Day: February 24, 2017

Closing Thought–24Feb17

Word of the Day–Abortions!

This is a subject that I seldom write about because it is a person’s private decision and NO one belongs in the loop other than the person having to make it….certainly NOT the government.

Another reason is that I am male and as such will not have to make this decision….that is about to come to an end…..the writing part that is…..

In Oklahoma, abortion rights advocates breathed a big sigh of relief when a particularly draconian measure, requiring a woman seeking an abortion to get written approval from the man who impregnated her, was tabled last week. That sigh may have come too soon: The state’s House Public Health Committee is set to reconsider HB 1441 today. The proposal would require a woman to get written permission for an abortion from the biological father, identify him to her doctor in writing, and allow him to demand a paternity test.

This measure is the latest in a series of efforts to limit access to abortion in Oklahoma. Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, has signed 20 anti-abortion bills over the course of her six-year tenure, including measures that tripled the waiting period from 24 to 72 hours and banned the use of telemedicine to administer medication abortion. Initially, state Rep. Justin Humphrey called his proposal an effort to make sure fathers support their child from conception, but as the Intercept reports, the lawmaker clarified his position when he said:

I believe one of the breakdowns in our society is that we have excluded the man out of all of these types of decisions. I understand that [women] feel like that is their body. I feel like it is a separate—what I call them is, is you’re a “host.” And you know when you enter into a relationship you’re going to be that host and so, you know, if you pre-know that then take all precautions and don’t get pregnant.

Source: This Bill Would Require Abortions to Be Approved by Men | Mother Jones

I have been writing for 40+ years and this whole thing is some of the most moronic bullshit I have ever heard.

I am sure that there will be some that will try to defend this issue….but unless they are female then they need to keep it to themselves.

An Asian Tiff?

I know….I usually concentrate my post o the Middle East….but the drama around North Korea is too compelling to ignore….

North Korea has been making news lately…..there was an assassination, more missile tests and the Trump people thumping their chest like sex crazed primates……

After the assassination of Lil Kim’s half brother in Malaysia there has been a bit of a blow-back internationally….

It’s not just North Korea’s relationship with Malaysia that may be splintering. In a rare move Thursday, the country appeared to accuse ally China of working with North Korea’s enemies to “bring down its social system,” reports Reuters. An editorial published by the state-controlled KCNA—with the byline “Jong Phil”—explained a country that “often claims itself to be a ‘friendly neighbor'” has “unhesitatingly taken inhumane steps such as totally blocking foreign trade” under UN sanctions, reports the Wall Street Journal. This is “mean behavior,” the editorial said. “This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the US.”

Despite the fact that the editorial didn’t name China, an expert on China-North Korea relations says it’s a rare “frontal assault” on its ally. The AP notes it “took a tone normally reserved for North Korea’s overt enemies.” The editorial has been widely viewed as a response to China’s announcement Saturday that it would block all coal imports from North Korea according to tightened UN sanctions, which the editorial claimed are “devoid of legal ground” and will “have a negative impact on the living of the people in the DPRK.” US officials say coal exports to China earned North Korea $1.2 billion last year, roughly one third of its total export income, the AP reports.

Is all this just “cousins” having a bit of an old fashion family feud?

Is there more to this “tiff” than the rest of the world is thinking?

China denied on Thursday that it had increased its troop presence on the border with North Korea after the murder of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Malaysia.

Reports routinely circulate at times of heightened tension on the Korean peninsula of China sending troops to the border, which China always denies.

South Korean and U.S. officials say the North Korean leader’s half brother, Kim Jong Nam, was assassinated by North Korean agents. North Korea has not acknowledged his death.

Some Hong Kong media last week reported that China had sent more soldiers to the border after Kim was attacked at Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13.

“As for the reports you mentioned of the People’s Liberation Army increasing troops on the Chinese-North Korean border, they are totally baseless and completely fabricated,” defense ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly news briefing.

China is reclusive North Korea’s most important remaining ally, but China has been angered by its missile and nuclear tests and has signed up for several rounds of U.N. sanctions against North Korea at the same time as pushing for a diplomatic resolution through talks.

(Yahoo! News)

Just how nervous is South Korea?

Losing My Respect

We all have heard about the raid in Yemen just after Mr. Trump took the reins of power….some say it was botched…others claim it was a success….but that does not matter who is right…what matters is the one SEAL was killed and 8 others were wounded in this raid….

I understand that these types to raids are dangerous and the outcome is seldom a given…..but some news has come out and if true is very disturbing……

President Trump’s Twitter trail has raised questions about his precise whereabouts inside the White House while the U.S. raid in Yemen that resulted in the death of a Navy SEAL was underway.

On the night of the raid, which targeted a top Al Qaeda leader in the Arabian Peninsula leader in Yemen, Trump sent out a tweet about an upcoming media appearance.

‘I will be interviewed by @TheBrodyFile on tonight at 11pm. Enjoy!’ Trump wrote on January 28. The tweet got taken down about 20 minutes later.

The tweet went out as the Yemen operation – the first military strike Trump ordered as president – was underway the Huffington Post reported.

Some say that it was a member of his staff that Tweeted…I hope so……

Trump was on the White House grounds that night, inside the residence – which would place him away from the Situation Room.

‘He was obviously aware of the strike occurring,’ White House press secretary Sean Spicer following the raid. ‘He was kept in constant contact Saturday night of the status of the mission, both of the success that it had and the tragic loss of life that occurred to that member.’

If true, please notice that I typed “IF”) then why was he NOT in the Situation Room…..that is the least he could do when sending troops to do our dirty work.

Trump’s New Theory?

CPAC is going on as I type…the meeting of the minds (HA) of the conservative movement…..and so far the big story is something that the WH Chief of Staff said during his moment in the spotlight……at least they showed a racist the door…..but now more on Bannon’s rhetoric…..

Steve Bannon made his first public appearance since Donald Trump became president Thursday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, the Washington Post reports. The president’s chief strategist said Trump’s goal is the “deconstruction of the administrative state,” meaning dismantling systems of taxation, regulation, and trade. Bannon said Trump picked his Cabinet nominees with that deconstruction in mind. Here’s what else is making headlines at CPAC:

  • Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who spoke alongside Bannon, says they aren’t rivals, as characterized by the media. Instead he says they work alongside each other and share a connection through Trump, Politico reports.
  • White nationalist Richard Spencer was kicked out of CPAC after being spotted in the lobby of the hotel where it’s taking place. “His views are repugnant and have absolutely nothing to do with conservatism,” a CPAC spokesperson tells NPR.
  • The Hill reports Bannon also reserved some of his time to bash reporters and the media, who he repeatedly called the “opposition party.” He warned that every day will be a fight against the “corporatist, globalist media.”
  • Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Cruz predicted—without explanation—that Trump will have a second Supreme Court seat to fill by the summer, Time reports. He also called the Democratic base “bat crap crazy.”
  • Speaking of Cruz, a lot has changed since last year’s CPAC, where he was the headliner and Trump canceled his speech, according to US News. Kellyanne Conway, who was working for Cruz this time last year, says CPAC is now “TPAC,” in reference to Trump.
  • Despite earlier reports that she clashed with the attorney general and Trump on protecting the bathroom rights of transgender students, at CPAC Betsy DeVos said she supported the removal of Obama’s guidelines, calling them “overreach,” the Huffington Post reports

Sounds like Mr. Bannon has a theory in mind……it is called…..Transnationalism

Interactions and coalitions across state boundaries that involve such diverse nongovernmental actors as multinational corporations and banks, church groups, and terrorist networks. In some usages, transnationalism includes both nongovernmental as well as transgovernmental links. The term transnational is used both to label the actor (for example, a transnational actor) or a pattern of behavior (for example, an international organisation that acts transnationally – operates across state borders). Theorists focusing on transnationalism often deemphasise the state as primary and unitary actor.

The last line says it all….deemphasize the state…does that mean “deconstructed”…….?

The American Conservative has had some thoughts on “Transnational Nationalism”……..

Linker’s main point — and it’s a trenchant one — is to note the belatedness of the effort: National Review and Public Interest took years or even decades to bring the fusionist New Right and neoconservatism respectively to a position of political dominance, whereas American Affairs was only founded after Trump’s unexpected triumph. But I want to comment on something Linker says at the end of the piece about our nationalist moment:

Source: The “Paradox” of Transnational Nationalism | The American Conservative

Is this Trump’s plan?  Or is it Bannon’s?

Someone needs to ask Trump for clarification…….

2017–Sh*t Happens

Does anyone remember back to the Dark Ages……the Obama years?  2009 the Dems would try to hold their local town halls for a meet and greet with their voters…..they were disastrous….yelling, screaming, chanting and other assorted chaotic meetings.

My my….how history repeats itself.

The Dems were spineless in their 2009 town halls and in 2017 the Repubs have gone spineless at their town halls…..

Republican lawmakers around the country are facing tough and often angry questions from constituents who are packing town hall meetings or showing up at their offices.

Among their grievances is that the GOP plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” with no replacement.

The pushback echoes the same raucous confrontations that Democrats faced in 2009, when tea party activists sprang into action to oppose what they saw as dangerous government overreach by President Barack Obama.

Fascinating!  Both parties catching grief over the same subject only 8 years apart.

What does this tell us?

One, the politicians are finding ways to avoid the voter.

Two, politicians regardless the party are spineless.

Behind the “Deep State Coup”

A guilty pleasure is some of the conspiracy theories out there in La La Land….since I refuse to go to sites like Infowars or WND I have to find them where I can.

There is one that says that there is a deep struggle between the “Deep State” and the president and his cronies…..and that the Flynn scandal was just the exercise of the hidden power they have……

Below is a look at the “conspiracy”………

The internal struggle between Trump and the “intelligence community” is not evidence of a coup but the sign of a much-welcome split within the ruling classes, a disunity which reveals their weaknesses and reflects the growing strength of the popular anti-Trump movement.

According to the “coup” conspiracy theory, the intelligence community wants to put the US and Russia on a collision course leading to WWIII, but thankfully world peace will be saved by collaboration between Trump and Putin, the heroes of this fable. This imaginary scenario was obviously concocted by experienced Russian propaganda services under the orders of former KGB operative Putin, and it is being propagated by Western Leftists nostalgic for Stalin’s Soviet Union. Their justifiable hatred of  ‘our own’ U.S. imperialism turns them into ‘one-way anti-imperialists,’ victims of the Cold War fallacy that “the enemies of our enemies are friends.”

Source: Behind the “Deep State Coup” – LA Progressive

Interesting theory……but is there are truth behind the accusations?