Keeping on the historical theme…….
If you are not an old fart or did not serve your country in Vietnam then this piece will mean little to nothing to you……..
Dien Bien Phu is the turning point where the US would get involved in the war that France was fighting with the rebels in Vietnam……
A fascinated piece with a bunch of historical stuff attached to it……..read and learn……
BBC News – Dien Bien Phu: Did the US offer France an A-bomb?.
I know why don’t we do something silly today……..like learn something! That Professor is a mad cap old fart….but loveable……..what’s life without whimsy?
A couple of decades ago there were several forms of entertainment that focused on the Nazi criminals that got away and would set about starting a new Reich……from books like “The Odessa File” to movies like” Marathon Man” and “The Boys of Brazil”…..i am sure that there were others but those were the most popular at the time……..
Like I said….great entertainment but was there any truth to these types of scenarios?
It would have made serious waves—had news of it actually come to light. Some 65 years ago, a group of Germans who had fought with the Nazi-era Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS amassed an army. The revelation surfaced by way of a 321-page file unearthed by accident in the archives of the country’s foreign intelligence agency (a historian hired by the BND to dig into the agency’s origins found the documents, titled “insurances,” while trying to figure out how many employees the BND originally had). What Agilolf Kesselring found instead was details on the 1949 forming of a secret—and, under Allied law, illegal—army by some 2,000 ex-officers, who intended to protect West Germany against the Soviets or Eastern European countries; a study on the documents was published this week.
Der Spiegel notes that the file “is incomplete and thus needs to be considered with some restraint,” but reports on what the document does reveal: That if an attack was launched from the East, 40,000 fighters would protect the country—whose own chancellor didn’t even learn the group existed until 1951, and apparently made no moves to dissolve it. Der Spiegel explains in detail the involvement of Albert Schnez, a WWII colonel who was instrumental in founding the group, seeking funds from like-minded citizens, making contact with veterans groups, asking for help from the West German secret service (which gave it a small amount of money through 1953), and crafting an emergency plan that involved potentially making use of transportation company vehicles and police weapons in case of emergency. It’s not clear when the army disbanded, though Der Spiegel notes that the 1955 creation of the Bundeswehr made it “redundant.”
As a person who appreciates a good conspiracy…….I want to believe that there are still shadowy organizations that still cling to the “good old days” of Nazi Germany…….makes for great debates and exchanges……and excellent entertainment.
Any thoughts?
It is no secret that I am not a strong supporter of Obama but he is a damn sight better than the two alternatives…….I have question his motives on a bunch of issues and especially on some of his choices for advisers……..However I was a supporter of Hagel when it was announced that he was to be the new secretary of state…….not because of his qualifications or anything so mundane…..I was a supporter because we both served in the 9th Infantry division in the Mekong delta, Vietnam………I know the type of person it took to serve in that Hell hole.
A quick change of course……..last week there was a story being reported and of course the MSM missed it completely….it was about our very close friend Israel……..the story goes……..
The Obama administration views Israel as one of the top spying threats facing its intelligence services, leaked documents reveal.
A secret budget request obtained byThe Washington Post from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden lumps Israel alongside U.S. foes Iran and Cuba as “key targets” for U.S. counterintelligence efforts. The document suggests Israel does not believe U.S. assurances that its interests are aligned with Israel’s on crucial issues such as Iran and peace talks with the Palestinians.
“To further safeguard our classified networks, we continue to strengthen insider threat detection capabilities across the Community,” reads the FY 2013 congressional budget justification for intelligence programs. “In addition, we are investing in target surveillance and offensive CI [counterintelligence] against key targets, such as China, Russia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and Cuba.”
Okay, Israel is heavily spying on its friend and ally, the US……but why? But is the story true?
The State Department declined to refute reports that Israel regularly spies on the United States, and has for decades, after claims of expansive intelligence activity surfaced in the press last week.
Asked by The Jerusalem Post to confirm or contextualize the allegations, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki only said that Israel and the US work to foster a healthy relationship between their intelligence communities.
“We don’t comment on intelligence matters,” Psaki said. “We have a close intelligence partnership with Israel, and value our cooperation with them in this field because it serves our mutual interests.”
And then came the comment from Chuck Hagel, sec of state…………
Asked about growing reports of enormous levels of Israeli spying inside the United States, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel insisted he had “heard of that report” but was unaware of the details.
Though stories of Israeli spying are a constant, Newsweek recently broke the news of Israeli espionage at levels far beyond any previously suggested. Israeli officials have insisted the story is entirely a plot to harm US relations.
The Newsweek report quoted a number of anonymous officials who insisted that the surveillance was “unrivaled and unseemly,” but that many were afraid of being labeled anti-Semites if they spoke out publicly.
Hagel seemed reluctant to even touch the subject, and spent the bulk of today’s visit to Tel Aviv playing up record levels of US military aid to Israel and the “strong bond” the two militaries enjoy.
Once again……too many people are afraid of Israel……I say….Screw them! If they are spying that hard on us then put a STOP TO IT!
Personally, I do NOT care if we hurt their feelings. They have NO problem screwing over the very country that gave them their international recognition……and so much more. They owe us….not the other way around!
There comes a time when the truth needs to be told………and the truth is Israel needs to be held accountable for their actions…..ALL their actions!
The MSM is ignoring this bit of info…..however there is one network that was working on this story months before the small one of today leaked out……FOX News did a series on this subject…………………http://www.rense.com/general31/fnews.htm …………read it for yourselves…………then tell me what you think the deal is and why?
Yep, it would seem that FOX got the jump on everybody………another WTF!
I have often criticized people for there condemnation of another country for actions they take aimed at the intervention into another country. We as a country have condemned so many others for their aggression toward their neighbors…..that it is getting ridiculous…..we condemned Syria…..and Russia…..and well just pick a region and we have condemned some one for some actions……but are we so squeaky clean to do with with a clear conscious….
Condemning ‘The Aggression We Ourselves Will Not Practice’ « Antiwar.com Blog.
To me, American’ foreign policy has been in the crapper since the 1990’s……no matter how a new prez tries he just cannot seem to find a good stable policy…..
I ran across this article and wanted to pass ir on and hopefully get my readers opinion……
America’s Purpose and Role in a Changed World | World Affairs Journal.
A new week begins……I normally try to have a topic for each day’s posts……giving my readers as much info as possible on the subject……we all need to know what is what and what our policies and actions could create……….this week the President will be spotlighting foreign policy…..so I guess I will take the lead and post on some of the more embarrassing points of our foreign policy………just sit back, grab some popcorn and be prepared to be dazzled……..after all….that is why I am here!
Today I will step out of my typical posting style and give my readers a hodge-podge day……..
First will be a post on John McCain…..American’s hawkish darling……..this was going into my Babbling buffoons series but it is just too typical and deserves its own post…….
Our fave hawk in Congress back in 2008 when Russia invaded Georgia (the country not the state)……McCain made a very profound statement…..”In the 21st century nations do not invade other nations.”………a moronic statement considering our recent invasion of Iraq for no other reason than a string of lies……after that and all the criticism he took for such a bonehead statement you would think that he would be more careful when pushing his interventionist agenda…..but you would be wrong……….
McCain has issued a statement concerning the kidnap girls in nigeria and what needs to be done………
……………..he would like to see U.S. troops sent to Nigera to rescue the girls, whether the Nigerian government gives permission or not.
“If they knew where they were, I certainly would send in U.S. troops to rescue them, in a New York minute I would, without permission of the host country,” McCain told The Daily Beast. “I wouldn’t be waiting for some kind of permission from some guy named Goodluck Jonathan.”
McCain said that if he were president, he would be prepositioning U.S. special forces to be prepared to enter Nigeria and rescue the girls.
“I would not be involved in the niceties of getting the Nigerian government to agree, because if we did rescue these people, there would be nothing but gratitude from the Nigerian government, such as it is,” he told The Daily Beast…..
You can see why I call John McCain America’s hawkish darling………he would put US troops into harms way at every turn if it we up to McCain solely…..thank God it is not.
McCain is a dinosaur………his old fart thinking is outta step in a 21st century world………please someone advise him to either allow rational people to speak on foreign policy or shut the hell up! if he cannot do either of those options then maybe it is time for him to retire and spend his days drinking his wife’s beer.
Keeping with the weekend’s topic….SEX. Many of history’s notables have died from a historically reoccurring disease…….Columbus, Capone, some say Pasteur….and No one is sure where it originated…..some say in monkeys and others are convinced with sheep……..whatever….it is making a comeback…….
Syphilis cases are rising sharply in the US, especially among gay and bisexual men, reports the CDC. The highest rates were among black men, but white and Hispanic men also saw noticeable increases, reports Reuters. From 2005 to 2013, the number of syphilis cases nearly doubled from 8,724 to 16,663, and 91% of those cases occurred among men in 2013. Over that same stretch, the annual rate rose from 2.9 to 5.3 cases per 100,000 people, reports NBC News.
“After being on the verge of elimination in 2000 in the United States, syphilis cases have rebounded,” says the CDC report. Researchers warn that the increase among gay men is worrisome because it suggests unsafe sex practices that could also spread HIV. The CDC recommends that men who have sex with anonymous or multiple partners get screened for syphilis at least once every six months. While rarely fatal, the disease can lead to blindness and stroke.
It looks like there is only one relatively safe form of sex…..if you want to avoid herpes or the clap or HIV and now syphilis…….the only safe form is……Phone sex! Where’s the fun in that? That gives a whole new definition of….oral sex……..
But this disease is NOT alone…..making a comeback are polio, TB, Measles………and others……….what could cause this resurgence of disease?
Surely someone would like to weigh in about here.
It is the weekend and let’s talk about mankind’s favorite past time……SEX! They may not admit it but everyone likes sex…..what’s the old saying…..”sex is dirty only if you are doing it right”.
most of us have had a noisy partner at some point in our life…..but there can be consequences for too much noise……….
There’s a noisy romp between the sheets and then there’s sex so loud it’s considered “stalking” your neighbors. That was the charge an Italian man apparently faced in court, after a dozen of his neighbors filed a civil suit complaining of his loud lovemaking sessions. They took issue with “screams and moans” that “disturbed the peace in the condominium and the building’s decorum,” the Local reports. Some translations of the local report on the case, like this one from the New York Daily News, indicate it was actually his girlfriend’s screams that those in the building found so offensive.
The 42-year-old reportedly tried to convince the judge that “stalking” and “noise” weren’t the same thing, and apparently claimed that he can’t help that he’s “too good at sex.” But for all his (noisy?) protestations, he ended up with a six-month jail sentence, which he plans to appeal. Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time noisy sex has resulted in a conviction. (Nor is it the only unusual sex-related case to be heard in Italian courts recently.)
Personally I think that is a bit extreme and here in the US could be considered……cruel and unusual punishment……
Remember back in your youth when they use to say….”he is thinking with the little head”? Well there seems to be some evidence that brains are wired for sex……..
UCLA researchers say they’ve got the first physical evidence to support the notion that some people’s brains are wired for sex, reports the Los Angeles Daily News. In the study, they asked men and women how many sexual partners they’ve had, and they also showed them images that ranged from non-sexual to slightly sexual (like kissing) to explicitly sexual. The more partners a person had, the more likely their brains were to light up on EEGs when looking at those last two categories, reports Medical Xpress.
The researchers weren’t surprised that their subjects reacted to graphic images, but they were intrigued to find the correlation with the G-rated images, too. “If your brain responds very strongly even to very tame pictures of sex, then you seem to be easily sexually excited in the real world, too,” says lead researcher Nicole Prause. The results could help those naturally inclined toward the risque to be safer, she says, as per Time. “Being aware that if you are going out, and there is the possibility of having a new partner, and thinking about ways to not get too excited may sound silly, but managing that rather than ignoring it may help with better ways to control risky sexual behavior.” (Click to read about a recent survey finding that 17% of us would be OK having sex with a robot.)
Some thoughts?
America has had a proud tradition of fighting against child labor…….especially in the early years of the 20th century……but in case my reader needs a reminder…….
1904 National Child Labor Committee forms……… Aggressive national campaign for federal child labor law reform begins
1916 New federal law sanctions state violators……. First federal child labor law prohibits movement of goods across state lines if minimum age laws are violated (law in effect only until 1918, when it’s declared unconstitutional, then revised, passed, and declared unconstitutional again)
1924 First attempt to gain federal regulation fails……….. Congress passes a constitutional amendment giving the federal government authority to regulate child labor, but too few states ratify it and it never takes effect
1936 Federal purchasing law passes Walsh-Healey Act ………..states U.S. government will not purchase goods made by underage children
1937 Second attempt to gain federal regulation fails…………. Second attempt to ratify constitutional amendment giving federal government authority to regulate child labor falls just short of getting necessary votes
1937 New federal law sanctions growers Sugar Act makes sugar beet growers ineligible for benefit payments if they violate state minimum age and hours of work standards
1938 Federal regulation of child labor achieved in Fair Labor Standards Act……… For the first time, minimum ages of employment and hours of work for children are regulated by federal law.
I know….thanks for the history lesson but why bring all this up? I read some news the other day that made me think about the history I just wrote about………
Children are toiling in unsafe conditions, suffering everything from breathing problems to vomiting, and putting in 12-hour days and 72-hour weeks. Think we’re talking a third-world sweatshop? It’s what’s happening right now on US tobacco farms, Human Rights Watch alleges in a report today. The group spoke to 141 tobacco farm workers aged 7 to 17, and found that many came in bare-skin contact with tobacco plants. That can cause acute nicotine poisoning—and indeed, 66% of those polled reported symptoms consistent with that, including dizziness, nausea, and headaches.
“On the first day when I was working [chemicals] got on my face a lot and I didn’t know until I got home later that my face was burning,” one 13-year-old worker tells the BBC. US labor laws protecting child laborers have exceptions for agricultural jobs, the group explains, allowing children of any age to work the fields, and those 12 and older to work unlimited hours. An attempt to change that for tobacco farms died in 2012. HRW shared its findings with tobacco producers, and most expressed concern. Philip Morris, which has the toughest child labor policy, tells Reuters that it believes there’s an opportunity to impose an industry-wide standard. The complete report is here.
Child labor is something we here in the US condemn 3rd world countries for allowing to exist…..it is not something that needs to be watched in our country, right?
There was a time and a place when child labor could have made some sense…..but today a child needs to be educated….not working his ass off in some field.
Back in 2008 I had my best day on this blog with a post on Hillary Clinton……it is not election time just yet but maybe I can generate some action with another post on America’s fave lady…….
For some Clinton is already the frontrunner for the Dem nomination in 2016…….and if she decides to run then she will most likely be the frontrunner…..but I say let her announce before you anoint her.
It is no secret that I am not a cheerleader for the Clintons….I think her hubby did more damage than good and was the cause of the crash of ’08.
But if you are on the Clinton bandwagon there are a couple of things that maybe you should consider before you throw your vote at her….