? Cloning tomato plants from suckers is quicker than starting a new crop from seed." class="attachment-post-image size-post-image wp-post-image" src="http://growagoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/root-tomato-suckers-growagoodlife.jpg?9f4ef6" height="258" width="400" /></header><br />
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<h4>
The summer heat and drought conditions can weaken tomato plants
and reduce their yield. Instead of coaxing these stressed plants to
continue producing and ripening their last fruit, you can root tomato
suckers for a second crop of fresh and healthy plants.</h4>
The key is to start early, and take cuttings when the plant is still
healthy. Within several weeks, you will have new tomato plants. Cloning
tomato plants from suckers is quicker than starting a new crop from
seed.<br />
<br />
*Follow link to additional information*Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16037826125674874380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6406079950326472804.post-20295378085988553422016-08-03T18:34:00.000-04:002016-08-03T18:34:16.820-04:00Something Strange Emerges When Looking At A Congresswoman's Daytrading Records<h1 class="title">
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by <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" title="View user profile.">Tyler Durden</a> </div>
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<span title="Aug 3, 2016 5:28 AM">Aug 3, 2016 5:28 AM</span> </div>
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While we have often heard that members of
Congress, who are not only exempt from insider trading oversight, are
also ardent daytraders we had never seen it in action. <br />
Until now.<br />
The following publicly filed monthly Periodic Transaction Report by
Democrat Congresswoman, Judy Chu, shows us just how pervasive daytrading
is not only for algos, but for those who supposedly are paid to serve
their constituents. What is interesting is the size of the trades -
between $1,000 and $15,000 each, this is not some novice, penny pincher;
what is even more interesting are the underlying securities of choice:
volatile, and levered, calls and puts on not only the S&P500, but
also on some of the most volatile securities out there, such as the VIX.<br />
Here are some examples of the trades in question (the latest full report <a href="http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2016/20005491.pdf">can be found here</a>):<br />
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<a href="http://zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/07/21/congress%20daytrading.jpg"><img height="1022" src="http://zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/07/21/congress%20daytrading_0.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/07/21/congress%20daytrading%202.jpg"><img height="1064" src="http://zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/07/21/congress%20daytrading%202_0.jpg" width="498" /></a><br />
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There are more of these. Much more: some 9 pages worth just for June. The full breakdown is at the bottom of the post (<a href="http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2016/20005491.pdf">link here</a>).<br />
* * * <br />
While we would be the last to begrudge Ms. Chu her daytrading
largesse, whether or not in possession of material, non-public inside
info at time of trading - after all, if it is legal, by all means trade
on inside information - something did catch our interest.<br />
According to her <a href="http://members-of-congress.insidegov.com/l/269/Judy-Chu">public profile</a>,
the Democrat representing the 27th Congressional District, taught
psychology for 20 years in an East LA Community College system, <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Judy_Chu">from 1981 to 2001</a>, <strong>and reported a pension worth between $100,001 and $250,000 for those years of work</strong>. She also draws a smaller pension from serving on the Monterey Park City Council. She became a member of Congress in 2009.<br />
In other words, a community college psychology teacher who daytrades
S&P calls and puts in size up to $15,000? Maybe she is merely
"piggybacking" on her husband's net worth? Then again, maybe not. Her
husband, former Assemblyman Mike Eng, is a senior partner at an
immigration law firm in Los Angeles valued between $250,001 and
$500,000. <br />
* * *<br />
And then we look at her net worth, which is where things get
interesting, because this career psych professor, currently has an
average net worth of $3.5 million, which according to InsideGov makes
her the 103rd richest member of the House. Chu's net worth was 3.2
times more than the average member of Congress and 4 times more than the
average representative. When compared to the California Congressional
Delegation, Chu had a net worth that was 3.6 times more than the
average.<br />
But most interesting <a href="http://members-of-congress.insidegov.com/l/269/Judy-Chu">is the history of Rep. Judy Chu's net worth </a>over a short 6 year period, as shown in the chart below.<br />
<br />
To summarize: a former East LA psychology professor (with an annual
pension) started off her Congressional career with virtually nothing in
the bank, and over the next 5 years, built up a net worth of over $3
million. We are curious how: it wasn't with the modest salary that
members of the house collect; it wasn't from outside activities, it
wasn't from her husband. <br />
Which leaves just one possibility: her phenomenal daytrading skills,
which are made even more phenomenal since her trades are exempt from
regulatory oversight. <br />
We are curious: why does Ms. Chu waste her amazing trading talent in
D.C. when she could be working for Steve Cohen, or better yet, run her
own hedge fund, making billions. Because if she can recreate her
phenomenal 6 year return with outside capital, we would be the first in
line to let her manage our money... assuming of course she can repeat
her trading performance when the SEC at least pretend to care. <br />
<a href="http://zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/07/21/judy%20chu.jpg"><img height="298" src="http://zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/07/21/judy%20chu_0.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
<em>Judy's June trading disclosure is below</em><br />
<em><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-02/something-strange-emerges-when-looking-congresswomans-daytrading-records">http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-02/something-strange-emerges-when-looking-congresswomans-daytrading-records</a> </em><br />
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