Closing Thought–19Dec16

From the fires of Hell….

Everyone has seen or heard about the devastating fires that raged through Tennessee…..even those idiots that thought it was some sort of “Muslim” terrorist attack……but sad (for them) it appears that the fires were started by a couple of teenagers….and their fate does not appear to be bright…..

Everything, including murder charges that could bring a sentence of life in prison, is “on the table” for two teenagers accused of starting a devastating wildfire in Tennessee, prosecutors warn. The pair, whose names and ages have not been publicly released, were charged with aggravated arson earlier this month and are in juvenile detention. Authorities say a firestorm that began with a blaze the teens allegedly started in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Nov. 23 ended up killing 14 people, injuring another 175, destroying more than 2,000 homes and other structures, and scorching around 20,000 acres of the park. It’s not clear whether prosecutors plan to try the teens as adults.

CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos says the teens could be tried for first-degree murder even if they weren’t planning to kill anybody, because Tennessee law allows the charges “killing of another committed in the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate” offenses including arson. Sources tell the Knoxville News Sentinel that the boys are 17 and 15 years old, making it possible that both could be tried as adults. The sources say the boys were tossing lit matches onto the ground around the Chimney Tops Trail, and they were tracked down with the help of a photo another hiker took of the boys walking away from the trail with smoke in the background.

It will be interesting to see just how sympathetic a jury will be…that is if they do not plead out (which I look for to happen)…..

Ain’t Karma A Bitch?

Today is a bitch!  It is 25 deg…I know child’s play but yesterday it was 67….so yes it is f*cking cold!

The big to do these days was that Russia seems to have interfered in the 2016 elections….of course like all issues in the US….some are outraged and others are just shrugging it off…..and there is some proof but few seem to want to believe it while others are drooling over this breach…..

Let’s say that Russia did hack the DNC and others and used the info to influence the election (for argument purposes only)……could it be karma coming home to roost?

Karma?  How so?

For at least 60 years the US has been interfering in the elections of other countries……countries like Iran, Guatemala, Gaza and Chile and probably many others but these are the ones we know about.

Take Iran, 1951, the people voted a dude into the presidency, Mosaddegh, but he was a bit too Left wing for the US so Truman approved deal where the CIA would overthrow him and install a puppet, the Shah.

Or Guatemala in 1954, a similar scenario as Iran…Left winger comes to power so Eisenhower let the CIA put together a coup to replace him and install a more friendly power broker.

Then there was Chile in the 1970’s…again a Left winger was elected to the position of president and once again the US let the CIA overthrow him and install a power mad dictator, Pinochet.

Does anyone see a progression here?

My point here is if the US does not want others meddling in our elections then maybe we should bow out of theirs.

Keep in mind these days a twat with a computer can bring you or a country to their knees…..

But what is behind all this Russian hacking stories?  Is there a narrative that we may be missing?

Investigative reporter Robert Parry has a few thoughts on this…..

As the Electoral College assembles, U.S. intelligence agencies are stepping up a campaign to delegitimize Donald Trump as a Russian stooge, raising concerns about a spy coup in America, reports Robert Parry.

As Official Washington’s latest “group think” solidifies into certainty – that Russia used hacked Democratic emails to help elect Donald Trump – something entirely different may be afoot: a months-long effort by elements of the U.S. intelligence community to determine who becomes the next president.

I was told by a well-placed intelligence source some months ago that senior leaders of the Obama administration’s intelligence agencies – from the CIA to the FBI – were deeply concerned about either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump ascending to the presidency. And, it’s true that intelligence officials often come to see themselves as the stewards of America’s fundamental interests, sometimes needing to protect the country from dangerous passions of the public or from inept or corrupt political leaders.

Source: A Spy Coup in America? – Consortiumnews

After decades of meddling in the democratic process internationally has the shadow warriors decide that this country needs a tweak or two?

Parry also has thoughts on the whole Idea of turning Russia into an adversary…..

Despite conflicting accounts about who leaked the Democratic emails, the frenzy over an alleged Russian role is driving the U.S. deeper into a costly and dangerous New Cold War, writes Robert Parry.

The rising hysteria about Russia is best understood as fulfilling two needs for Official Washington: the Military Industrial Complex’s transitioning from the “war on terror” to a more lucrative “new cold war” – and blunting the threat that a President Trump poses to the neoconservative/liberal-interventionist foreign-policy establishment.

By hyping the Russian “threat,” the neocons and their liberal-hawk sidekicks, who include much of the mainstream U.S. news media, can guarantee bigger military budgets from Congress. The hype also sets in motion a blocking maneuver to impinge on any significant change in direction for U.S. foreign policy under Trump.

Source: Making Russia ‘The Enemy’ – Consortiumnews

Do tell!  Is the Karmic finger being flipped at the US?

If so, why is the media buying into the narrative?

In 1977, Carl Bernstein published an exposé of a CIA program known as Operation Mockingbird, a covert program involving, according to Bernstein, “more than 400 American journalists who in the past 25 years have secretly carried out assignments for the Central Intelligence Agency.” Bernstein found that in “many instances” CIA documents revealed that “journalists were engaged to perform tasks for the CIA with the consent of the managements of America’s leading news organizations.”

Fast-forward to December 2016, and one can see that there isn’t much need for a covert government program these days. The recent raft of unverified, anonymously sourced and circumstantial stories alleging that the Russian government interfered in the US presidential election with the aim of electing Republican Donald J. Trump shows that today too much of the media is all too happy to do overtly what the CIA had once paid it to do covertly: regurgitate the claims of the spy agency and attack the credibility of those who question it.

Source: Why Are the Media Taking the CIA’s Hacking Claims at Face Value? | The Nation

What is the truth of it all?

Ain’t Karma a bitch?

 

NATO Advisers In Syria Captured

Over the weekend I read a news report about NATO advisers in Syria….the report states that 14 were captured in a bunker in Aleppo when the city was being liberated……

At least 14 US-led coalition military advisers have been captured by the Syrian Special Forces in a bunker in the city of Aleppo, according to media reports. The event allegedly took place in the morning on December 16, 2016 (Voltaire.net): 

21stcenturywire.com also provided a list of names of the coalition’s military advisers captured in Aleppo, citing a Syrian member of Parliament:

Fares Shehabi, a prominent Syrian Parliamentarian and head of Aleppo’s Chamber of Commerce published the names of the Coalition officers on his Facebook page on the 15th December (emphasis added):

Mutaz Kanoğlu – Turkey
David Scott Winer – USA
David Shlomo Aram – Israel
Muhamad Tamimi – Qatar
Muhamad Ahmad Assabian – Saudi
Abd-el-Menham Fahd al Harij – Saudi
Islam Salam Ezzahran Al Hajlan – Saudi
Ahmed Ben Naoufel Al Darij – Saudi
Muhamad Hassan Al Sabihi – Saudi
Hamad Fahad Al Dousri – Saudi
Amjad Qassem Al Tiraoui – Jordan
Qassem Saad Al Shamry – Saudi
Ayman Qassem Al Thahalbi – Saudi
Mohamed Ech-Chafihi El Idrissi – Moroccan

I have been trying to confirm this report…..so far most of the info comes from some “fringe” sites….I have been searching the sites in the Middle East and so far I have come up with little….so until I get some conformation I am calling this “suspect”…..

If and when I get my confirmation then I will post on this again…..until then….

Is Kanye Really That Important?

Last week one of the big stories the media just had to cover was something earth shaking…..President-elect Trump had a meeting with celeb Kanye West.  Why would our president waste his valuable time meeting with a loud mouth douche that only wants attention…oh wait…we elected such a person…..

Just in case you were part of the group fascinated by Kayne then you missed some pretty amazing stories……because the media just had to report on some mundane bullshit that meant NOTHING in the grand scheme of things……

1. Drug overdose deaths have surpassed gun deaths and car accidents: It emerged this week that according to data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), drug overdose deaths, largely driven by the nation’s ongoing opiate epidemic, have soared in the last year. Though heart disease is still the leading killer in the United States, over 55,000 Americans have died from drugs. The staggering figure comes even as the federal government has stepped up its efforts to combat opiate addiction, which have apparently failed to curb the health crisis brought on largely by pharmaceutical companies, the FDA, and overzealous doctors. This data suggests American’s aren’t getting their money’s worth: the DEA’s budget is almost $3 billion — but they’re still concerned about not being able to arrest people for weed.

2. Journalist calls CIA’s bluff on Russian hack claims: One angle the media has made sure to perpetuate is its unsubstantiated narrative that Russia hacked the U.S. presidential election. Over the last week, mainstream headlines have promoted the CIA’s anonymous claims of ‘Russian infiltration’ as fact, but while that story has received widespread attention, journalistic attempts to challenge it have not. Nevertheless, Jeremy Scahill, investigative journalist and author of Dirty Wars, offered a chance for the intelligence community to prove its claims. “U.S. intelligence agencies have repeatedly demonstrated that they regularly both lie and get things horribly wrong. In this case they may well be correct, but they cannot expect Americans to simply take their word for it,” Scahill wrote for The Intercept, pointing out the CIA’s own history of tampering with foreign elections and, worse, overthrowing elected leaders. Scahill effectively called the agency’s bluff and offered individuals within it a chance to validate the claims. “[I]f it comes to pass that the U.S. government refuses to back up these serious claims with evidence, then perhaps a patriotic whistleblower will do the public an important service,” he wrote, providing a link to The Intercept’s secure drop. One would think a media apparatus concerned with unearthing the facts about Russia’s involvement would promote an effort to substantiate their claims — claims other agencies have since disputed.

3. Man acquitted of charges of shooting at cops: After awaiting trial behind bars for nearly two years, this week Texan Ray Rosas was acquitted of attempted capital murder and aggravated assault charges against three police officers who incorrectly raided his home. The prosecution opted to drop those charges while retaining the counts of aggravated assault. But as local Corpus Christi outlet KRISTVreported, “The defense argued Rosas did not know he was firing at police, after SWAT actions were not carried out simultaneously and he was disoriented by a flash-bang grenade going off in his bedroom.” The jury acquitted Rosas of the remaining charges, setting a precedent that police should face consequences for incompetence and overzealous raid tactics (a similar scenario unfolded in Texas in 2014). Notable examples of police misconduct during raids include a baby who was seriously injured by a flash grenade that landed in its crib, as well as dogs killed by officers raiding the wrong homes. Considering SWAT raids have been on the rise in recent years — and according to the ACLU, 80 percent have been for search warrants — this court case is especially timely.

4. Lawmakers introduce “Stop Arming Terrorists” legislation: Late last week, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard introduced legislation with Rep. Thomas Massie and others calling on the U.S. government to stop arming, funding, and aiding terrorist organizations. Massie says the bill “would prohibit the U.S. government from using American taxpayer dollars to provide funding, weapons, training, and intelligence support to terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS, or to countries who are providing direct or indirect support to those same groups.” Indeed, the U.S. has long been arming al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria; Gabbard used mainstream outlets like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times to support her claims. Though the news emerged before Trump and Kanye met, it’s doubtful the story would have garnered much mainstream attention, anyway — after all, it does not fit the Western narrative on Syria.

5. Chaos in Aleppo, Syria: This week, the mainstream media has focused intensely on ongoing events in Aleppo, Syria, which is largely considered ground zero in the Syrian civil war. Though the area has been held by rebels since 2012, a recent onslaught by Russia and the Syrian government has further endangered the lives of civilians, which corporate media has thoroughly covered. But what the media isn’t reporting is that, as Gabbard and Massie are attempting to highlight, the rebels in Aleppo aren’t all freedom-fighting liberators. Many are as extreme as ISIS and seek to impose extremist interpretations of Islam. Still, the media is quoting these U.S.-backed rebels as reliable sources — the same ones who, for example, beheaded a ten-year-old child over the summer (the U.S. stopped backing that group in 2015).

Because Syria is too dangerous for many reporters to visit on the ground, much of the reporting is comprised of second-hand accounts. Russian, Syrian, and Iranian outlets sing the praises of the Putin-Assad-led offensive, neglecting to acknowledge how many innocent civilians are dying in the process. On the flip side, Western media is attempting to perpetuate the false dichotomy that because Russia and Syria are bad, the rebels and the U.S. are forces of good. Still, Western media frequently cites the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights — run by a Syrian expat who runs a t-shirt shop in England — to further its claims. While the motives driving media narratives are convoluted and difficult to decipher, however, there are ways to help those in need. Donate to organizations like Doctors without Borders, the International Rescue Committee, and Hand in Hand for Syria, which focus on directly aiding civilians.

This incident is why the MSM, and I am talking about ALL the media that focuses on bullshit while the world burns, is complacent in the dumbing down of America….helping the movie “Idiocracy” become reality.

Dethroning The “King”

Today is the BIG day…the electoral college will have its say in the 2016 election…..

How many have read the rantings of the lunatic Right and their constant bitching about the “attempts” to de-legitamizing the election of Donald Trump?

They whine about the protests….they condemn anyone that will not bow down and kiss the joint of our newly “elected” emperor…..

So in the spirit of cooperation I have read something about the possibility of some electors that may NOT sign on to the presidency of Trump…..

This is from the site “The Hill”……

Harvard University law professor Larry Lessig said Tuesday that 20 Republican Electoral College voters are considering flipping to vote against Donald Trump, more than half the number of anti-Trump votes needed to stall the president-elect from being sworn into office.

“Obviously, whether an elector ultimately votes his or her conscience will depend in part upon whether there are enough doing the same. We now believe there are more than half the number needed to change the result seriously considering making that vote,” Lessig told Politico.

Lessig has been offering free legal counsel to “faithless electors” who are considering casting a ballot for an alternative candidate as opposed to Trump, who earned 306 votes on Election Day, well above the necessary 270.

According to Politico’s report, 20 Republican electors have contacted Lessig’s group about voting against Trump.

Electors will cast their ballots on Dec. 19.

If anti-Trump electors manage to whip up enough votes against him, the decision would then go to the GOP-controlled House.

Here’s the problem…even if these 30 electors decide to go against the election and vote for someone other than Trump…he will still have enough votes to be the president…..if it does somehow go to the Congress then Trump will still be the winner….why?  GOP are cowards and will  NOT vote against their party.

So please stop your constant whining…..Trump was elected and he will be president…..move on to something that deserves attention.  That is assuming that you can actually think beyond what those idiots in the fringe media tells you.