The Empire Doesn’t Care Who You Vote For
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Have We Lost All Sense of Perspective?
Has something gone adrift within the moral compass of our ‘news’ reporting? In the past week, 64 Afghans have been killed in the largest bomb to have exploded in Kabul in 15 years. At least 340 were wounded. The Taliban set off their explosives at the very wall of the ‘elite’ security force which was supposed to protect the capital. Whole families were annihilated. No autopsies for them. Local television showed an entire family–a mother and father and three children blown to pieces in a millisecond–while the city’s ambulance service reported that its entire fleet (a miserable 15 vehicles) were mobilised for the rescue effort. One ambulance was so packed with wounded that the back doors came off their hinges.
But Prince also died this week.
Now Afghanistan is the country to which we and our EU partners are happily returning refugees on the grounds that Kabul and its surrounding provinces are “safe”. It is, of course, a lie–as flagrant and potentially as bloody as the infamous weapons of mass destruction we claimed were in Iraq in 2003. By then, we had already promised the Afghans–in 2001–that we wouldn’t let them down. We wouldn’t forget them as we did after the Soviet war.
There was another story on Afghan television last week, which carried its own dark implications for the future. A young man called Sabour was convicted of murdering two American advisers and told the court that he had absolutely no regrets. Afghan social media began to fill with comments in support of the man. He was “a real Afghan,” said one. “A true Afghan.” So much for Afghanistan and its utterly corrupt government and our continued claim that we support this bogus administration and that our advisers are there to produce, well, not ‘Jeffersonian democracy”–as the Americans coyly admitted in 2003–but at least stability.
But Prince also died this week.
Then there was the latest Mediterranean catastrophe. Up to 500 refugees and migrants were believed to have drowned after refugees from a small vessel sailing out of Libya were transferred onto a larger boat on which Egyptians, Ethiopians, Somalis and Sudanese were traveling. The survivors were landed in Greece, some having seen their families drown. But there were no pictures of the sinking. No autopsies for them, of course. No dead little Aylan Kurdis were washed up on a soft beach for the cameras. They simply drifted straight down to the depths of the ocean to join the other thousands of skeletons who never made it to Europe. Do not reflect that five hundred lives is almost exactly one third the total passenger deaths on the Titanic. Do not mention that another million human beings are likely to choose this Mediterranean passage now that we are closing the straits between Greece and Turkey.
Because Prince died this week.
No, I don’t begrudge those who mourn this brilliant musician and the social revolution he represented. The ‘Purple Rain’ ‘superstar’ also had fans across the Middle East. There are Arab Facebooks aplenty today expressing their sorrow at his death. But I do wonder if we are going too far. When network television presenters are expressing their condolences to the mayor of Minneapolis and the Eiffel Tower has turned purple, there must surely come a time when we ask ourselves if our sense of priorities has not lost all perspective. Could not one of those three dead children in Kabul have become a ‘Prince’? Or the children among the five hundred souls on the sinking Mediterranean boat? Could not he or she have become a ‘superstar’? How about a few presenters expressing their sorrow for their deaths, too? The colour would be black instead of purple, of course. The Eiffel Tower lights would have to be switched off.
But this will not happen. Because ‘Prince’ died this week.
Turkey’s Seizure of Churches and Land Alarms Armenians
| By Ceylan Yeginsu, NY Times, April 23, 2016 ISTANBUL–The Turkish government has seized the historic Armenian Surp Giragos Church, a number of other churches and large swaths of property in the heavily damaged Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, saying it wants to restore the area but alarming residents who fear the government is secretly aiming to drive them out. The city, in the heart of Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, has been the scene of heavy fighting for nearly a year, since the Turkish military began a counterinsurgency campaign against militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which ended a two-year cease-fire in July. Many neighborhoods have been left in ruins, and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes. Surp Giragos, one of the largest Armenian churches in the Middle East, was damaged in the fighting and forced to shut its doors. Both the Armenians, for whom Surp Giragos is an important cultural touchstone, and the Kurds have discerned a hidden agenda in the expropriations. They say the government plans to replace the destroyed neighborhoods they shared with other minorities with luxury rentals and condominiums affordable only to a wealthier, presumably nonminority class of residents. Some analysts agree, saying even some of the better-off Syrian refugees in Turkey could end up there. “Solving ethnic and religious strife through demographic engineering is a policy of the Turkish government that goes back well over a century,” said Taner Akcam, a prominent Turkish historian. “The latest developments in Sur,” he added, referring to the historic heart of Diyarbakir, “need to be viewed through this framework.” Indeed, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party has displayed a predilection for sweeping projects. It was a proposal to build a shopping mall in place of a razed central park in Istanbul that set off mass antigovernment demonstrations in 2013. Mr. Erdogan announced the government’s urban renewal plans for Diyarbakir in 2011, saying they would “make the city into an international tourism destination.” Shortly after that speech, the local housing administration started tearing down decrepit residential buildings in Sur, but opposition soon brought a halt to the demolition. Many of the buildings in Sur are protected, prohibiting big restoration projects. Mass construction can be carried out only if the government declares an urgent expropriation, as it has done now. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said recently that the government would rebuild Sur to look like the scenic Spanish city of Toledo. “Everyone will want to come and appreciate its architectural texture,” he said. Yet for the Armenians and the Kurds, distrust of Turkey’s intentions runs deep. Armenians still have vivid memories of what historians now call the World War I genocide carried out by the Ottoman Turks, in which 1.5 million of their countrymen died, and the Kurds have fought the Turkish government on and off for generations. Diyarbakir is a polyglot city that is home to small Christian congregations of Assyrians, Chaldeans and Turkish converts, as well as to Armenians and Kurds. Surp Giragos (“Surp” means saint in Armenian), which stands in Sur, closed in the 1960s for lack of parishioners but was renovated and reopened in 2011, part of a reconciliation process begun by the Erdogan government that has returned dozens of properties that the Ottoman Turks confiscated during World War I. To many Armenians in the area, who lost touch with their family histories after the genocide and were often raised as Muslims by Kurdish families, the church has served as an anchor as they rediscovered their identities. These “hidden Armenians” emerged as Turkey relaxed its restrictions on minorities, but now they say they again feel threatened. That helps explain why the government’s seizure of the church struck a particularly raw nerve with the Armenian diaspora and rights groups, who say the expropriation of religious properties and 6,300 plots of land in Diyarbakir is a blatant violation of international law. “This is reminiscent of the events leading up to the start of the Armenian genocide on April 24, 1915, when properties were illegally confiscated and the population was displaced under the false guise of temporary relocation for its own protection,” said Nora Hovsepian, the chairwoman of the Western Region of the Armenian National Committee of America. “That temporary relocation,” she added, “turned out to be death marches and a permanent disenfranchisement of two million from their ancestral homeland.” The Turkish government denies that those killings amounted to genocide, saying thousands of people–many of them Turks–died as a result of civil war. That history, and the traumas associated with those bloody events, have been passed down through generations, and continue to reverberate among Armenians. “We haven’t been able to go to the church for months, and it’s devastating to hear that it has been damaged in the fighting,” said Onur Kayikci, a Kurdish resident of Sur, who recently became aware of his Armenian ancestry. “For us, it’s not just a building or a place of worship. It’s where we would come to put together the pieces of our history and identity together.” |
At 100, Still Running for Her Life
On a cloudless Sunday afternoon in April, a 100-year-old woman named Ida Keeling laced up her mustard yellow sneakers and took to the track at the Fieldston School in the Bronx. Her arrival was met without fanfare. In fact, no one in the stands seemed to notice her at all.
It is possible the spectators were distracted by the girls’ soccer game taking place on the field. Or perhaps they were simply unaware that Ms. Keeling is a reigning national champion.
When she runs, Ms. Keeling occupies a lane all her own. She has held several track-and-field records since she began racing in her late 60s, and she still has the fastest time for American women ages 95 to 99 in the 60-meter dash: 29.86 seconds. In the week to come, she plans to compete in a 100-meter event at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, where she hopes to establish a new standard for women over 100 years old.
“You see so many older people just sitting around–well, that’s not me,” said Ms. Keeling, who is barely 4-foot-6 and weighs 83 pounds. “Time marches on, but I keep going.”
Ms. Keeling was not always such an accomplished runner. As a child growing up in Harlem, she preferred riding bikes or jumping rope. With Title IX half a century away, there were few opportunities for girls, let alone black girls, to play organized sports. When she did run, it was always to race, never to exercise.
“I was pretty fast as a girl,” she said. “What makes me faster now is that everyone else slowed down.”
When the Depression hit, Ms. Keeling’s athletic inclinations receded into memory, supplanted by a series of jobs washing windows and babysitting for neighbors. Her family, who for years lived in cramped quarters in the back of her father’s grocery, was forced into even more humbling circumstances when the store went out of business and her father began peddling fruits and vegetables from a pushcart for a living.
“I learned to stand on my own two feet during the Depression,” she said. “It taught you to do what you had to do without anyone doing it for you.”
Ms. Keeling’s resilience only deepened with time. After her husband died of a heart attack at 42, she was left to raise their four children on her own. She moved the family into a one-bedroom apartment in a Harlem housing project and took up work sewing in a factory, all the while contending with the abuses and indignities endured by black women in mid-20th-century America. As the civil rights movement took shape, Ms. Keeling became an active demonstrator, shuttling her children to Malcolm X speeches and boarding a predawn bus for the 1963 March on Washington.
“I always understood from mother that you die on your feet rather than live on your knees,” said her daughter Shelley Keeling.
Over time, that resolve was gravely tested. While serving overseas in the Navy, Ms. Keeling’s older son, Donald, developed a crippling drug addiction that he struggled to shed even after returning home to Harlem. His habit ensnared his younger brother, Charles, who had served in the Army. Ms. Keeling watched in horror as both boys, barrel-chested charmers who friends joked looked like superheroes, withdrew into the world of drugs.
In 1978, Ms. Keeling received a call from the police informing her that Donald had been hanged. Around two years later, the phone rang again: Charles was dead–beaten in the street with a baseball bat. Both killings were suspected to be drug-related; neither was ever solved.
“I’ve never felt a pain so deep,” Ms. Keeling recalled, her voice lowering to a whisper. “I couldn’t make sense of any of it and things began to fall apart.”
As Ms. Keeling fell into a deep depression, her health began to falter. Her blood pressure shot up, along with her heart rate. The image of her once-vital mother in such despair shook the younger Ms. Keeling. A lifelong track-and-field athlete whose trophies fill an entire room of her apartment, she intervened with the means of healing most familiar to her: running.
“It was trial by fire,” recalled Shelley Keeling, 64, who has coached track and field at Fieldston for 21 years. “Based on where she was emotionally, it just had to be.”
After some coaxing from her daughter, Ms. Keeling, then 67, registered for a five-kilometer race through Brooklyn. It had been decades since she had last gone running. The two women took off together, but the younger Ms. Keeling soon darted to the front of the pack as her mother drifted far behind. After a suspenseful respite, she was relieved to see her mother scamper across the finish line, barely out of breath.
“Good Lord, I thought that race was never going to end, but afterwards I felt free,” Ms. Keeling recalled. “I just threw off all of the bad memories, the aggravation, the stress.”
So began the sunset career of Ida Keeling, at a time when most of her peers were settling in for a future of seated yoga or abandoning athletics altogether. In the decades since, she has traveled across the world for competitions. She often races alone, the only contestant in her age group.
“Now I’m just chasing myself–there’s no one else to compete with,” she said. “It’s wonderful, but it feels a little crazy.”
Running gives Ms. Keeling a sense of serenity, she said. Her sinewy arms urge her body forward, each stride stronger than the last as she picks up momentum. Though she has developed arthritis and occasionally relies on a cane while walking, Ms. Keeling betrays none of her ailments as she runs.
To maintain her health, Ms. Keeling adheres to a stringent regimen of diet (“I eat for nutrition, not for taste”) and exercise (“I’ve got to get my hour in every day”). On a recent afternoon, Shelley Keeling led her mother through a routine that included push-ups, wall sits, shoulder presses and sprints back and forth on the balcony of her apartment in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Ms. Keeling lives alone and says that self-sufficiency is a key to her longevity.
Ms. Keeling eschews food products with preservatives, favoring fresh grains and produce, along with limited portions of meat. Desserts are rarities, and a tablespoon of cod-liver oil supplements breakfast most mornings. Despite her exceptional discipline, Ms. Keeling allows herself one indulgence. “This is putting gas in the car,” she said before downing a tall shot of Hennessy.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Another Clinton Death List
Mary Mahoney. Died July 1997. Was a former intern working for Bill Clinton. In the pre-trial publicity surrounding Paul Jones' lawsuit, and mere days after Newsweek's Mike Isikoff had dropped hints that a former White House staffer was going to go public with her story of sexual harassment at the White House, gunmen entered the Starbuck's coffee house in Georgetown while the crew was cleaning up after closing. Mary's two associates were taken to a room and executed. Mary had five bullets in her.
http://www.greatdreams.com/planes/murder_by_plane_crash.htm
No money was taken. Isikoff's former White House staffer never appears and the Georgetown police steadfastly refuse to comment on this heinous killing - a killing the police say is extraordinary since they never have even one shooting in this area, much less three people executed in the same place on the same night and nothing taken.
Vincent Foster. White House Counsel. Died July 21, 1993. Everyone's heard the whitewash from two independent prosecutors but if you want the truth and not "spin", order Chris Ruddy's book, The Strange Death of Vince Foster. Suicide my foot.
Maj. General William Robertson, Deputy Commanding General, V Corps, Europe, former bodyguard to Clinton.
Colonel William Densberger, V Corps Chief of Operations and Plans, former Clinton bodyguard.
Colonel Robert Kelly, V Corps Chief of Intelligence. Former Clinton bodyguard.
Specialist Gary Rhodes, Crew Chief. All died February 23, 1993. All were killed when their helicopter crashed in Weisbaden, Germany. No cause ever determined. V Corps figured prominently in the US Bosnia-Serbia peacekeeping operations, along with the carrier Roosevelt. These men and 8 others associated with Clinton's visit to the Roosevelt all died within four months of each other.
Steve Willis, Clinton Bodyguard. Robert Williams, Clinton bodyguard. Conway BeBleu, Clinton bodyguard. Todd McKeehan, Clinton bodyguard. All executed by gunfire in the Waco, Texas assault on the Branch Davidians. All four were examined by a private doctor and died from nearly identical wounds to the left temple. All deaths blamed on the Branch Davidians. Amazing that the Branch Davidians could place the gunshots to each of their heads in roughly the same places. Amazing.
Staff Sgt. Brian Haney, Clinton bodyguard. Marine Sgt. Tim Sabel, Clinton bodyguard. Major William Barkley, Clinton bodyguard, Capt. Scott Reynolds, Clinton bodyguard. All died May 19, 1993 when their helicopter crashed in the woods near Quantico, VA. All four men had escorted Clinton on his flight to the carrier Roosevelt shortly before their deaths.
My husband was in the Army 27 years and is a retired Colonel. We have been absolutely stunned by the overwhelming number of crashed military planes and helicopters since Clinton took office. It is unprecedented and in case you are unaware, Clinton stated in his evasion letters to avoid the draft back in the '60's that he "hated the military."
Dead Fund Raisers:
C. Victor Raiser II, National Finance Co-Chairman for Clinton for President Campaign. Montgomery Raiser, son of C. Victor Raiser: both men died July 30, 1992 in a private plane crash in Alaska en route to a fishing expedition. No cause was ever determined. Five others not connected to Clinton died with them. Paul Tully, Democratic National Committee Political Director. Died September 24, 1992. Found dead in a hotel room in Little Rock, Arkansas of unknown causes. No autopsy allowed. Ed Willey, Real Estate Attorney, Clinton Fund Raiser. Died November 30, 1993 of a gunshot wound to the head. Body found deep in the woods in Virginia. Ruled a suicide. No note was found nor motive ever determined. The Kathleen Willey of 60 Minutes Deception fame- her husband. Hershell Friday. Attorney and Clinton fund raiser, dead March 1, 1994 when his plane exploded. No known cause ever determined.
Jerry Parks, Head of Clinton's Gubernatorial security team in Little Rock. Died September 26, 1993. Gunned down in his car at a deserted intersection outside Little Rock. His family reported that shortly before his death, they were being followed by unknown persons and their home had been broken into; Parks had been compiling a dossier on Clinton's illicit activities; the dossier was stolen and never recovered.
James Bunch, influential Texan died in 1993 from a gunshot wound similar to Vince Foster's. Was discovered to have a "little black book" which contained the names of many influential people in Texas and Arkansas who visited certain prostitutes. A good friend of Bill's.
John Wilson, former Washington, DC Councilman. Died May 18, 1993. Found dead from an apparent hanging suicide. Was getting ready to start talking about Clinton. Dead men tell no tales. Bill Shelton, Arkansas State Trooper and Fiancee of Kathy Ferguson. Died June 1994 by allegedly committing suicide by shooting himself at the grave site of his fiancee, Kathy Ferguson. Ferguson was the ex-wife of Trooper Danny Ferguson. Kathy also committed "suicide" in June 1994 when she shot herself in her living room. Strangely, next to her body were her packed bags as if she was expecting to go somewhere. I guess she was packed for her after life...Danny Ferguson is a co-defendant along with Bill Clinton in Paul Jones' sexual harassment suit. Kathy was reported as a corroborating witness for Paula Jones.
Gandy Baugh, Attorney representing Mr. Lassiter in a case concerning alleged financial misconduct. Died May 1994 in an alleged suicide by jumping out of a window of a multi-story building. Lassiter was a close associate of then Gov. Clinton and was later indicted and convicted on cocaine charges and was PARDONED by Bill Clinton. Slick has now started his big ad campaign on the war on drugs yet he pardons his close cocaine dealing bud. Hello out there, does anyone see anything wrong with this picture????
Dr. Ronald Rogers was killed in a plane crash. Dr. Rogers was a dentist and was on his way to an interview with a London Daily Telegraph reporter to reveal information on Bill Clinton that he just couldn't live with anymore - and he didn't. He died with the truth.
Stanley Huggins, partner in a Memphis law firm in 1993, found dead at the age of 46. Law firm headed a 1987 investigation into the practices of Madison S & L; his 300 page report has never been released.
Florence Martin, accountant subcontracting to the CIA , found dead in 1994 in Mabell, Texas, the victim of three gunshot wounds to the head. Ms. Martin had the documents and paperwork, including the PIN number for an account that had been set up in the name of Barry Seal for $1.5 million at the Fuji Bank in the Cayman Islands. Oddly enough, following her death, the money was transferred to the Guaranty Bank in the Cayman Islands and then to another bank in the Virgin Islands.
Jim Wilhite, associate of Mack McClarty's former firm. Many remember the sleezy McClarty from Clinton's first administration. Wilhite died in a skiing accident on December 21, 1992. Michael Kennedy and Sonny Bono should have paid attention to history - it has a habit of repeating itself and some people relive it. As a side-note, during the Waco whitewash congressional hearings, Bono, in tears, said Janet Reno was a mass murderer. Well, he's not around to criticize her anymore and no doubt, she will get away with gassing and burning 100 Americans.
Susanne Coleman. Had an affair with Bill Clinton when he was Attorney General down in Arkansas. She was another ASS victim: Arkansas Suicide Syndrome. Gunshot to the back of her head. No autopsy performed, she was pregnant at the time of her murder; rumors around Little Rock: Bill was about to become a pappy again.
Paula Grober, Clinton's speech interpreter for the deaf. Died December 9, 1992 in a one-car accident with no known witnesses. I have seen a photo of Paula and she was very attractive; traveled extensively with Clinton from 1978 until her death.
Paul Wilcher, Washington attorney investigating government corruption. Died June 22, 1993. Found dead on a toilet in his Washington apartment. No cause of death ever determined. At the time of his death, he was investigating connections between the alleged October Surprise, which involved Reagan, "Ollie" North, Pointdexter and Secord - another cover-up, as well as Waco and the drug and gun-running still going on outside Mena, Arkansas. Wilcher had delivered his 100+ page report to Janet the Butcher of Waco Reno a week before his death. I have a copy of this report.
Jon Parnell Walker, RTC investigator [Resolution Trust Corporation - as in bank fraud investigations] who mysteriously fell to his death from an apartment balcony at the Lincoln Towers in Arlington, VA. This apartment is reported to be the one Vince Foster used as a retreat. Back in 1992, Walker contacted the Kansas City RTC office for information concerning the ties between Whitewater and the Clinton duo. What exactly was he looking for? A reported $50 million transfer from an RTC fund in Chicago to Madison Guaranty S & L to cover up a $47 million dollar embezzlement. I watched the hearings on C-SPAN with the RTC group. Those who tried to tell the truth were slayed by the Demarats on the committee. Another whitewash on Whitewater.
Ron Brown, Former Chairman of the DNC and Commerce Secretary. The Liars for Hire aka the establishment media, have done their best to smear anyone trying to get to the bottom of this very convenient and horrible plane crash in which 39 people were killed. April 3, 1996 the T-43 carrying this trade mission group on a trip to Bosnia crashed while approaching Dubrovnik airport. Ron Brown was on the verge of being indicted and had prior to his departure, made it known that he "wasn't going down alone."
On April 3, 1996 at approximately 11:00 am MT, I, along with at least a hundred other people I know, saw the first coverage of this plane crash on CNN. What did we all see: A CNN reporter at the Dubrovnik airport, lots of activity in the background. This female reporter said the military rescue craft were just lifting off - lots of activity in the background - to begin recovery efforts in the ocean! She said the reporters were told that the tail section of the plane was in good condition and sighted by rescue planes. She went on to say that the weather was kinda rough but that rescue operations were underway.
Later that day, I saw, again on CNN, the first pictures of the crash - on the side of a hill. I saw the tail section, shiny and white, like it had been washed, on the side of the hill with some other wreckage. Imagine my surprise. I guess this must be another vast right-wing conspiracy by my eyes....Later that same day, CNN carried a quick blip: Ron Brown's business partner, while in South Africa on business, was shot in an assassination attempt but had survived. I have no further information on whatever became of him.
What I find so odd is that Mrs. Ron Brown got the run-around from the White House when Chris Ruddy's story and photos of a possible bullet hole in her husband's head broke. To this day, I cannot understand why she hasn't had her husband's body exhumed and autopsied. Of course, that would let any cat out of the bag. Or, perhaps, since it is now public knowledge, everyone knows her husband was cheating on her for years with Nolanda Hill and Mrs. Brown has had her faced rubbed in it, sadly in a very public way.
My heart goes out to Mrs. Brown but I sincerely wish someone could convince her to have Commerce Secty Brown's body exhumed so we can get to the truth and if he was murdered and those responsible punished. Thirty nine people died on that plane, their families deserve the truth, America deserves the truth. All the military personnel who have blown the whistle on this are having their previously untarnished careers trashed because they came forward with legitimate questions. When is this going to stop?
Chief Niko Jerkuic, committed suicide May 6, 1996. He was Air Traffic Maintenance Chief for the plane Ron Brown died aboard in his "accident." Dead men tell no tales.
If you can, get a copy of the April 1996 American Spectator [703-243-3733]. It came out six days before Brown's plane crash and gives a thorough, chronological accounting of why Brown was to be indicted by the Justice Department. This issue also carries the feature story, incredibly well documented on how the traitor, William Perry, former Secty of Defense sold all our technology and military secrets to the Reds and was known as the darling of Peking. This man collaborated with the Communists and if it were you or me, we'd be tried for treason and sedition. Instead, Perry collects his fat government retirement and continues to collaborate with our enemies. And for those Clinton supporters who want to spew their usual bile that this magazine is funded by Richard Mellon Scafe, try reading the article and then do the research - you'll come up with the same sickening facts.
Barbara Wise, Commerce Department Staffer. Found dead November 29, 1996, partially nude and covered with bruises in her locked office at the Department of Commerce. No cause of death has been announced and the police refuse to comment on this death. It surely must be a conspiracy, except that official records show that Bill Clinton made an unscheduled return from Camp David to the White House the morning she died and before her body was discovered.
The President of the United States claims he flew back from Camp David to retrieve a book of poetry he needed to finish his inauguration speech. Really? Doesn't he have staffers to do this? He interrupts his Thanksgiving break to fly all the way back to the White House to get a book of poetry? And sure I believe that, folks.
Something I find frightening is the fact that Ms. Wise's murder so closely resembles the story line in a Clint Eastwood film titled Absolute Power. Eastwood just happens to observe the President of the U.S. beat up and murder his sexual paramour and then the cover-up begins. This is not the type of video I rent but on a recommendation that I would find the similarity between Clinton and the president in this movie overwhelming, I rented it and found it bone chilling.
Charles Meissner, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Economic Policy. Following Ron Brown's death, John Huang was placed on a Commerce Dept., contract that allowed him to retain his security clearance by Charles Meissner - something considered nothing short of astounding. Shortly thereafter Mr. Meissner died in a small plane crash, Mrs. Meissner still works in the Clinton administration.
Kevin Ives & Don Henry. Initial cause of death was said to be falling asleep on a railroad track in Arkansas on August 23, 1987. Next the local sheriff said it was a double "suicide". Later it was determined that Kevin died from a crushed skull prior to being placed on the tracks. The other teenager, Don Henry had been stabbed in the back. These two young boys allegedly had stumbled on the drug running operation still going on outside Mena, Arkansas.
Keith Coney died in a motorcycle accident in July 1988; Keith was fleeing an attacker. Keith had a great deal of information on the Ives/Henry deaths.
Keith McKasle, stabbed to death in November 1988. Also had information on the Ives/Henry deaths.
Gregory Collins. Had information on the Ives/Henry deaths. Mr. Collins died from a gunshot wound to his face in January 1989.
Jeff Rhodes had information on the Ives/Henry and McKaskle deaths. His burned body was found in a trash dump in April 1989 with a gunshot wound to the head, body mutilation.
James Milam died shortly thereafter. He had information on the Ives/Henry deaths. Although he was decapitated, Fahmy Malak, the Arkansas State Medical Examiner ruled his death as a result of "natural causes." No lie, read his report.
Richard Winters was a suspect in the deaths of the two teenage boys, Ives & Henry. He was killed in a "robbery" in July 1989 by a man with a sawed off shotgun; this robbery was later proven to be a set-up. Dead men tell no lies.
Jordan Ketelson, also had information on the Ives/Henry deaths. He was found shot to death [shot gun blast] in the front seat of his pickup in June 1990.
Danny Casolaro, 1991, a reporter investigating a number of the Clinton "scandals"; found dead in a bathtub in a hotel room in West Virginia, his wrists had been cut. Had done what so many of us have done: told our families that we are not suicidal.
Stanley Heard, Chairman, National Chiropractic Health Care Advisory Committee. Steve Dickson, counsel to Mr. Heard. both died in a plane crash September 10, 1993 outside Dulles airport; fire reported on board. Their plane developed unexplained trouble so they had to use another plane which just happened to be available at the time. In addition to serving on Clinton's advisory council, he also personally treated Clinton's mother, stepfather and cocaine using brother, Roger.
1989: A bank president, Dan Short, abducted from his home in Benton Co., Arkansas and allegedly forced to open the State Bank in Noel, MO were $71,000 was allegedly taken. Mr. Short's body was allegedly found in Grand Lake in Delaware County, Oklahoma even though eye color, hair color and dental records did not match. Three days before his abduction, he had told friends that he had been laundering drug money and was in trouble. The Mena and Bill connection is strong here. Where is the real Dan Short?
Gary Johnson: Not dead but beaten half to death and left for dead. He had videotapes of Clinton going in and out of Jennifer Flowers' apartment building; Mr. Johnson lived next door. The tapes were taken and never recovered.
Dennis Patrick. Court Clerk in Kentucky. Mr. Patrick had at least four documented attempts on his life. Why? The Little Rock brokerage firm of Lassiter & Co, owned by the convicted cocaine dealer, Dan Lassiter - pardoned by Slick Willie Clinton - laundered millions of dollars through Mr. Patrick's account at Lassiter & Co., without his knowledge. You can imagine the paper trail of documents Mr. Patrick has in his possession. Mr. Patrick went into hiding and is no where to be found.
L. J. Davis. Reporter investigating Clinton scandals. Attacked in his hotel room in Little Rock; his notes were stolen, he survived.
1983: Sheriff Gene Matthews was shot and killed allegedly by federal officials. Sheriff Matthews crime: Looking into the drug activities at the Mena airport.
1986: Russell Welch, an Arkansas State Police Investigator who was stricken with what his doctor called military grade anthrax poisoning while conducting his own probe of the Mena drug operations.
And, from investigative journalist, Pat Shannan:
"In 1986, Barry Seal [previously mentioned] was ambushed and machine-gunned in his home in Baton Rouge, LA. A Hollywood movie called "Double Crossed" was later made of the story of Seal's escapades as a cocaine-running pilot hauling his periodical loads into Florida and Arkansas. The film did not detail his true and close association with the Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton." The information being given here by Pat Shannan is a matter of public record in a number or courthouses involving the trial of Dan Lassiter and in references given below in the reference section. This is not, I repeat, not, some soap opera or some future script for Steven Segal. This material is factual as are all the deaths being recounted in this section.
"...on my radio show was presented a video tape showing Governor Clinton inspecting a load of cocaine inside Barry Seal's airplane, along with his crony Dan Lassiter. Lassiter was the wealthy businessman who later took the fall for the drug conviction and was then pardoned by Clinton." This is a matter of public record. On September 23, 1996, former Congressman Robert Dornan spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives about Clinton, the surveillance tapes the drug enforcement people made of his brother Roger referring to Clinton sniffing the coke and what a vacuum cleaner Bill's nose was for cocaine. Dornan did not survive his reelection bid in November 1996. Clinton under no circumstances will release his medical records. Gee, I wonder why?
These surveillance tapes are real and were made by undercover law enforcement, not the vast right-wing conspiracy elves Hillary whines about. Dornan and a lot of other people in Congress have heard them. Where's Dan Blather or Tom Broken Jaw or any of the other hot-shot reporters? Where's Woodard & Bernstein? These media people all listened to the Lewinsky tapes. How come no interest in these other tapes made by law enforcement? How about the C-130 that went straight into a mountain in Wyoming in 1996, all military crew and one Clinton former bodyguard who was aboard, all killed. Experienced air men and pilots flying straight into a mountain? Give me a break. That's right - it's all just a vast right-wing conspiracy!
April 17, 1995, near Alexander City, Alabama, another plane crash. I requested under a FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] Request from the NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] & FAA [Federal Aviation Administration], their accident/incident files on this plane crash; I received them in April 1997. This crash was a USAF C21 (Learjet 35). I have all the notes, radar, pilot conversations with tower, etc. This was another one of those incredibly strange crashes. The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Clark Fiester was among the eight people killed on this flight.
My interest in this flight was the one Army member on board who was flying on a "space available" basis and the documents he allegedly was carrying at the time - documents "unfriendly" to Bill Clinton. Since I am still looking into this, I won't elaborate any further. All AF personnel, the one Army individual, all killed on this routine flight that ended up dumping fuel, who radioed they would be ready to land in 28 minutes after the fuel dump - four minutes later they were all dead.
On January 29, 1995, the London Sunday Telegraph ran a story titled Arkansas Drug Expose Misses the Post. This was a well documented story about the drug running in Mena, implicating political figures, law enforcement and Bill Clinton. In this article by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, he points out the fact that the Washington Post was going to run a story on this, roughly 4,000 pages and 11 weeks of research. Guess what? The piece was canceled the prior Thursday. Free press in America? There's a hoot. Only an idiot can't see that the "free press" in this country, 88% of them voted for Slick in '92, are protecting this criminal couple.
And for all those "pro-choice" supporters of Slick Willie, this: In a 1986 letter to the Arkansas Right to Life group: "I am opposed to abortion and to government funding of abortions. We should not spend state funds on abortions because so many people believe abortion is wrong." And, a little extra for your money: In 1977, Richard Gephardt: "Life is the division of human cells, a process that begins with conception. The Roe ruling was unjust and it is incumbent upon Congress to correct the injustice." I guess both of them decided there was more money to be had in taking the side of those who think nothing of murdering of unborn babies. Funny, I have yet to see Gephardt begin the correction process by Congress of this "injustice."
March 8, 1998, James McDougal. Former Whitewater partner of the Clinton's. Died in solitary confinement less than 24 hours before he was due back in front of a grand jury. The details of how he was transferred to Texas, the unusual and weird way in which he was treated has led to at least one prisoner there to give a full accounting of what about 150 other prisoners saw the afternoon McDougal was put into solitary confinement. This one stinks real bad and if I were Jim Guy Tucker, I'd be very concerned. Can all these deaths of individuals with the same common denominator - Bill Clinton - can they all be just coincidence????
I have suggested to some independent media investigators that they look into this: Prior to Susan McDougal going to jail for refusing to testify in front of a grand jury re Whitewater, her two brothers in Arkansas barely kept their heads above water regarding their business dealings. Suddenly Susan sacrifices herself for truth, integrity and the America way and whala! her two brothers are now drowning in work and their personal finances have taken a miraculous turn for the better. I know, it's just a coincidence.
In a recent interview on big network TV, Miss Susan said, "There are worse things in life than a few months in jail." This was in response to a question as to what Susan thought Monica Lewinsky should do about testifying in front of a grand jury. It is reported by those who have listened to the Linda Tripp tapes that Ms. Lewinsky made one comment to the effect that she "didn't want to end up like Katy Mahoney." Remember the Starbuck's executions?
March 29, 1998, Johnnie Laughton. Found a cashier's check made out to Bill Clinton from Madison Guaranty (1997), cashed but not endorsed. Found in the trunk of a car at an auto salvage dealer in Arkansas after a tornado. How unbelievably convenient and how did this car with all this incriminating material end up where it did and then found after all those years? Some say it was the Fifth Column at work. All material turned over to Ken Starr. Clinton testified under oath that he never took a penny in loan money from Madison; this cashier's check in the amount of $27,000 was made out to Clinton, cashed with no endorsement on the back. Johnnie may have been called to the Whitewater grand jury someday. Well, that problem is solved. Another coincidental death? Dead men tell no tales.
March 31, 1998, Neal Moody, the step son of Lisa Foster, widow of Vincent Foster. She married Judge Moody, a Clinton appointee, two years after her husband's incredible suicide. Neal met a violent car death while carrying allegedly incriminating documents regarding the death of Vince Foster. Another coincidence?
http://waynesworld.osiris.org/body.html Clinton Body Count
Geoff Metcalf's THE CLINTON BODY-COUNT
http://www.brigadoon.com/~ajgator/resources.htm Clinton Scandal Resources
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Russia Bolsters Its Submarine Fleet, and Tensions With U.S. Rise
NAPLES, Italy–Russian attack submarines, the most in two decades, are prowling the coastlines of Scandinavia and Scotland, the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic in what Western military officials say is a significantly increased presence aimed at contesting American and NATO undersea dominance.
Adm. Mark Ferguson, the United States Navy’s top commander in Europe, said last fall that the intensity of Russian submarine patrols had risen by almost 50 percent over the past year, citing public remarks by the Russian Navy chief, Adm. Viktor Chirkov. Analysts say that tempo has not changed since then.
The patrols are the most visible sign of a renewed interest in submarine warfare by President Vladimir V. Putin, whose government has spent billions of dollars for new classes of diesel and nuclear-powered attack submarines that are quieter, better armed and operated by more proficient crews than in the past.
The tensions are part of an expanding rivalry and military buildup, with echoes of the Cold War, between the United States and Russia. Moscow is projecting force not only in the North Atlantic but in Syria and Ukraine and building up its nuclear arsenal and cyberwarfare capabilities in what American military officials say is an attempt to prove its relevance after years of economic decline and retrenchment.
Independent American military analysts see the increased Russian submarine patrols as a legitimate challenge to the United States and NATO. Even short of tensions, there is the possibility of accidents and miscalculations. But whatever the threat, the Pentagon is also using the stepped-up Russian patrols as another argument for bigger budgets for submarines and anti-submarine warfare.
American naval officials say that in the short term, the growing number of Russian submarines, with their ability to shadow Western vessels and European coastlines, will require more ships, planes and subs to monitor them. In the long term, the Defense Department has proposed $8.1 billion over the next five years for “undersea capabilities,” including nine new Virginia-class attack submarines that can carry up to 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles, more than triple the capacity now.
“We’re back to the great powers competition,” Adm. John M. Richardson, the chief of naval operations, said in an interview.
Last week, unarmed Russian warplanes repeatedly buzzed a Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea and at one point came within 30 feet of the warship, American officials said. Last year some of Russia’s new diesel submarines launched four cruise missile at targets in Syria.
Mr. Putin’s military modernization program also includes new intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as aircraft, tanks and air defense systems.
To be sure, there is hardly parity between the Russian and American submarine fleets. Russia has about 45 attack submarines–about two dozen are nuclear-powered and 20 are diesel–which are designed to sink other submarines or ships, collect intelligence and conduct patrols. But Western naval analysts say that only about half of those are able to deploy at any given time. Most stay closer to home and maintain an operational tempo far below a Cold War peak.
The United States has 53 attack submarines, all nuclear-powered, as well as four other nuclear-powered submarines that carry cruise missiles and Special Operations forces. At any given time, roughly a third of America’s attack submarines are at sea, either on patrols or training, with the others undergoing maintenance. American Navy officials and Western analysts say that American attack submarines, which are made for speed, endurance and stealth to deploy far from American shores, remain superior to their Russian counterparts.
The Pentagon is also developing sophisticated technology to monitor encrypted communications from Russian submarines and new kinds of remotely controlled or autonomous vessels. Members of the NATO alliance, including Britain, Germany and Norway, are at the same time buying or considering buying new submarines in response to the Kremlin’s projection of force in the Baltic and Arctic.
But Moscow’s recently revised national security and maritime strategies emphasize the need for Russian maritime forces to project power and to have access to the broader Atlantic Ocean as well as the Arctic.
Russian submarines and spy ships now operate near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some American military and intelligence officials that the Russians could attack those lines in times of tension or conflict. Russia is also building an undersea unmanned drone capable of carrying a small, tactical nuclear weapon to use against harbors or coastal areas, American military and intelligence analysts said.
And, like the United States, Russia operates larger nuclear-powered submarines that carry long-range nuclear missiles and spend months at a time hiding in the depths of the ocean. Those submarines, although lethal, do not patrol like the attack submarines do, and do not pose the same degree of concern to American Naval officials.
Analysts say that Moscow’s continued investment in attack submarines is in contrast to the quality of many of Russia’s land and air forces that frayed in the post-Cold War era.
“In the Russian naval structure, submarines are the crown jewels for naval combat power,” said Magnus Nordenman, director of the Atlantic Council’s trans-Atlantic security initiative in Washington. “The U.S. and NATO haven’t focused on anti-submarine operations lately, and they’ve let that skill deteriorate.”
That has allowed for a rapid Russian resurgence, Western and American officials say, partly in response to what they say is Russia’s fear of being hemmed in.
“I don’t think many people understand the visceral way Russia views NATO and the European Union as an existential threat,” Admiral Ferguson said in an interview.
In Naples, at the headquarters of the United States Navy’s European operations, including the Sixth Fleet, commanders for the first time in decades are having to closely monitor Russian submarine movements through the maritime choke points separating Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom, the G.I.U.K. Gap, which during the Cold War were crucial to the defense of Europe.
That stretch of ocean, hundreds of miles wide, represented the line that Soviet naval forces would have had to cross to reach the Atlantic and to stop United States forces heading across the sea to reinforce America’s European allies in time of conflict.
American anti-submarine aircraft were stationed for decades at the Naval Air Station Keflavik in Iceland–in the middle of the gap–but they withdrew in 2006, years after the Cold War was over. The Navy after that relied on P-3 sub-hunter planes rotating periodically through the base.
Now, the Navy is poised to spend about $20 million to upgrade hangars and support sites at Keflavik to handle its new, more advanced P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. That money is part of the Pentagon’s new $3.4 billion European Reassurance Initiative, a quadrupling of funds from last year to deploy heavy weapons, armored vehicles and other equipment to NATO countries in Central and Eastern Europe, to deter Russian aggression.
This month, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency christened a 132-foot prototype drone sea craft packed with sensors, the Sea Hunter, which is made with the intention of hunting autonomously for submarines and mines for up to three months at a time.
The allies are also holding half a dozen anti-submarine exercises this year, including a large drill scheduled later this spring called Dynamic Mongoose in the North Sea. The exercise is to include warships and submarines from Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and the United States.
“We are not quite back in a Cold War,” said James G. Stavridis, a retired admiral and the former supreme allied commander of NATO, who is now dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. “But I sure can see one from where we are standing.”
Comment by Dennis: From Bible prophecy it looks like we are headed for nuclear war some time at the end of the last seven-year period. The building-up of tensions between America and Russia would seem to confirm that we as a civilization continue towards the road to Armageddon, the big war to be fought over Israel in the Middle East at the return of Christ. Before that war, the New World Order will initiate a peace plan allowing Israel to begin sacrificial worship on the Temple Mount and most likely the rebuilding of the Temple. But things don't go as well as planned causing the Antichrist world leader to invade Israel setting things up for the horrendous famous battle.
Why Obama’s support for the E.U. is driving some Brits mad
President Obama arrives Thursday in London, where he may find himself at the center of a very British controversy. The U.S. president has become an unlikely player in Britain’s passionate “Brexit” debate–with his views even earning him the title “most anti-British American president there has ever been,” coined by a well-known politician.
For the uninitiated, “Brexit” is the catchy portmanteau used to refer to Britain’s potential exit from the European Union. After years of growing public dissent over the country’s E.U. membership, Britain is set to have a referendum this summer on whether to remain part of the E.U. If a majority of Brits vote to “leave” the E.U., Britain will exit the bloc.
Exactly what happens after that isn’t clear, but Obama evidently doesn’t want to see it happen.
Last year, he told the BBC that he supports Prime Minister David Cameron’s campaign for Britain to remain in the E.U., adding that the membership gave Washington greater confidence in the transatlantic alliance and helped make the world “safer and more prosperous.” During this week’s visit, Obama is widely expected to repeat his calls to vote against a Brexit.
Obama has faced a serious backlash from Brits who are part of the “leave” campaign. But why are they so mad? There seem to be three common arguments against Obama’s Brexit intervention:
1. Foreign leaders shouldn’t comment on another country’s domestic affairs.
In a letter signed by 100 members of Parliament, former Conservative cabinet minister Liam Fox argued that Obama should not interfere in the Brexit debate as it has “long been the established practice not to interfere in the domestic political affairs of our allies and we hope that this will continue.”
2. The United States would never agree to be a part of the E.U., they argue, so why should Britain?
The chief proponent of this argument is Boris Johnson, the mayor of London and a leading figure in Cameron’s Conservative Party. In March, Johnson accused the United States of “exorbitant hypocrisy,” saying it was in no position to preach because it defended its own sovereignty with “hysterical vigilance.” He doubled down on this statement recently, saying it was “bizarre” to be lectured by the Americans when they “won’t even sign up to the international convention on the law of the seas, let alone the International Criminal Court.”
Other prominent figures within the Conservative Party have supported this view: Former cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith recently said that voting to leave the E.U. would make Britain “look a little more like the U.S.” Duncan Smith also suggested that if Washington liked the E.U. so much, perhaps it should join the bloc.
3. Obama hates the British.
It was Nigel Farage, the eccentric leader of the anti-E.U. U.K. Independence Party, who said that Obama is the “most anti-British American president there has ever been.” This is almost certainly untrue, but it taps into a wider belief that maybe Obama just doesn’t really like Britain that much.
This belief dates to at least 2009, when the British media criticized the new president for apparently sending a bust of Winston Churchill back to Britain (as The Washington Post’s Fact Checker column recently explained, the reality of this situation was a lot more complicated). Adding fuel to the fire, Obama recently appeared to criticize Cameron, reigniting debate over the U.S. president’s apparently cold view of Britain and what that says about the future of the “special relationship” between the two countries.
The logic here seems to go that Obama’s hatred for Britain makes him want to keep the country in the E.U., where it will suffer forever more. Or, perhaps more mundanely, Obama could just be acting out of self-interest and be indifferent to what happens to Brits.
It’s pretty easy to chip some holes in these arguments, however.
For one thing, a Brexit vote isn’t just a domestic affair. It really does affect Americans, too. London has long served as a voice for Washington in Europe, sharing not only a language but also perhaps an ethos bred by the close ties between the countries. If a Brexit actually happens, the United States will lose its top E.U. ally–and perhaps have to find another one. Where this would leave London is unclear: The United States is not keen to pursue new bilateral free-trade agreements, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said recently, and instead favors multilateral free-trade platforms.
More broadly, the United States is concerned about the potential effects a Brexit could have on the world economy–the International Monetary Fund has warned that there would be “severe regional and global damage” if Britain leaves the E.U.
Second, it’s certainly true that the United States has shied away from a lot of international legislation. “All countries try to guard their sovereignty and maintain their freedom of action, but the United States is the world’s only superpower, so it has more go-it-alone power than any other country,” Michael Beckley, an assistant professor of political science at Tufts University, said in an email.
Finally, Obama’s supposed hatred of the Brits is a little hard to see in action. He doesn’t seem to have made any substantive changes to the special relationship in the seven years he has been in office, other than some not-so-thinly veiled criticism about Britain not pulling its weight on the world stage. Perhaps more important, polls have shown that he is widely respected and liked by Brits–in particular, the younger generations expected to turn out in droves for the Brexit vote.
Ultimately, that might be the real reason that Obama’s thoughts on Brexit are proving so controversial in Britain: They may well carry more weight than the opinions of Britain’s own leaders.
Editor: I have just finished reading Vernon Coleman's The Truth They Won't Tell You (And Don't Want You To Know) About The EU.
If he is right, every country in Europe should do their best to get out of the EU. He sees it as a Federal state forcing its opinion and will on its members, raping them of their sovereignty and cultural heritage, and taxing them to the hilt to support a bestial bureaucracy in Brussels. Reading his book, you feel you are witnessing the creation of the New World Order's governmental base. That government is reminiscent of the Antichrist government found in Bible prophecy.
Some Bible scholars believe Europe will be the base of the Antichrist's final government. Europeans seem to be passively agreeing to its mandates even though their economies end up brutalized and destroyed by the global corporations who gain free access to local economies through their friendship with the EU commissioners. Laws are made to hinder the small local businesses and support the large international corporate ones.
It continues to be a sad day for the poor man, the independent and free. If Coleman is right, Europe is headed for a new slavery similar to what has been formed in America, without the help of the American dollar to hold up the economy superficially. After reading the book, the only sensible vote would seem to be to get out now, while you still have the chance.
This election is an unpopularity contest for the ages
The 2016 presidential election is shaping up as an unpopularity contest of unprecedented proportions.
Assuming, as now appears most likely, that Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination and that either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz becomes the Republican nominee, the general-election ballot is set to feature a choice between two candidates more negatively viewed than any major-party nominee in the history of polling.
Trump is, by far, the furthest underwater: The latest Wall Street Journal-NBC poll puts his net favorability rating at minus-41. A breathtaking 65 percent of registered voters see him negatively, versus 24 percent with a positive view, making him the most unpopular major party presidential candidate ever recorded. Cruz is at minus-23, with 49 percent viewing him negatively, 26 percent in a positive light.
To underscore the challenge facing the GOP, neither candidate has been viewed more positively than negatively by voters since the start of the campaign.
Clinton, by contrast, has a healthier (and more volatile) history with voters. Polls showed her favorables slightly ahead of her negatives when she formally launched her campaign last April. But her trajectory is unnerving. The new WSJ-NBC numbers have Clinton minus-24 (with 56 percent viewing her unfavorably and 32 percent favorably), almost double the gap just one month earlier.
“This is unprecedented,” said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman. “It will be the first time in the history of polling that we’ll have both major party candidates disliked by a majority of the American people going into the election.”
Pause to let that sink in, to compare this dyspeptic situation with previous elections–and consider the implications for governing.
Some historical perspective: All three candidates are more unpopular than the losing presidential candidate at any point during the past five election cycles, according to Gallup data.
If the nominees are Trump and Clinton, said Republican pollster David Winston, “You’re probably looking somewhere in the neighborhood of three out of 10 Americans having a negative view of both. You could have a very frustrated electorate by the time we get to Election Day.”
It sounds oxymoronic, but voters could elect a president that a majority of them view unfavorably. Assuming Clinton has the advantage over Trump, said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, “she is going to be elected, if she wins, in minus territory, which is something we’ve never had before.”
Which raises questions about the potentially grim aftermath.
“Electing either Clinton or Trump with these type of unfavorable numbers immediately means a weakened president without the power to persuade from the day she or he [is] sworn into office,” said Republican pollster Bill McInturff.
History teaches that a new president’s approval rating rises between Election Day and the inauguration. Americans become more charitably disposed to their new leader once the campaign has concluded, if only briefly.
Given these bargain basement favorability numbers, will the 45th president enjoy that luxury? Does presidential popularity even matter in an era of congressional gridlock?
Some political scientists think not, citing a shift in the locus of presidential authority away from legislating. “Presidential power is no longer the power to persuade,” said Johns Hopkins University political scientist Benjamin Ginsberg. “Popularity at one time was a major factor in a president’s ability to govern, but we are in the era of the institutional president, where presidents rely on their administrative powers and the powers of the office, and less on public opinion.”
If Clinton is elected, said Middlebury College political scientist Matthew Dickinson, “the fact that she may be one of the most unfavorably viewed presidents is not going to make a huge difference, because she’s likely going to be running into a House controlled by Republicans and the Senate’s going to be close either way. That’s what really eats into your ability to govern, rather than your favorability ratings.”
Perhaps. But the unfolding unpopularity contest cannot be a healthy sign for our democracy, nor a good omen for the presidency to come.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
Small Things People Use To Judge Your Personality
The human brain is hardwired to judge. This survival mechanism makes it very hard to meet someone without evaluating and interpreting their behavior.
While we tend to think that our judgments are based on the content of conversations and other obvious behaviors, the research says otherwise. In fact, the majority of our judgments are focused on smaller, subtler things, such as handshakes and body language. We often form complete opinions about people based solely on these behaviors.
Our unconscious behaviors have a language of their own, and their words aren’t always kind. These behaviors have likely become an integral part of who you are, and if you don’t spend much time thinking about them, now is a good time to start, because they could be sabotaging your career.
How you treat waiters and receptionists. How you treat support staff is so indicative of your makeup that it has become a common interview tactic. By gauging how you interact with support staff on your way in and out of the building, interviewers get a sense for how you treat people in general. Most people act the part when they’re speaking to the hiring manager or other “important” people, but some will pull a Jekyll and Hyde act the moment they walk out the door, treating others with disdain or indifference. Business lunches are another place this comes to light. No matter how nice you are to the people you have lunch with, it’s all for naught if those people witness you behaving badly toward others.
How often you check your phone. There’s nothing more frustrating than someone pulling out their phone mid-conversation. Doing so conveys a lack of respect, attention, listening skills, and willpower. Unless it’s an emergency, it’s wise to keep your phone holstered. A study from Elon University confirms that pulling out your phone during a conversation lowers both the quality and quantity of face-to-face interactions.
Repetitive, nervous habits. Touching your nails or face or picking at your skin typically indicates that you’re nervous, overwhelmed, and not in control. Research from the University of Michigan suggests that these nervous habits are indicative of a perfectionistic personality, and that perfectionists are more likely to engage in these habits when they’re frustrated or bored.
How long you take to ask questions. Have you ever had a conversation with someone where they talked about themselves the entire time? The amount of time someone allows to pass before they take an interest in you is a strong personality indicator. People who only talk about themselves tend to be loud, self-absorbed “takers.” People who only ask questions and share little about themselves are usually quiet, humble “givers.” Those who strike a nice balance of give-and-take are reciprocators and good conversationalists.
Your handshake. It’s common for people to associate a weak handshake with a lack of confidence and an overall lackadaisical attitude. A study at the University of Alabama showed that, although it isn’t safe to draw assumptions about someone’s competence based on their handshake, you can accurately identify personality traits. Specifically, the study found that a firm handshake equates with being less shy, less neurotic, and more extroverted.
Tardiness. Showing up late leads people to think that you lack respect and tend to procrastinate, as well as being lazy or disinterested. Contrary to these perceptions, a San Diego State University study by Jeff Conte revealed that tardiness is typically seen in people who multitask, or are high in relaxed, Type B personality traits. Conte’s study found that Type B individuals are often late because they experience time more slowly than the rest of us. Bottom line here is not to read too much into people showing up late. It’s better to ask what’s behind it than to make assumptions.
Eye contact. The key to eye contact is balance. While it’s important to maintain eye contact, doing so 100% of the time is perceived as aggressive and creepy. At the same time, if you only maintain eye contact for a small portion of the conversation, you’ll come across as disinterested, shy, or embarrassed. Studies show that maintaining eye contact for roughly 60% of a conversation strikes the right balance and makes you come across as interested, friendly, and trustworthy.
Sometimes the little things in life make a big difference. It’s good to be ready for them, so that you can make a strong impression.
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Everything government touches...
By Chris Rossini
The great Beatles drummer Ringo Starr once said something that should be chiseled into the stone of every government building: "Everything government touches turns to crap."
How perfect!
Everything government touches. Not some things. Not most things.
Ringo left no exceptions. Everything.
America's Founding Fathers, who actually had knowledge of history, attempted to create a government that touches very little. Their attempt would work for a very short while, but like a stream that erodes away even the tallest mountain, those with a lust for power and its centralization would take over and dominate.
Here we are 200+ years later and government now touches everything. It didn't take very long. Two hundred years is a flash in the pan.
Now that government touches everything, what can we observe?
Well, government monopolized charity with its monstrous welfare state. As a result, we have presidential candidates running around complaining about the extreme poverty of so many Americans.
Government monopolized money with its Federal Reserve. As a result, we have rising prices that never offer us any relief. The bills never go down. The purchasing power of The Fed's money relentlessly marches towards the dustbin. Furthermore, every few years Americans must suffer from illusionary economic booms that must be followed by heartbreaking economic busts. The Federal Reserve causes it all.
Government monopolized schooling with its Department of Education. As a result, millions of children are treated as cattle that are run through the mill, stripped of creativity, individuality and curiosity. Every single day they must stand up and recite their morning government prayer. They must pledge their allegiance not to themselves, not to their families, and not to their God. They must pledge their allegiance to their government. When these children leave the mill after 18 years of this, they're thoroughly conditioned to believe in a government that touches everything.
Government monopolized the media with its Federal Communications Commission. The media picks up right where the schools leave off. Now as adults, Americans are shown a 24 hour stream of propaganda that champions and supports a government that touches everything.
Government monopolized commerce with more agencies than we can count. As a result, our economy has become a giant landfill of "regulations" and red tape. Every aspect of employment or starting a business has government involved. As a result, American businessmen and entrepreneurs have been running for the hills. They open up shop in countries that don't gang tackle them with swarming bureaucrats.
Speaking of the rest of the world, the very same government that was designed to touch very little, has decided to monopolize the world. War after war, after war sums up American life. Troops stationed in nearly 150 countries. So many millions dead. At home, every American treated like a lab rat. No privacy and everything monitored.
And finally, a government that touches everything leaves no room for independent thought. It seeks to monitor thoughts with the tyranny of "political-correctness". No one may color outside of the lines or think unapproved thoughts. As a result, Americans walk around not knowing what to think or what to say. Mobs of "thought controllers" await and are ready to pounce on those who do not obey.
Remember Ringo: "Everything government touches turns to crap."
He's right, and there are no exceptions.
Peace, voluntary interactions with one another, sound money, and liberty are the only way out.
Walk, Jog or Dance: It’s All Good for the Aging Brain
More people are living longer these days, but the good news comes shadowed by the possible increase in cases of age-related mental decline. By some estimates, the global incidence of dementia will more than triple in the next 35 years. That grim prospect is what makes a study published in March in The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease so encouraging: It turns out that regular walking, cycling, swimming, dancing and even gardening may substantially reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.
Exercise has long been linked to better mental capacity in older people. Little research, however, has tracked individuals over years, while also including actual brain scans. So for the new study, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and other institutions analyzed data produced by the Cardiovascular Health Study, begun in 1989, which has evaluated almost 6,000 older men and women. The subjects complete medical and cognitive tests, fill out questionnaires about their lives and physical activities and receive M.R.I. scans of their brains. Looking at 10 years of data from nearly 900 participants who were at least 65 upon entering the study, the researchers first determined who was cognitively impaired, based on their cognitive assessments. Next they estimated the number of calories burned through weekly exercise, based on the participants’ questionnaires.
The scans showed that the top quartile of active individuals proved to have substantially more gray matter, compared with their peers, in those parts of the brain related to memory and higher-level thinking. More gray matter, which consists mostly of neurons, is generally equated with greater brain health. At the same time, those whose physical activity increased over a five-year period–though these cases were few–showed notable increases in gray-matter volume in those same parts of their brains. And, perhaps most meaningful, people who had more gray matter correlated with physical activity also had 50 percent less risk five years later of having experienced memory decline or of having developed Alzheimer’s.
“For the purposes of brain health, it looks like it’s a very good idea to stay as physically active as possible,” says Cyrus Raji, a senior radiology resident at U.C.L.A., who led the study. He points out that “physical activity” is an elastic term in this study: It includes walking, jogging and moderate cycling as well as gardening, ballroom dancing and other calorie-burning recreational pursuits. Dr. Raji said he hopes that further research might show whether this caloric expenditure is remodeling the brain, perhaps by reducing inflammation or vascular diseases.
The ideal amount and type of activity for staving off memory loss is unknown, he says, although even the most avid exercisers in this group were generally cycling or dancing only a few times a week. Still, the takeaway is that physical activity might change aging’s arc. “If we want to live a long time but also keep our memories, our basic selves, intact, keep moving,” Dr. Raji says.
