Mornin', folks! Last day for regular newsbites for awhile; till October 16th at least!
Oh... you never know... I may combine drinking and blogging while on vacation...
(*GUFFAW*)
But doubtful!
Anyway... I'll be newsbiting throughout today.
Enjoy!
Monday, October 6, 2014
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* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://www.prisonplanet.com/the-real-status-of-forces-in-afghanistan-and-iraq.html?amp
* BY RON PAUL (DON'T MIND THE LINK; I HAD TROUBLE WITH THE DIRECT CONNECT AND HAD TO FIND A MIRROR SITE!)
After 13 years of war in Afghanistan – the longest in U.S. history – the U.S. government has achieved no victory.
(*NOD*)
Afghanistan is in chaos and would collapse completely without regular infusions of U.S. money.
(*NOD*)
The war has been a failure, but Washington will not admit it.
* WITH YOU FOLKS READING THIS ADMIT IT?
More than 2,000 U.S. fighters have been killed in the 13 year Afghan war. More than 20,000 Afghan civilians were also killed. According to a study last year by a Harvard University researcher, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost in total between four and six trillion dollars. There is no way of looking at the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and seeing a success.
* THE INITIAL INVASION WAS A SUCCESS. IT'S THE "NATION BUILDING" THAT'S BEEN A TOTAL DISASTER!
So in light of this failure, what does the Obama Administration do? Do they admit the mistake? Do they pull the remaining U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and try to avoid making matters even worse?
No!
As with all U.S. government programs, if the desired result is not achieved they just pump in more resources and continue with the same policies. The past 13 years have been an utter failure, so this past week the U.S. government signed on for ten more years of war!
* YOU'RE AWARE OF THIS... RIGHT, FOLKS?
U.S. troops were legally required to be out of Afghanistan by the end of this year, according to a status of forces agreement between the U.S. and Afghanistan.
The U.S. was unsuccessful in negotiating a new status of forces agreement with outgoing president Hamid Karzai.
The Afghan leader had grown critical of the U.S. military presence – which has actually increased under President Obama. So... the U.S. needed a new puppet in government.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD IN DESPAIR*)
As international correspondent Eric Margolis pointed out recently, the elections in Afghanistan earlier this year were a farce. The candidates were hand-picked by the U.S. government. Furthermore, wrote Margolis, “the largest, most popular party in Afghanistan, Taliban…[has] been excluded as ‘terrorists’ from the current and past elections.”
* OBVIOUSLY ONE CAN SEE THE LOGIC IN THIS... HOWEVER... WHAT'S IT SAY ABOUT AFGHANISTAN THAT WE NEED TO FEAR THE AFGHANS RETURNING THE TALIBAN TO POWER VIA DEMOCRATIC MEANS...??? HMM...???
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)
[So... we've now gotten a] new "status of forces" agreement.
U.S. troops will remain through 2024.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
The United States’ war on Iraq has also been a failure.
* BUSH'S WAR? YEP. BUT CLINTON'S AS WELL. (BOTH HILLARY AND BILL SUPPORTED IT!) INDEED... GO DOWN THE LIST OF THEN-DEMOCRATIC OFFICE-HOLDERS WHO SUPPORTED "BUSH'S WAR."
(*PURSED LIPS*)
The neocons want to blame the current disintegration of Iraq on President Obama for pulling U.S. troops out. This is historical revisionism at its worst. The real blame goes to those who put the troops in in the first place.
* TRUE... BUT I'D GO BEYOND THAT. THE REAL BLAME GOES TO THOSE WHO DIDN'T PROPERLY PLAN FOR A POST-WAR, POST-VICTORY "NEW" IRAQ.
In fact, President Obama didn’t even want to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq. He had tried to re-negotiate a new status of forces agreement with the Maliki government in Iraq, but Maliki hesitated to extend immunity from prosecution to the remaining U.S. troops. The U.S. responded by turning on Maliki, eventually demanding that he step down even though he had been elected.
* ALL TRUE!
* HERE'S THE PROBLEM, THOUGH:
Maintaining U.S. troops in Iraq would not have prevented the current unrest there for the simple reason that it was the presence of U.S. troops in the first place that caused the unrest. It was the U.S. invasion that led to the emergence of al-Qaeda in Iraq and other extremist Islamist groups. This should not have been a surprise to war planners: Saddam Hussein had been using brutal means to keep these groups at bay for decades. The same is true with Afghanistan.
The Taliban government of 2001 in Afghanistan did not attack the United States. Al-Qaeda did. But the 2003 U.S. attack on Iraq under false pretenses removed a leader who had fought ruthlessly against al-Qaeda and other radical Islamist fighters.
The result was that the al-Qaeda we were supposed to be fighting in Afghanistan flourished in post-invasion Iraq, along with other even more brutal groups.
Will our government ever learn that invasion and occupation are not the solution, but rather the problem? No new status of forces agreement can change that basic fact.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/world/isis-ammunition-is-shown-to-have-origins-in-us-and-china.html?ref=middleeast&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=*Mideast%20Brief&utm_campaign=2014_The%20Middle%20East%20Daily_10.6.14&_r=0
In its campaign across northern Syria and Iraq, the jihadist group Islamic State has been using ammunition from the United States...
* CHANT IT WITH ME, FOLKS: O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A!
[A]mmunition transferred into Syria and Iraq to help stabilize governments has instead passed from the governments to the jihadists, helping to fuel the Islamic State’s rise and persistent combat power. Rifle cartridges from the United States, the sample shows, have played a significant role.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
* JUST TO LET YOU KNOW... IT'S NOT ALL U.S. AMMO. BUT THE POINT IS THE POINT. (READ THE FULL ARTICLE IF YOU DESIRE FURTHER DETAILS AND BREAKDOWNS!)
http://news.yahoo.com/fbi-militants-may-working-plan-strike-us-133248297.html
An al-Qaida cell in Syria that was targeted in American military airstrikes last month could still be working on a plan to attack the United States or its allies and is "looking to do it very, very soon," the head of the FBI says.
* "COULD STILL BE..."
* VERY HELPFUL...
* HEY... THE FBI... THEY'RE THE FOLKS WHO VETTED THE BOSTON BOMBERS, RIGHT?
* I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR WHAT PUTIN'S PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY... (SERIOUSLY!)
The Khorasan Group, a small but battle-hardened band of al-Qaida veterans from Afghanistan and Pakistan, was the target of U.S. strikes near Aleppo, Syria.
* AND APPARENTLY THOSE AIR STRIKES LEFT THEM STILL A THREAT!
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
In an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Comey said the militants were "working and, you know, may still be working on an effort to attack the United States or our allies, and looking to do it very, very soon."
* "MAY STILL..."
* "VERY, VERY SOON."
* UH-HUH...
Senior U.S. officials have not said whether the group's plots have been disrupted.
* APPARENTLY NOT! (NOT IF THEY'RE STILL A THREAT!)
Comey said the U.S. believes there are about a dozen Americans fighting alongside extremist groups in Syria. He said if someone has fought alongside the Islamic State militant group and tries to come back to the U.S., "we will track them very carefully."
* "TRACK THEM...?!?!" HOW'BOUT... ARREST THEM! CHARGE THEM... PUT THEM ON TRIAL...
(*HEADACHE*)
He said Americans should have confidence in changes made since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks...
* TWO WORDS: BOSTON MARATHON! TWO MORE WORDS... TIMES TWO: FORT HOOD! TWO MORE WORDS: OPEN BORDERS! ONE MORE WORD: EBOLA!
Comey also addressed cybercrime, comparing Chinese computer hackers to a "drunk burglar" who steals with reckless abandon, costing the U.S. economy billions of dollars every year. He said the hackers target the intellectual property of U.S. companies in China every day. "They're kickin' in the front door, knocking over the vase, while they're walking out with your television set. They're just prolific. Their strategy seems to be: 'We'll just be everywhere all the time. And there's no way they can stop us,'" Comey said.
* SO WHY AREN'T WE AT WAR WITH THEM? (GOOD QUESTION, HUH...?!) SHORT OF WAR, WHY ARE WE STILL DOING BUSINESS WITH CHINA? SHORT OF TOTALLY CUTTING ALL TIES, WHY AREN'T WE USING OUR SUPPOSEDLY SUPERIOR TECHNOLOGY TO CRIPPLE CHINA'S INTERNET AND INDEED FORCE THEM BACK INTO THE ANALOG AGE?! (COULD IT BE THAT OUR TECHNOLOGY ISN'T SUPERIOR... THAT THE "WAR" IS ACTUALLY OVER AND CHINA HAS WON?)
The Justice Department earlier this year announced a 31-count indictment against Chinese hackers accused of breaking into computer networks at steel companies and the manufacturers of solar and nuclear technology, with the goal of gaining a competitive advantage. China has denied the allegations.
* FOLKS. UNDERSTAND. OUR GOVERNMENT IS BEING RUN BY INCOMPETENTS AND TRAITORS. (THERE'S SIMPLY NO OTHER EXPLANATION!)
Lol, I will still click your blog several times a day...within days feeling pretty sad about it. :) But I hope you two have a great vacation, AND I hope you come back with some great stories!
http://www.wilsontimes.com/News/Feature/Story/34084310---Hit-and-run-suspect-had-deportation-warrant--bond-raised-to--1-million
Marcos Santiaga Bautista of Sims, who was charged Thursday with felony hit-and-run, is a fugitive with an outstanding deportation warrant, according the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Bautista, a native of Mexico, failed to attend a non-detention immigration hearing in South Carolina.
At his first court appearance Friday morning in Wilson County, Bautista’s bond was increased to $1,002,000.
Vicent Picard, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Southern Region, said a detainer has been placed on Bautista with the Wilson County Jail.
"Following the adjudication of his criminal charges and the completion of any sentence imposed, Mr. Bautista will be taken into ICE custody for removal from the United States."
On Thursday morning, siblings German Arroyo-Correa, 10, and Areli Arroyo-Correa, 5, were struck by a Ford Explorer while they were getting on their school bus before 7 on Rock Ridge Sims Road. The driver of the vehicle left the scene, according to Lt. Jeff Gordon, N.C. Highway Patrol spokesman.
The vehicle was located by the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office soon after the accident, and Bautista was taken into custody.
In addition to hit-and-run, he has also been charged with felony passing a stopped school bus, no operator’s license, failure to register a motor vehicle and displaying fictitious registration. His bond was set at $30,000 Thursday.
The children were reported in stable condition Thursday night.
The Rock Ridge School community is holding a fundraiser at Chick-fil-A on Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. to help the family with expenses. Anyone who would like to help can email Buffy Poole at buffypoole@gmail.com or Marian Matthews at mariansmathews@ymail.com.
Monetary donations can be made to the family as well. Send to Rock Ridge Elementary School, 6605 Rock Ridge School Road, Wilson, NC 27893 with checks made out to the school. On the memo line write Arroyo-Correa family.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/6/diseases-still-problem-illegal-immigrant-families/
Communicable diseases continue to be a problem at the New Mexico facility built to house illegal immigrant families surging across the U.S.-Mexico border, and the immigrants themselves aren’t taking their own health care very seriously, according to an audit released Monday.
* "THE NEW AMERICANS..."
(*SPITTING ON THE GROUND*)
While the Border Patrol is doing a good job of handling the surge of illegal immigrant children traveling alone without their parents, the families who are being housed at a special facility continue to have health problems and trouble using the bathroom, the Homeland Security inspector general said.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
“Family unit illnesses and unfamiliarity with bathroom facilities continued to result in unsanitary conditions,” Inspector General John Roth wrote in a memo to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
* PERHAPS MICHELLE OBAMA AND HER GIRLS COULD HEAD DOWN THERE AND DO SOME MOPPING...?
(*SHRUG*)
Mr. Roth said the illnesses — which put the facility in Artesia, New Mexico, on lockdown earlier this year, preventing any immigrants from being transferred in or out — have proved to be a continuing problem.
* GEEZUS...
Part of the issue is the immigrants themselves, some of whom have never seen a doctor before, don’t follow up afterward, either for themselves or their children.
* STOP... CALLING... THEM... IMMIGRANTS...!!! THEY'RE ILLEGAL ALIENS! AND WE NEITHER NEED THEM NOR WANT THEM HERE! LET THEIR COUNTRIES CARE FOR THEM! AND IF THEY DON'T LIKE THE WAY THEIR COUNTRIES FUNCTION... LET THEM CHANGE THEIR COUNTRIES! (DON'T DRAG AMERICA DOWN; DRAG YOUR OWN SELVES AND COUNTRIES UP!)
“If detainees do not attend sick call or stand in line to receive daily medications, they remain sick and their illnesses tend to get worse,” the inspector general said.
* TELL US SOMETHING WE DON'T ALREADY KNOW... MORON!
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/63820/
Fifty-four Central American refugee students, some of whom cannot read or write, have been moved from their schools into a separate program at a Hall County public school, Lanier Charter Career Academy.
* AT... WHAT... COST...?
The students...do not speak English. Their Spanish dialects are unfamiliar to the district's Spanish teachers, and some have had little schooling.
* PERFECT!
One student, a 14-year-old, has never been to school. Some others are able to read and write in their native language, but the dialect barrier has made it difficult to assess each student's needs.
* AGAIN... HOW MUCH IS THIS GOING TO COST...???
Barron said there is no special federal or state funding for the program, but it is not costing the district any money beyond what it already spends per student.
* RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU BELIEVE THE ABOVE STATEMENT!
* THESE ARE THE EQUIVILANT TO "SPECIAL ED" STUDENTS. ASK YOUR OWN SCHOOLS WHAT THE DISPARITY IS BETWEEN "MAINSTREAM" PER STUDENT EXPENDITURES AND "SPECIAL ED" PER STUDENT EXPENDITURES. (I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY'RE TRYING TO GET AWAY WITH SUCH NONSENSE!)
The students are counted in the enrollment numbers the state uses to determine its funding for the districts, and students are using textbooks and computers the district already owned.
* TEXTBOOKS IN A LANGUAGE THEY CAN'T READ... TAUGHT BY TEACHERS THEY CAN'T UNDERSTAND AND WHO CAN'T UNDERSTAND THEM...???
* FOLKS... IS IT ME...???
The students, ages 14 to 18, are learning English, basic skills in math and skills needed for everyday life in the United States.
* FOLKS... WE ALL KNOW THAT HUGE SEGMENTS OF NATIVE BORN AMERICANS AREN'T PROPERLY LEARNING ENGLISH, BASIC SKILLS IN MATH, OR SKILLS NEEDED FOR EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES! AND WE'RE EXPECTED TO BELIEVE THINGS WILL GO SMOOTHER... AT NO ADDED COST... WITH "THE NEW AMERICANS" OBAMA HAS LURED HERE? REALLY...???
"We're teaching skills in the U.S. that will make you not only able to get a job, but to keep a job," said Lanier Charter Principal Cindy Blakely.
* FOLKS... THESE PEOPLE ARE JUST IN DENIAL! THEY'RE SPOUTING THE COMPANY LINE! (BESIDES THAT... AREN'T WE TOLD THAT NOWADAYS ONLY A COLLEGE DEGREE - OR BETTER YET, A MASTERS - QUALIFIES ONE FOR AN ENTRY LEVEL JOB IN "HIGH TECH AMERICA?"
"For students who are fairly capable and not too far behind, our hope would be within a year or two that they are remediated enough to return to their high school, and also that they are able to live in the community and feel a part of the community."
* THERE AREN'T ENOUGH JOBS FOR AMERICANS... EXAMINING THE VARIOUS SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND OTHER SOCIETAL STATS FOR NATIVE BORN AFRICAN-AMERICANS (OR TRY NATIVE AMERICANS!) OR AMERICANS OF HISPANIC DESCENT IS ENOUGH TO BRING ME TO TEARS. AND WE WANT TO IMPORT MORE PROBLEMS... MORE COSTS...??? I JUST DON'T GET THE LOGIC?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/6/one-in-five-in-us-dont-speak-english-at-home-repor/
One-fifth of people in the U.S. speak a foreign language at home, according to a report being released Monday by the Center for Immigration Studies, which found Arabic and Urdu — the national language of Pakistan — among the fastest-growing.
The report found that nearly half of all California school-age children speak a language other than English at home, as do a third of Texans and Nevadans, according to the report, which is based on Census Bureau numbers.
* NOTICE I'M NOT FREAKING OUT... SO FAR...
(*RUEFUL SMILE*)
Three decades ago, 10% of residents spoke a foreign language at home...
* I'D BE MORE INTERESTED IN THE DECADES IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING BIG WAVES OF IMMIGRATION. I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THE PERCENTAGE WAS WHEN ELLIS ISLAND WAS RUNNING AT FULL CAPACITY.
(*SHRUG*)
More than 40% of those who spoke a foreign language at home said they speak English less than proficiently.
* ONE... MORE... TIME...
More than 40% of those who spoke a foreign language at home said they speak English less than proficiently.
* COINCIDENCE OR CAUSATION...??? (I'M THINKING CAUSATION - AND THAT AIN'T GOOD!)
Steven Camarota, co-author of the report, said the increase in foreign language speakers isn’t an accident, but rather the result of policy decisions that could be reversed by Congress:
“Allowing in over one million new legal immigrants a year and to a lesser extent tolerating illegal immigration has important implications for preserving a common language,” Mr. Camarota said. “For too long, we have given little consideration to whether continuing this level of immigration, mostly legal, hinders the assimilation of immigrants and their children.”
* YEP!
Spanish speakers dominate, with 38.4 million U.S. residents — roughly 12% of the total population — speaking Spanish at home.
About a fifth of school-age children in the District of Columbia speak a language other than English at home, Mr. Camarota’s report said.
* GEEZUS...
The rate is 16.7% in Maryland and 14.4% in Virginia. Those are all in the top half of the country in terms of percentage, but they still lag far behind California at 44.6%, Texas at 35%, Nevada at 33.3% and New Mexico at 31.3%.
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