Day: August 3, 2018

The Media Did It!

Closing Thought–03Aug18

Our Dear Leader has said on numerous occasions that the MSM is the only purveyor of “fake news”….and the Penn rally was NO different……

“Whatever happened to the free press? Whatever happened to honest reporting?” Trump asked, pointing to the media in the back of the room. “They don’t report it. They only make up stories.” Time and time again, Trump denounced the press for underselling his accomplishments and doubting his political rise. He began his rally speech with a 10-minute remembrance of his 2016 election night victory, bemoaning that Pennsylvania wasn’t the state to clinch the White House for him only because “the fake news refused to call it.” “Only negative stories from the fakers back there,” the president declared. With each denunciation, the crowd jeered and screamed at the press in the holding pen.

I do not agree but I will say that they do have a tendency to try and control the conversation.

For instance the latest mash up of whether the president will meet with Mueller and answer questions……they keep teasing us with maybe he will if conditions are right…..truth is Dear Leader will never meet with Mueller because even Trump is not stupid enough to go into a legal situation and lie under oath.

Why do I say that?  Trump cannot go a day with multiple lies on Twitter or in one of his campaign rallies….I mean 4229 lies in 558 days in office…….does anyone think Trump is crazy enough to lead his own demise?

He, Dear Leader, is right about one thing……collusion is not a crime but conspiracy and obstruction are….I mean death is not a crime but murder certainly is…..

And then his legal team with the help from Newt keep talking about the perjury trap being set up by Mueller to entrap the president…..let me help out…..he can beat this trap being set up….how?  By telling the truth and the whole truth…..and there is the rub……a person who cannot tell the truth.

Keep an eye on the MSM……listen to their stories…..all are nothing more than speculation to drive the cycle not a lot of actual news.

Speculation is not news……

While I do not agree with the MSM on many things…..I refuse to attack the free press but I will criticize them…..maybe something the alt-Right should try it would make them look less foolish than they really are.

Plus these attacks on the media by Dear Leader is the only thing he has going for him…..infantile attacks on people that were mean to him.

I gotta know……Trump said in his Penn speech that Russia is very disappointed that Trump won the election……tell us why that is?  Anybody?

Who Will Make The Internet More Secure?

This is a subject that we all should be focused on….I mean we are here and doing our thing because of access of the internet….but recently with a new president the security of the internet has come into question…..I did write about it at the time….

https://lobotero.com/2017/03/30/repeal-of-internet-security/

Even Alexander Hamilton could teach us a thing or two about cyber security policy…..

In 1774, Alexander Hamilton posited that good policy consists of three ingredients: “First, that the necessity of the times require it. Secondly, that it be not the probable source of greater evils, than those it pretends to remedy. And lastly, that it have a probability of success.”

Though this Hamiltonian framework is useful for any policy discussion, it is a particularly good lens for the cyber realm, for it encourages policymakers to balance the expected effects and unintended consequences of a proposed policy; and to harmonize concerns over too little, or too much, government intervention.

https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2018/07/what-alexander-hamilton-can-teach-us-about-cyber-policy/149921/

There are a few Dem Senators that have put together a deal for the internet…….

Mandatory location verification. The paper suggests forcing social media platforms to authenticate and disclose the geographic origin of all user accounts or posts.

Mandatory identity verification: The paper suggests forcing social media and tech platforms to authenticate user identities and only allow “authentic” accounts (“inauthentic accounts not only pose threats to our democratic process…but undermine the integrity of digital markets”), with “failure to appropriately address inauthentic account activity” punishable as “a violation of both SEC disclosure rules and/or Section 5 of the [Federal Trade Commission] Act.”

Bot labeling: Warner’s paper suggests forcing companies to somehow label bots or be penalized (no word from Warner on how this is remotely feasible)

Define popular tech as “essential facilities.” These would be subject to all sorts of heightened rules and controls, says the paper, offering Google Maps as an example of the kinds of apps or platforms that might count. “The law would not mandate that a dominant provider offer the serve for free,” writes Warner. “Rather, it would be required to offer it on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms” provided by the government.

Other proposals include more disclosure requirements for online political speech, more spending to counter supposed cybersecurity threats, more funding for the Federal Trade Commission, a requirement that companies’ algorithms can be audited by the feds (and this data shared with universities and others), and a requirement of “interoperability between dominant platforms.”

If you are still interested in this deal then go to the paper ……..Titled “Potential Policy Proposals for Regulation of Social Media and Technology Firms,” the draft policy paper

Solutions–Conclusion

This is a series that I wrote for my opinion blog….Gulf South Free Press…..thanx to all that have ventured to my other blog…..keep in mind that this series is a historical look at prostitution and a possible solution for the abuses from peacekeepers and some charity workers…….Thanx for reading…..chuq

How About Iraq?

Since the country and its problems have not been in the news most Americans seem to forget that we are still fighting and our troops are still on multiple deployments in our second longest war…..

Iraq recently had an election (democracy at work?) and America’s one time adversary al-Sadr won the position of prime minister and in the process of forming a government……

There are a few readings about the uphill fight he will have witn a government……

https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/iraq/188-iraqs-paramilitary-groups-challenge-rebuilding-functioning-state

https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/iraq/b61-how-cope-iraqs-summer-brushfire

With that and the situation……the fighting has not ceased……no?  Then what about ISIS?

Glad you asked!

Dozens of people have been killed in a series of attacks launched by Islamic State (IS) in locations north of Baghdad over the past few months, prompting fears that the terrorist group is reconstituting itself in parts of Iraq (al-Hadath, March 28; al-Sumaria, July 1).

IS has lost all of its urban strongholds in Iraq, including Mosul, which it occupied in June 2014 and which was reclaimed by Iraqi forces last year with significant U.S. support. However, the recent surge in IS activity indicates that the group is now pursuing its old hit-and-run tactics in Iraq, and serves to illustrate how IS could exploit the divisions that remain among Iraqi factions.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/07/31/is_islamic_state_making_plans_for_a_comeback_in_iraq_113670.html

They, ISIS, is NOT gone and it is NOT forgotten……

The Iraqi government’s declaration of “victory” over ISIS may have marked the end of the group holding any real territory, but the end of the Caliphate was never going to be the end of ISIS. Unsurprisingly, the group is looking to make a comeback.

No longer a territory-holding faction trying to operate as a mini-state, ISIS is going back to its guerilla tactics that they used before they were able to take territory. Iraq is experiencing a rise in kidnappings and targeted killings.

ISIS is using the kidnappings as a way to raise money, and the killings as a way to undermine security. This was a common tactic for ISIS for years, and one the Iraqi government has never been able to effectively combat.

(antiwar.com)

Keep in mind that ISIS is still a force that will be handled and the US will have to continue to deal with this murderous group…..we can only hope that Iraq will step up and do what is necessary so that our overworked troops can come home.

After Note:  Another day with my doctors……so there may not be as much posted today as usual….never fear I am still hanging in there and will get back to it as soon as possible…..chuq

Once Upon A Time In Tajikistan

Back in my foreign service days I was posted in Tajikistan and thanks to those days I still have friends in the country.  One of those friends sent me word about an incident in the country…..

Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan shook the dust of Washington, DC, off their feet—and the jobs that had kept them there—a year ago in order to bike around the world. The 29-year-olds’ journey met a tragic end in Tajikistan on Sunday, with the Islamic State claiming credit for the bloody attack that took their lives. NPR reports the couple was biking in a group of seven south of the capital, Dushanbe, when a car drove into them. Attackers then descended on the group with knives, killing Austin, Geoghegan, a cyclist from the Netherlands, and another from Switzerland. The AP reports Tajik authorities made no mention of the ISIS angle but instead blamed the murders on the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, a local group that was banned over an alleged coup plot.

The Washington Post reports that if ISIS is found to have played a role, it would be their “first deadly attack in former Soviet Central Asia.” The Post and NPR profile Austin—who had a master’s from Georgetown, worked with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and had built a 143-square-foot tiny home in DC—and Geoghegan, also a Georgetown grad who studied Spanish and Arabic and worked in the university’s admissions office. They left those lives behind and charted their adventures on their Simply Cycling blog, which tracked their journey throughout Africa, Europe, and central Asia. “Life is short and the world is big and we want to make the most out of our youth and good health before they’re gone,” they wrote. NPR has many more excerpts from their blog, including details of Austin’s final cliffhanger.

Tajik authorities have pointed additional fingers toward Iran…..

the Tajik Interior Ministry on July 31 accused the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) of being behind an attack. The group denied the allegation as “baseless and irrational.”

The ministry also said that the attackers were led by an “active member” of the IRPT who “underwent training in Iran.”

The authorities offered no immediate proof of the claims.

(Radio Liberty)

The Iranian government has summoned the Tajik ambassador to Tehran to protest allegations linking Iran to an attack that killed four foreign cyclists in Tajikistan.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it summoned Ambassador Nematullo Emomzoda on August 1 to convey Iran’s “strong” protest over “false and unfounded” claims made by the Tajik government.

Why would the Tajik authorities want to implicate Iran?

The US Ambassador to Tajikistan, Ken Gross, announced on June 25 that the US plans to open a military training center in Tajikistan pending the signing of related agreements with the Tajik side.

The planned military center falls within the Pentagon’s $50 million security program for the Central Asian region as the US prepares to start its withdrawal from Afghanistan. The program seeks to bolster regional security by upgrading and building new security check-points, and training military personnel to combat drug-trafficking and terrorism (US Central Command press release, June 29; www.vesti.kz, June 28).

There you go……with our hostilities ramping up with Iran it is always good to have friends to help out, right?