This is my most recent article on Legationes…..I appreciate their confidence in me by letting me write for their site….please stop by they are trying to build a good news site…..you may find something new to0 brighten your day…..chuq
From the beautiful mind of Chuq
I am almost always amused at the news cycle……after you have been watching and reporting on the news for as long as I have …..it becomes a challenge to predict what the big story is and try to get ahead of it……it is a difficult task but so fulfilling when you can do it……and gloat!
For instance the latest “terrorist” attack in the US….the one in Garland Texas last week. First it was ISIS took full responsibility for the attack and then the government came out and said that there was NO definitive proof that ISIS had anything to make it happen. But we normal Americans hear the part of that saga we want to hear….”ISIS did it”.
Late last week there came out that there was a split in the GOP over the Patriot Act….after all it is up for renewal and the fix is in. There are many Americans that are concerned over the loss of civil liberties in the name of the Patriot Act….even some of the presidential hopefuls. we are told that we need it to keep the country safe (point one).
Also last week word came done that the US Court of Appeals has found that the NSA program of data collection is illegal…..let me say nthat again….ILLEGAL!
A key appellate court ruled Thursday that the National Security Agency broke the law with its sweeping collection of telephone call data, in a groundbreaking decision that repudiates the Obama administration and encourages Congress to weigh in.
The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the first to conclude Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act does not authorize the NSA’s bulk collection of so-called “metadata.” It comes just as sharply divided lawmakers try again to rewrite the law. (point 2)
The ruling sent the hawks into a frenzy of trying to turn the American people against the ruling……..and it began in Congress……..
Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr (R – NC) has slammed last week’s Appeals Court ruling that the NSA metadata surveillance program was illegal.
Sen. Burr insisted the program, which allows the NSA to collect telephone metadata on all Americans, had never intruded on anyone’s privacy, and said the program had to be continued.
Fear mongering at its ultimate best!
Comey said this amounted to a shift in the process of online radicalization, as where at one point would-be recruits had to go to considerable lengths to find anything, they now make contact on Twitter or Facebook, and are then steered to more secure forms of communication.
The comments were made in the context of Garland shooter Elton Simpson, though officials have conceded they don’t really think he was working with ISIS, but was at most “inspired” by them.
Then secondly the report was………
Citing the “environment” of threat created by ISIS, the Pentagon has announced an increase in its FPCON security level from Alpha to Bravo. Spokesmen confirmed there is no specific threat.
The Pentagon had previously done this in September 2011, in the lead-up to the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, on the theory that al-Qaeda would probably like to do something then.
Third report was a real ear popper……in an interview Sen. Feistein (D-CA) said that there were ISIS cells active in 11 (eleven) states…..but as usual there was NO naming of said states….seems to have been a blanket statement……
These were the talk of the Sunday Political talk shows on the MSM…….
My problem is that the twin setbacks….the court ruling and hesitation over the Patriot Act had the PR people in the government going batcrap crazy……they had to make Americans aware (read “afraid”) of those bad guys lurking in the shadows. They trotted out ALL the usual suspects to save the Act and try to reverse the ruling…….
This is a desperate attempt to save the programs they have been depending on to spy on Americans willy nilly……
Wait1 I am NOT saying that there is NOTHING to worry about….there is!…….All of this is a huge coincidence…….the problem is that I do NOT believe in coincidence……
How about you?
This is the story of the decade according to the media……they have covered this wall to wall for days…..and now there is a ruling and the millionaires in the media are defending the millionaires in the NFL.
As usual the media is fixating on the punishment and how unfair it is to the Pats and mostly to Brady……they are overlooking the real story……the Pats cheated…..and cheated when they did not have to do so….they were gonna win the game anyway. They overlook the fact this is the second time for the Pats to cheat during a game…..sounds like a cult of unsportsmanlike conduct.
The media is worried about what this will do Brady and his chances for the Hall Of Fame…….here is an idea….maybe talk about the loos of integrity of the League!
A story broke yesterday that at least 11 NFL teams were paid to have a “We Support The Troops” Day……paid by the government to have these events. No one is talking about that in conjunction with the Ball scandal…….why? I mean these teams have to be paid to show respect to our troops and veterans? How’s that for integrity?
BTW while you were bitching about Brady’s balls….NO Americans died last week as a result of combat! let me say that again……No Americans died last week as a result of combat”!
Personally, I could care less what happens to Brady and his Balls! There are far more important issues to fret over than the scrutiny of Balls! But what can you expect from a society that thinks reality TV is entertainment…..
For months this small rural town in Syria was held up as a beacon of hope in the fight against ISIS.
It was the source of endless reports and speculation……it became a symbol of humanity’s battle against barbarity…..you were told day after day the body counts, the strategy and the destruction and finally the world was treated to the battle taken to the enemy and the win if we call it that and now……….NOTHING!
I wrote about the possibility that the leader of ISIS had been injured in an airstrike….originally I wrote that there had been no confirmation of such an injury…..later I read that he had suffered a serious injury to his spine in that attack…….and that was number two for confirmation…..and that his injuries were so severe that a new leader had been assigned to lead the group.
Now we have confirmation number 3……..
So will anything change in the tactics of ISIS or is this an opening for a serious run at the group in an attempt to eliminate the threat all together?
What say you?
Has ISIS Lost Its Head? Power Struggle Erupts with Al-Baghdadi Seriously Wounded – The Daily Beast.
Ever thought about those far right wingnuts that huddle around the tube for a FOX show or Beck’s rants or Rush or….well just about any of the so-called “patriots” in the media? Ever wonder what they hear when they hear the basic same stuff as rational individuals?
I found a cartoon that explains it very well……..
For about a year Boko Haram ran rough shod over the Nigeria Army…..in the north of the country Boko has had its way…..that is until recently.
The Nigerian Army has found a way to take on Boko and win. They, the Army, has made great strives by recuing about 300 girls and women that had been taken by Boko in the past…..plus Boko seems to be on the run from the onslaught of the Nigerian Army……..
The question now is……what lit the fire under the Nigerian Army to have such successes……..and the answer is…….
South African mercenaries’ secret war on Boko Haram – Telegraph.