Day: December 26, 2016

Closing Thought–26Dec16

‘Tis the day after Christmas and I hope all went well on that special day for all my readers and followers…..now we prepare for the next big day…New Year’s.

One thought before I start……..Christmas that magical time for Christians….but did anyone notice that those good Christians in a time of “good will toward men” could not cease their vulgar attacks on any one that does not agree with their perverted mindset?  Good Christians everyone.

Enough…time to move on….

I am not a techno geek and I am a blogger and I use Twitter basically for news but many of my friends and readers are on Facebook….I am not one of those….I did not trust the Facebook format at all from the very beginning so I avoided it like a plague….these days our intel group is visiting our social media outlets regularly….at least they could do is leave a positive note……

But I read something about Facebook that is disturbing to me……

Facebook released its latest transparency report today, detailing government requests for user data for the first half of 2016. According to the report, government requests for account data increased by 27 percent globally as compared with the last half of 2015. The number of requests grew from 46,710 to 59,229, Facebook said.

The majority of the requests (56 percent) received from U.S. law enforcement contained a non-disclosure clause that prevented Facebook from notifying the user in question, the company noted.

As with prior transparency reports, Facebook also detailed the number of content restriction requests — that is, the requests from governments in response to postings that violate local laws.

Source: Government requests for Facebook user data up 27 percent in first half of 2016 | TechCrunch

I wonder how many “hacks” were done without the official “request”?

Call me paranoid if you like…but I would sooner kiss a rattlesnake than trust Facebook.

Thoughts?

See you guys tomorrow….have a day….chuq

What A Difference A Word Can Make

You have probably heard, as have I, your whole life that a single word could make a difference in so many ways…..so mind how you use your words……

Well our part-time Congress in a bi-partisan way have opened up a can of worms……which could be very difficult to shut if the need arises.

By removing a single word from legislation governing the military, Congress has laid the groundwork for both a major shift in U.S. nuclear defense doctrine and a costly effort to field space-based weaponry.

Source: Congress scrapped this one word from the law, opening the door to a space arms race – LA Times

Plus our brand new president has made it clear what he thinks about a nuke arms race……

Donald Trump woke everyone from their pre-Christmas slumber Thursday with a tweet calling for a strengthened and expanded US nuclear arsenal. His tweet followed remarks made earlier by Vladimir Putin in which he called for his country’s “need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces,” per Yahoo. On Friday, Trump doubled down on his previous remarks during what Politico calls an “off-air conversation” on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “Let it be an arms race … we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all,” he said. (Politico notes some flip-flopping on nuclear issues, citing a March New York Times interview in which he said, “It’s a very scary nuclear world. Biggest problem, to me, in the world, is nuclear, and proliferation.”)

Not in on his latest stance, apparently: his own team. Per a transcript posted by NBC’s Katy Tur on Twitter, Trump’s new White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told Rachel Maddow Thursday night “we’re getting ahead of ourselves” when Maddow mentioned a “new nuclear arms race.” And, per a tweet by CNN’s David Wright, incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted on Today Friday that “there is not going to be” an arms race and that “we will all be just fine.” A short time later on CNN’s New Day, Spicer said the remarks Trump made to Morning Joes’ Mika Brzezinski “was a private conversation. I was not privy to that,” per Mediaite. Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star wonders: “Is there any point of quoting clarifications from Trump spokespeople? They’ve proven to be unreliable interpreters of him.” One person shrugging off arms race chatter: Putin, who said Friday Trump’s tweet was “nothing new,” per Politico.

Oh goodie….a return to the good old days of the 1950’s…..the days of paranoia and fear…..oh how I’ve missed those days….

Putin’s Revenge

There is lots of idle chatter these days about Russia and Putin…..did he or didn’t he?

What most Americans do not know is the Putin has been part of the post-Soviet government from the first days…..he was a subordinate to Yeltsin, the popularly elected president of Russia.  He was a KGB operative that wanted to win the Cold War…is he still pursuing that end?

Putin has done more to influence political ideology in Europe and the world than did his predecessors in the USSR…..and it is growing…..

Humiliated by the 1990s, Russia’s strongman is determined to win Cold War 2.0. He may be succeeding.

Twenty years before Vladimir Putin began his ingenious campaign to influence the U.S. presidential election, his predecessor as Russia’s president stood on a dark street near the White House. In his underpants. Looking for a pizza.

It was September 1994, and Boris Yeltsin was in Washington for a state visit with his new friend, President Bill Clinton. The Soviet Union had collapsed just three years earlier, and a relationship was blossoming between the U.S. and Russia, one that held the promise of burying decades of hostility. Russia’s abrupt transition from communist dictatorship was chaotic, but a fragile democratic process and nascent capitalism were taking hold. U.S. officials entertained visions of a Western-friendly Russia as a partner in a stable and secure Europe. To that end, Clinton and Yeltsin had built an alliance on the shared goal of preventing a revanchist security state from taking power in Moscow and returning the U.S. and Russia to a Cold War state of hostility. During one early visit to Moscow, Clinton told a young audience to “choose hope over fear” and “find a new definition of Russia’s greatness.”

Source: Putin’s Revenge – POLITICO Magazine

There is a wealth of opinions on what the actual situation is all about….some think he interfered in the election and others do not see any problem with Russia (something I never thought I would hear another American do….take the side of Russia over their own)…..

But as the song says…”the times they are a changing”……makes me think of the Manchurian Candidate (the original not the piss poor re-make)…if confused then watch the original and you will see what I am going on about.

There Is A Syrian Plan?

The Civil War has been raging in Syria for years and it appears that we are NO closer to an end game than we were last year…..but wait!

According to the Tasnim News Agency Iran, Turkey and Russia have issued a statement on the future of Syria……

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran, Russia and Turkey issued a joint statement on Tuesday, calling for continued cooperation on Syria and reiterating their respect for Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.

Source: Tasnim News Agency – Iran, Russia, Turkey Underline Respect for Syria’s Territorial Integrity

So far I have not been able to confirm this elsewhere so there is a possibility that this is just a propaganda piece….but it needed to be covered because of the implications.

Whereas the statement above is a bit of positive news there are others in the Middle East that do not see the “good” of this plan…..

This is an op-ed piece in another news source in the Middle East, al-Monitor….

Despite successful cooperation with Moscow to help retake Aleppo, Tehran is likely to remain suspicious of Russian intentions and maneuvering in Syria.

On Dec. 8, Moscow announced a new round of talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart, Secretary of State John Kerry, to try to find a solution for the embattled city and possibly the entire country. As anticipated from the moment the talks were announced, and like the previous peace efforts by the two powers, the new diplomatic initiative did not lead to a successful outcome. Indeed, as early as Dec. 12, it was declared that the dialogue had ended in deadlock.

Of interest, however, is that Iran was once again not a part of Russia’s diplomatic maneuvering on Syria, and this raises questions about Tehran’s place in Russia’s overall Syrian strategy. In fact, although Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bugdanov said that he had informed Iran of the latest US proposal, the Iranians denied receiving information in this regard.

Source: Three reasons Iran should worry over Russia’s Syria plans

Conflicting views of the situation in Syria…..seems it is not only the West that has these types of thoughts….

Just wanted to let my readers know that the divisions over Syria are not just a western problem……

The only thought I have is….Syria is so screwed!