Month: June 2016

Here We Go Again

We have returned to the worthless debate on the ownership of guns…..the same debate we have with every attack and/or massacre…….the same waste of time ….time after time (not a Cindy Lauper song)…..

Of course I will be labelled whatever the mental midget class call people the disagree with them…apologist, bleeding heart, liberal, or my favorite, political correct.

So before the inevitable stupidity starts let me say my views right now….

I am against the ownership of assault weapons…..they are not needed for protection if so then the idiot holding it is a terrible shot then I suggest a shotgun…..they are not used for hunting….and if someone just gets off on shooting them then join the Army they will let these idiots play with them as much as they like.

There even those that agree with me……

Nate Bethea served as an infantry officer in the US Army from 2007 to 2014, and during that time, he fired thousands of rounds from assault rifles. “These weapons are intended for the battlefield. I don’t want an assault rifle, because I don’t want to think of my home country as a battlefield,” he writes in the New York Times. “I don’t want civilians to own assault rifles, because I think the risks outweigh the rewards. If people really do believe that they need them, maybe it’s because they see a battlefield where others don’t.” He notes that he’s seen the effects the weapons have, and he doesn’t want to think the US is such a dangerous place that we need such weapons.

He quotes a friend, an Army Special Forces officer with multiple combat deployments: “People who say they need an AR for hunting or home defense often don’t understand the weapon’s ballistics or overpenetration. ARs cause horrific damage to humans; that’s why the military developed them. If you want to shoot an AR so bad, please feel free to join the fight against ISIS in the military.” And, Bethea begs, please don’t get hung up on the semantics. Yes, there are slight differences between assault weapons used by the military and the types of assault rifles civilians can buy, but the truth is, a civilian would be able to buy basically the same rifle Bethea carried in Afghanistan, and the same accessories, with little difficulty—and that’s not right. Click for his full piece.

Well said and sound advice…..

Signed……Mr. Apologist.

Fighting ISIS With an Algorithm

In the days of my studies of international relations I studied the technique of a Dr. Bueno de Mesquita….he designed an algorithm that can be used to predict international events……he was tested by the CIA and others and his technique was about 90% accurate consistently…human prediction was a 50-50 at best.

I found it fascinating that an algorithm could be employed with such accuracy…..and now it appears that the US is trying this technique to try and predict the possibility of attack from ISIS…….

A new mathematical model aims to track the activity of Islamic State sympathizers online and determine when groups will turn from talk to action.

After Orlando and San Bernardino and Paris, there is new urgency to understand the signs that can precede acts of terrorism. And with the Islamic State’s prolific use of social media, terrorism experts and government agencies continually search for clues in posts and Twitter messages that appear to promote the militants’ cause.

A physicist may not seem like an obvious person to study such activity. But for months, Neil Johnson, a physicist at the University of Miami, led a team that created a mathematical model to sift order from the chaotic pro-terrorism online universe.

Source: Fighting ISIS With an Algorithm, Physicists Try to Predict Attacks – The New York Times

Some may find this a bit mundane and dry….but it is a new field that does show some possibilities…..if it can be as helpful as the algorithm of Dr, de Mesquita then there could be a major break through in the fight against ISIS.

Dust To Dust

My weekend is progressing well….I have left the mundane crap (especially the crap about attacks because None are serious…they just want to hear themselves talk) and have done what I truly enjoy…..history and archeology…..

When I was in the Middle East working I had the chance to visit Petra in Jordan…..most people that have not been to the site think that it is this structure….

It is called the “treasury” and has been in many movies and TV shows….but the site is an entire complex…not limited to this one structure……

File:Urn Tomb, Petra 01.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

There is so much more to Petra than the one icon building and it seems that my friend Sarah Parcak may have found even more to the site…..

The sandstone Monastery and Treasury Building of Petra, carved by the Nabataeans nearly 2,000 years ago, astonish hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit southern Jordan each year. Unbeknownst to them, another enormous monument has been “hiding in plain sight” half a mile away. Satellite and drone imagery and ground surveys have revealed a platform as long as an Olympic-size swimming pool and twice as wide buried beneath the sand at the World Heritage site, reports National Geographic. Inside sat a smaller platform that would have housed a 28-by-28-foot building facing a staircase that study author Christopher Tuttle calls “fascinating,” per the Guardian; the staircase is atypical in that it does not face the heart of Petra. “I find it interesting that such a monumental feature doesn’t have a visible relationship to the city,” he says.

He says archaeologists previously suspected something was at the location of his find, but “the structure’s sides resembled terrace walls common to the city” and so were seemingly ignored. Pottery found on the surface suggests the structure may date to about 150BC—or Petra’s first glory age, per the BBC. Many of Petra’s most iconic structures were built later, from the end of the first century BC to the second century AD. The city was eventually abandoned in the seventh century AD, rediscovered in 1812, and named one of the 7 new wonders of the world in 2007. No excavations are scheduled, but co-author Sarah Parcak notes satellite surveys of sites elsewhere in the world are underway. Expect “some pretty amazing discoveries over the next year,” she says.

It is a fascinating site to visit…I recommend it if one ever gets the chance…..you will not be disappointed.

There is more archeology…..this time in Southeast Asia….Cambodia to be exact…..

All is not as it has seemed in Cambodia, according to new research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Using aerial scanning technology that determines precise elevation points beneath even dense jungle foliage, archaeologists say they have uncovered multiple metropolises between 900 and 1,400 years old that might have made up the largest empire on the planet at the time, reports the Guardian. The findings also upend a key chapter in the history of Southeast Asia. Historians have long thought that the city of Angkor was abandoned in the 15th century amid a Siamese attack and occupation, but the research finds no evidence to suggest that a million people uprooted themselves in a mass migration, reports Cambodia Daily. Instead, it appears that the population remained and thrived, boasting complex waterway systems that emerged centuries earlier than thought.

“What we had was basically a scatter of disconnected points on the map denoting temple sites,” lead archaeologist Damian Evans of Australia tells AFP. “Now it’s like having a detailed street map of the entire city.” He says more maps will be published in the months ahead, but his second round of scans, which were taken in 2015 after the first round in 2012, has his peers abuzz. “It is as if a bright light has been switched on to illuminate the previous dark veil that covered these great sites,” says New Zealand archaeologist Charles Higham. “It is wonderful to be alive as these new discoveries are being made.” The technology, called Lidar, forms a 3D model of any stark changes in ground height. The maps illustrate just how extensively developed the area was around Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

And that is your archeological round-up for June 2016…..

But It’s Fruity

As the weekend begins I am reminded that we Americans are suckers for fads and trendy crap.

Look at kale…..the perfect example of the premise that you can sell anything to the gullible.  Or the rush to find the hottest pepper…..why would you want to eat something that is painful?  And then there is that damn silly fad of putting a lime in beer…..silly.

Then there are the boozes out there….flavored vodka, bourbon, gin, wine etc………. and what about beer?

And this is where this post picks up….

“It’s about us geeking out with flavor and pushing the boundaries of beer. It’s sort of how craft beer in America has always been. We’ve always been pushing the boundaries.”

That’s Erik Jensen, brewmaster at San Diego’s Green Flash brewery, talking about the next big thing in craft beer. He’s not referring to bitter IPAs or nitrogen-carbonated brews; he’s talking about fruit beer. That’s right: It’s time to stop throwing shade at the shandy and say hello to your new, go-to summer beverage.

At its core, craft beer has always been about experimentation. As Gerard Leary, owner of New York craft beer bar One Mile House, puts it, “American breweries are ballsy,” and fruit beer’s newfound popularity is the latest manifestation of that attitude.

Source: Why fruit beers are going to be your go-to summer beverages

Fruity beer?  Sorry I want my beer to taste the way God intended….like beer.

There are certain constants in life….an onion taste like an onion, coffee taste like coffee and ……..(this is a bit risque and will be shared upon request) and beer to taste like BEER!

And the finally the ultimate fad…rename your beer something trendy for the Summer….a name like…America (what a pathetic gimmick)….but if you want to change the name why not go for something a little more accurate…..like URINE!

If you want a great beer then may I suggest…..

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Or this one……

Guinness Blonde American Lager

And finally one of the best

Now have a beer and enjoy your Saturday…I know I shall…..maybe a steak…..also.

Bring Back HUAC!

About now there is a wealth of readers going…HUH?

The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, investigated allegations of communist activity in the U.S. during the early years of the Cold War (1945-91). Established in 1938, the committee wielded its subpoena power as a weapon and called citizens to testify in high-profile hearings before Congress. This intimidating atmosphere often produced dramatic but questionable revelations about Communists infiltrating American institutions and subversive actions by well-known citizens. HUAC’s controversial tactics contributed to the fear, distrust and repression that existed during the anticommunist hysteria of the 1950s. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, HUAC’s influence was in decline, and in 1969 it was renamed the Committee on Internal Security. Although it ceased issuing subpoenas that year, its operations continued until 1975.

Me?  I was born too late to suffer through stupidity of HUAC…I was unfortunate enough to be troubled by COINTELPRO…..but I have already covered that assault on my civil liberties….but since I was a radical it was all so much good from the point of view of the micro-brains on the Right…..I was in great company….H. Rap Brown, Huey Newton, Berrigan and many other radicals of the day.

I bring up HUAC because that “great” American mouthpiece, Newt Gingrich, seems to think we need that intrusion into our privacy…..yet again….

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich proposed the creation of a new version of the controversial House Un-American Activities Committee to root out American citizens who plan to commit terrorist attacks in the U.S.

“We originally created the House Un-American Activities Committee to go after Nazis. We passed several laws in 1938 and 1939 to go after Nazis and we made it illegal to help the Nazis. We’re going to presently have to go take the similar steps here,” Gingrich said in a Monday appearance on “Fox and Friends.”

Originally founded in 1938, the committee investigated suspected threats of Nazi subversion and anti-government propaganda. During the Cold War, its activities sprawled, leading to the blacklist of Hollywood stars and left-wing activists, writers, and academics accused of having Communist ties.

In 1959, former President Harry Truman infamously called the committee “the most un-American thing in the country today.”

Gingrich also suggested that the U.S. will inevitably “declare a war on Islamic supremacists” living here due to the number of terrorist attacks that have been committed by American citizens, such as those in San Bernardino, California and at the Fort Hood military base.

“We’re going to say, if you pledge allegiance to ISIS, you are a traitor and you have lost your citizenship,” Gingrich said.

Under current law, the U.S. cannot revoke the citizenship of natural-born U.S. citizens against their will.

(talkingpointsmemo.com)

Just another assault on your civil liberties……but who cares….right?

Adventures In The South Seas

Not some swashbuckling movie from the 50’s…I am talking about the events unfolding in the South China Sea…..more accurately the Spratley Islands….it seems that several Asian countries are claiming the islands as part of the their territorial boundaries…..

For 40 years there has been a back and forth between countries in the region…..

  • In 1974 the Chinese seized the Paracels from Vietnam, killing more than 70 Vietnamese troops.
  • In 1988 the two sides clashed in the Spratlys, with Vietnam again coming off worse, losing about 60 sailors.
  • In early 2012, China and the Philippines engaged in a lengthy maritime stand-off, accusing each other of intrusions in the Scarborough Shoal.
  • In July 2012 China angered Vietnam and the Philippines when it formally created Sansha city, an administrative body with its headquarters in the Paracels which it says oversees Chinese territory in the South China Sea.
  • Unverified claims that the Chinese navy sabotaged two Vietnamese exploration operations in late 2012 led to large anti-China protests on Vietnam’s streets.
  • In January 2013, Manila said it was taking China to a UN tribunal under the auspices of the UN Convention on the Laws of the Sea, to challenge its claims.
  • In May 2014, the introduction by China of a drilling rig into waters near the Paracel Islands led to multiple collisions between Vietnamese and Chinese ships.
  • In April 2015, satellite images showed China building an airstrip on reclaimed land in the Spratlys.
  • In October 2015, the US sailed a guided-missile destroyer within 12-nautical miles of the artificial islands – the first in a series of actions planned to assert freedom of navigation in the region. China warned that the US should “not act blindly or make trouble out of nothing”.

I bring this up because the Us has decided that it does not have enough intervention and has decided to wade into the territorial disputes…….

The South China Sea has become one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the world as China continues to aggressively expand its influence and capabilities there. One year ago, we proposed several ways in which the United States could try to deter further Chinese encroachments. But, as the recent Shangri-La Dialogue demonstrated, tensions in the region have only risen since then. The Chinese have only accelerated their bellicose behavior, and nothing the United States has done has seemed to have any effect. The United States and its partners now have no choice but to consider a wider range of more assertive responses.

We are not seeking a conflict with China, nor do we advocate a war. We do not believe that China is an inevitable adversary of the United States.  But we are increasingly concerned that Chinese actions in the South China Sea, if left unopposed, will give it de facto dominance of an area that is a vital strategic interest to the United States. More direct U.S. actions would involve significant risks — but so would failing to act, and those risks are far less appreciated.

Source: A Guide to Stepping it Up in the South China Sea

Once again the US has positioned itself to be the major player in an international conflict….can the country afford yet another conflict to manage?

But it seems inevitable that the US gets involved in everyone’s dispute….why is that?  This report explains a lot about our obsession with intrusion…..

Source: CNASReport-EAP-FINAL.pdf
If you are truly interested in learnig more about this upcoming confrontation then I suggest you check out this link…..
Source: World Politics Review | series | South China Sea Disputes
The US Navy is deepening our involvement in this region by committing more and more ships……
Unnamed US officials are quoted in Reuters as saying that the Navy intends to send more surface ships to the Third Fleet’s deployment in East Asia, with an eye toward further confrontation of China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
The South China Sea is broadly claimed by China, though they are one of seven nations with competing claims in the region. The US has made it a matter of policy to back every other nation’s claims where they conflict with China’s, and to urge them to work it out if they conflict with one another.
In recent months, the Pentagon has made a habit of conducting naval patrols extremely close to Chinese claimed islands, on the grounds that they legally can. They have made it a point to hype these patrols as being deliberately confrontational to China
This is one of those incidents that could start another one of our many conflicts….can anyone remember the Gulf of Tonkin incident?
That one cost 50,000 American lives and countless wounded…do we really want to re-play this scenario?

2016 And Foreign Policy

I have been saying from the very beginning of this silly election season…..that foreign policy would be the defining issue of the 2016 election….now that there are 2 presumptive nominees I believe that it is more important than ever….

First, let’s look at the foreign policy of Donald J. Trump….for decades the neocons have run rough shod over the GOP but this election they are beginning to run scared over the policies spouted by the Donald……(article in the WaPo…not one of my fave sources but a good read anyhow)…..

Most of my former colleagues at the State Department will be appalled by the assertion, but much of the media-fed angst about Donald Trump’s dearth of foreign policy expertise is contrived.

Our cadre of neoconservative foreign policy experts, unhumbled after marching us into a reckless war in Iraq and a poorly conceived one in Afghanistan, who applauded as we bombed Libya and bitterly resent our having failed to bomb Bashar al-Assad in Syria, are frightened. Wisely, they often focus on comments that Trump has made on issues that are of less genuine interest to them — from his strident stance on immigration to his “threat” to our liberties to his sometimes deplorable commentary about women and some minorities. But what really troubles them is his generally level-headed and unmessianic attitude toward foreign affairs. Trump has no desire to make the rest of the world in our image; he is concerned only about the world not making America in its image.

Source: Here’s why Trump’s foreign policy terrifies neocons – The Washington Post

While the neocons are worried about Trunp’s policies they can take heart for the Dem nominee is a true neocon…….Clinton has nothing progressive in her foreign policy….she is a true red blooded neocon…..

Now that Hillary Clinton has clinched the Democratic nomination, her June 2 foreign-policy speech is looking more and more important. The reason is simple: Clinton is going to be all over Donald Trump in the coming months, punching away at his racism and xenophobia, his thinly veiled appeals to violence, and his fraudulent business practices.

But what she’ll no doubt hit him hardest on is his general unfitness to be anywhere near the nuclear button. As she put it in San Diego: “This is not someone who should ever have the nuclear codes – because it’s not hard to imagine Donald Trump leading us into a war just because somebody got under his very thin skin.”

Source: Hillary Clinton’s ‘Entangled’ Foreign Policy – Consortiumnews

Voters need to educate themselves on the candidate’s foreign policy stances……before they vote and before it is TOO DAMN LATE!

Who Gives A Crap About “Brexit”?

Most Americans have NO idea what the term “Brexit” means….to most it is a reality show with some pasty face hillybilly with an eating disorder…..it is the movement for Britain to leave the EU…..simple huh?

In Britain these days, it’s all about “Leave” vs. “Remain.” Those are the two choices voters will have in a June 23 referendum on whether the UK should exit the European Union—or Brexit, as it’s known in shorthand. Some coverage:

Rupert Murdoch’s Sun tabloid just came out in favor of leaving the EU, and it urges readers to vote for Brexit here.

A political professor now puts the odds of leaving at 33%, up from 25% less than a month ago. Bloomberg assesses.

Along those lines, a major bookmaker predicts the Leave camp will become the majority by this weekend, per Business Insider.

Yes, the Leave camp has momentum, but the Financial Times explains why it’s not time for David Cameron and the rest of the Remain backers to panic.

The Telegraph looks at six factors, including the often-overlooked group of voters in Northern Ireland, most of whom seem to want to stay in the EU.

Still, US markets are starting to get worried about the ramifications of a Leave vote winning, reports CNNMoney. Global markets, too, notes the Wall Street Journal.

The New York Times covers the broad strokes of the opposing sides’ views in a basic primer here.

Another Times story looks at the huge ramifications for foreign workers in Britain if Brexit prevails.

This movement could push other countries to beat feet from the EU…..

The U.K. may not be the only one mulling its future in the European Union (EU). In fact, the fierce debates and headline-grabbing warnings surrounding the Brexit vote in June have given hope to euroskeptics around Europe.

Denmark, the Czech Republic and Poland could face their own referendums on EU membership if the U.K. votes to leave, experts believe.

“The main concern is that an unexpected exit of the U.K. from the EU could lead to similar initiatives in other member states, making Brexit the first step towards the disintegration of the union,” Antonio Barroso, senior vice-president of political risk consultancy, Teneo Intelligence, said in a report this week.

(CNBC)

If the EU starts breaking up it would effect everyone…thanx mainly to globalization….and that includes the US…..

The countries with the highest exposure to British capital will suffer most. These countries are the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Portugal and Greece. France and Poland are also exposed to Brexit in specific areas. Germany will suffer too. Poland, in particular, is most exposed through migration and the EU budget.

Just to give some facts: Dutch firms have direct investments worth £180 billion in the UK, earning over £9billion in 2013, which is equivalent to 1.5% of Dutch GDP. Germany has a trade surplus with the UK of over £28 billion. German manufacturers alone export £50 billion to the UK, or 2.4% of GDP. Just imagine what is going to happen to German industry if a new Britain, outside the EU, pursues an import-substitution, protectionist policy. This means that all Japanese and German producers will have to abandon their British factories, with Britain re-building its own car industry and steadily adopting a new industrial policy, moving away from financialisation/globalisation.

A new industrial society will be created and services will cease to be the backbone of the economy.  There are almost 750,000 Poles living in the UK. This is the single biggest group of foreign nationals. Their remittances sent back to Poland amount to over £1.1 billion each year. This is a significant boost for the Polish economy.

So the question is….who will benefit from the exit from the EU?

Will “Brexit” become a rolling stone and take the whole of the EU with it on the way out of the door?

Assault Weapon Ban?

Okay this subject has the NRA a bit twitchy….and the Right is slobbering all over themselves…..and damn the talking points!

Many have been calling for this ban for some time…..I for one….I own guns and if someone needs a 30 round assault weapon for protection then may I suggest you buy a shotgun because you are a terrible shot…..

Sorry I digress….meanwhile back to the assault weapon ban thingy……(at least for now and we know how quickly minds change in DC)…….

A most unlikely person has come out on the side of the ban…..

You know the issue of gun control has hit peak outrage when even the denizens of disaster over at Fox News are calling for stricter measures.

Bill O’Reilly joined his colleague Gretchen Carlson in speaking out against the easy availability of assault weapons in the wake of the Orlando massacre.

Source: Bill O’Reilly Has Brief Bout of Sanity: Calls for Assault Weapons Ban | Alternet

That’s right Irene….you heard it on FOX News…..

Now I sit back and wait to see what Conserv has the balls to call out O’Reilly……

Will there be a person of principle?  Or will this one one of those times where he gets a pass because he will eventually come to his senses and recant?

True to my word…this will be my final post on the incident in Orlando…..unless something really horrendous happens…….hear that?  That is me moving on!

Thoughts?

Who’s To Blame?

I have been watching and listening to all the finger pointing surrounding the attack in Orlando……my first reaction was to ask why all the accusations not much is said about the attacks in South Carolina last year…these “people” bring up the Boston bomb and the attack in California but nothing on the attack in SC….I have a good idea why but refuse to be part of this…..

Some blame Muslims while others blame the guns……and few put the blame where it belongs…..the FBI.

The FBI is grappling with the aftermath of what a former Homeland Security counterterrorism coordinator calls one of its “great nightmares: someone they looked at who ultimately goes out and carries out a successful attack.” The FBI—which investigated and cleared gunman Omar Mateen twice—also investigated but failed to stop Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Texas gunman Elton Simpson, leading some experts to say the agency is hampered by strict guidelines and limited resources, the Washington Post reports. The FBI’s initial probe of Mateen, which began when colleagues at security firm G4S reported suspicious statements in 2013, took 10 months and involved phone surveillance, interviews, and the use of informants. It found no evidence of radicalization, but experts now wonder if more clues could have been found if more agents had been used.

The FBI is hampered not just by guidelines, but by the sheer volume of counterterrorism tips, with up to 10,000 investigations open at any one time, reports the New York Times. Sources say the agency is currently investigating more than 1,000 suspected “homegrown violent extremists,” a task that involves thousands of agents and analysts. Authorities say they’re trying to determine whether any leads were missed in the Mateen case. He was no longer on an FBI watch list when he bought the weapons used in the nightclub massacre, meaning the agency was not alerted, and Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates says authorities are considering changing the system to ensure the FBI is notified when somebody previously investigated for terrorism links buys guns. (The FBI is considering charges against Mateen’s wife, who may have known about the attack beforehand.)

To try and change the conversation the government and the media have thrown suspicion on the present wife….

This is a typical story…..just change the name of the location and it would be the same worthless information it always is…..