[Fox] Why is Hillary Clinton so unhappy? According to her, when she and her husband left the White House, they were dead broke. Yet they left with a truckload of valuable furniture, dinnerware and flatware that was the property of the federal government, for which they were never prosecuted.
They also left with contracts for lectures and speeches worth between $20 million and $30 million in the ensuing years. And they have done quite well financially. According to The Washington Post, between the time Bill Clinton left office in 2001 and January 2013, when Hillary Clinton stepped down as secretary of state, Bill alone made $104.9 million for speeches, and Hillary's standard speaking fee is $200,000 a pop.
Why is Hillary so unhappy? We can start with the fact that she is her own worst enemy. No Republican dirty trickster could have put her into the legal and political mess into which she has put herself. Her surreptitious refusal to follow federal law and her congenital lying about it have caught up with her.
By using her own computer server instead of the government's in the four years of her tenure as secretary of state, she knowingly compromised the national security of the United States. She did this by receiving and sending at least 400 emails that contained information that under federal law was confidential, secret or top-secret, which is a felony.
#2
The media and Ruling Party in Washington will circle the wagons and protect her no matter what. Even if they hate each other it wouldn't do to have anyone in the Nobility be treated like common serfs... might give the serfs ideas about real equality. Can't have that!
She should be in Prison for criminal negligence for her part in Benghazi alone. Her, Susan Rice, and the rest of the lying bunch.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] It is frustrating and disappointing to see that unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is rising, while it is falling in the rest of the world.
This depressing news is contained in a recent report from the International Labor Organization (ILO), which also pointed out that economies are stagnating and poverty is on the rise.
Joblessness among the youth in the MENA region is at a staggering 30 percent, more than double that of the 13 percent average in the rest of the world. This undoubtedly means more terrorism, violence and crime.
Our young people are falling victim to the policies adopted by many governments focusing on political gamesmanship and militarization rather than human and economic development strategies.
To the embarrassment of Arabs, the ILO report shows that there is a decline in unemployment in several less developed nations in parts of Africa and the Caribbean.
The Arab world is in a grievous state. The cancer of terrorism in Syria has infected the entire region and is threatening world peace.
The question now is what future is there for our young people living in countries where there is little prospect of gainful employment and living dignified and productive lives.
These young people are the victims of marginalization, exploitation and inadequate education, which should be considered criminal acts. No wonder then that they are risking their lives on boats heading for Europe, in a desperate search for a decent life.
Cancer of terrorism The Arab world is in a grievous state. The cancer of terrorism in Syria has infected the entire region and is threatening world peace. It has become a hotbed for thugs and proxy wars.
The slaughter of innocents and the displacement of millions into camps to eke out a living are happening while the Syrian regime looks on coldly. Worst of all, the international community seems unwilling to act decisively, with only intermittent emotional reactions.
Iraq, once a prosperous land because of its oil wealth and most educated populace in the region, has been plunged into what appears to be a perpetual winter with corrupt external powers, in collusion with local politicians, siphoning off its resources.
There is a similar situation in Libya, wracked by a destructive civil war and with politicians and government employees representing no one but themselves, to the detriment of the people.
The only solution to fight terrorism is to invest in human development... It is also no longer enough to blame the West for all the region’s problems.
In Yemen, Iran is trying that age-old colonial tactic of divide and rule, by attempting to split the country into distinct northern and southern regions. Yemenis are barely scraping by, and have been forced to stand in long queues for handouts from international aid agencies.
The region’s economic malaise has certainly increased conflict and terrorism. As the world shifts its attention to other parts of the globe with competitively priced sources of energy, further economic decline in the Gulf and elsewhere can be expected, exposing systemic problems that can no longer be hidden.
The only solution to fight terrorism is to invest in human development. If people have hope they can appreciate life. It is also no longer enough to blame the West for all the region’s problems. Western countries are now only concerned about how to keep refugees out.
The irony is that the United Nations, in reports back in 2012, had predicted political unrest and internal disputes in the region if there was no development in human resources, particularly spending on education, health and job creation.
There were several other reports that reached the same conclusion. How many reports must tell us the same story before we act? It is not too late, but delaying further may result in an irreversible economic tragedy for millions.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2015 00:00 ||
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#2
Step 1. Remove religious studies as a university major.
Step 2. Get the Iman's to promote hard work rather than hate for a change
Step 3. Get the wealthy oil sheiks to invest money in projects that will create a few jobs and/or spur trade
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Last week, Yemen's Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... rebels wrote to the U.N. secretary-general to affirm their commitment to both the seven-point peace plan brokered by the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... in Oman, and to relevant Security Council resolutions. Also last week, the General People's Congress (GPC), the party of former President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , accepted the peace plan and resolutions in an emailed statement.
This, in theory, comes close to the position of the internationally-recognized Yemeni government and Saudi-led coalition, which have from the outset endorsed the U.N. plan as the only way forward. The key Security Council resolution 2216 of April this year demands, among other things, the end of hostilities and the withdrawal of Houthi militias and forces loyal to Saleh from Yemen's cities.
Do these developments indicate that a political solution to the conflict is any closer than it was a few months ago? Not if previous talks and meetings between Yemeni warring parties as well as U.N.-led negotiations are anything to go by.
In June, negotiations in Geneva were interrupted by insults, fist-fighting and shoe-throwing among the delegates. Not even a humanitarian truce during Ramadan came out of that round of talks. In May, a five-day ceasefire did not stop armed clashes between local resistance and the Houthi-Saleh alliance.
Last year, before the conflict spread throughout the country, the U.N.-sponsored Peace and National Partnership Agreement, signed by all Yemeni factions, collapsed due to uninterrupted attacks by Houthi forces on state institutions.
It is not only the Houthi leadership that has a recent history of striking deals they intend not to respect. After the uprisings against his rule, Saleh himself used the Gulf-backed transition plan of Nov. 2011 (which allowed him to return to Yemen with immunity from prosecution on condition that he transfer power to his vice-president) to play a disruptive role.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Should Peace and Yemen appear in the same sentence?
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a meeting with the Turkish Ambassador issued a verbal ultimatum calling for an immediate end to Turkey's support for ISIS and violations of Syria's sovereignty. In doing [s]o, Putin has drawn a red line -you know that thing the bammer is still trying to get the hang of -
over Syria, after weeks of escalating NATO moves against that beleaguered nation. Playing pencilneck will be Nell Fenwick.
In a startling move, Russian President Vladimir Putin castigated Turkish President Recep Erdogan, calling him a "dictator" and threatening to sever diplomatic ties with Turkey over what Putin claims is Erdogan's continued support of the ISIS terror organization.
It is believed that this is in response to Erdogan's claim, pasted across the western press yesterday, that Putin had told him Russia was no longer going to support Syria in their war against al Qaeda, ISIS and their western backed sister organizations.
Putin summoned Turkish Ambassador to Moscow, Umit Yardim to the Kremlin for what turned out to be a two hour diatribe by Putin with fiery accusations returned by the Turkish Ambassador. This is the best translation of key statements made by Putin:
"Tell your dictator Uncle
Erdogan to go to Siberiahell and that unless he stops well established and easily proven support for ISIS, Russia will sever diplomatic relations. We are prepared to turn Syria into a big Stalingrad for Turkey and her Saudi allies and their vicious little gang of Hitlers. I invoke Godwin's law.
Your little Tayyip is 6 ft. while Putin is 5ft 2"
dictator is a hypocrite, attacking the military coup in Egypt while, at the same time, he is trying to overthrow the elected government of Syria Um, who elected pencilneck?
As it stands, China, Iran and Russia will guarantee the survival of Syria." Turnabout is fair play, turn up the heat on Syria. Where is that popcorn?
In an article by the Moscow Times, a publication controlled by CIA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, a different version is given with Ambassador Yardim shouting down Putin and blaming Russia for all of Syria's ills. As an illegally foreign owned media organization, the Moscow Times is being sold to Russian owners by government decree with change of ownership coming in September 2015. Gee, write much propaganda?
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
10/16/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh its all about the oil, 'bout the oil no kidding
The Sodies want it low, want it low, to keep the West Dependent.
The Russians want it high, want it high, for weapons and goodies.
They want to run a line, yes a line through Turkey, they'd also like to hit those fields off the Turkish shore, they're running kind of low and want some more.
Obama's Redline is the bleeding from his behind.
Posted by: Chaith Oppressor of the Lutherans1517 ||
10/16/2015 2:40 Comments ||
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#6
Putin's in a good position, he can suddenly support the Kurds and Turkey is screwed, or Turkey can behave and might get Putin's help against the Kurds.
Not a fan of Putin but he is a leader and he's positioned the pieces on the table to his advantage. It's hard not to respect that.
[DAWN] PRIME MINISTER Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... recording his statement before an FIA team suggests that the government is in fact serious about complying with the October 2012 Supreme Court judgement requiring the framing of charges against and prosecution of individuals linked to the stolen election of 1990.
It is all the more extraordinary because Mr Sharif himself was the direct beneficiary of that rigged election, winning a first term as prime minister by leading the IJI coalition that was manipulated to victory by the then army chief, Aslam Beg ...the occasionally incoherent retired four-star general who was the Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army, succeeding the creepy General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, after the latter was rubbed out died in an air crash in 1988. The general was involved up to his hairy ears in the Mehran bank scandal, shuffling millions in public money to buy or lease politicians, and is believed one of the prime movers in the sale of Pak nuclear technology to Iran. He ranks second only to Hamid Gul in the volume and flavor of his anti-Western vitriol.. , and the then ISI chief, Asad Durrani.
Yet, a history-setting trial is still far from certain. For one, the FIA inquiry has yet to record the statement of Aslam Beg. Whether Mr Beg intends to eventually cooperate with the inquiry is not known, but at the moment he does have a fairly credible reason for not doing so: the review petition against the Supreme Court judgement filed by the former army chief has yet to be decided.
The Supreme Court should expedite its hearing of the review petition so as to allow the FIA to meet its target of completing the inquiry by year end.
More troubling is the assertion by the interior minister that some military personnel were not cooperating with the inquiry.
While the minister did not clarify if he was referring to only Mr Beg or other individuals, it is known that a number of other former ISI and military officers have already appeared before the Sherlocks. Are some other officers though not cooperating with the FIA?
Perhaps the interior minister will clarify the comment he made on Wednesday. If a serving prime minister can record his statement before the inquiry team, then why not military officers?
Reluctance to cooperate would be particularly unfortunate given that the military itself is pursuing the accountability of politicians in Sindh.
The present military leadership has made some effort to kick-start an accountability culture within the military by acting against generals involved in the NLC scam -- though the punishments left much to be desired. It is hoped that the FIA will be facilitated in the Asghar Khan case inquiry.
The Asghar Khan case matters. Not just for historical reasons, but to reiterate that elections must be a reflection of the will of the people, not state institutions.
In an era when elections are routinely questioned and results challenged, it is worth remembering that true mass rigging has been seen in this country in the past -- and such institutional threats have not been buried forever.
The PML-N government has shown some courage in its handling of the Asghar Khan case. The case, after all, is a potent reminder of the past democratic failings of many of the party's leaders today. If civilians can face up to their past mistakes and submit to the law of the land, then why not the military?
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2015 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan sacked five ministers from the Gorran party following a week of anti-government protests. It is not uncommon for minsters to be sacked in Europe, for example, but what is uncommon are the events that followed the sackings, which have set a dangerous precedent for Kurdistan's relative stability and democracy.
The spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has claimed that the protests were orchestrated by Gorran to undermine the government. However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... no investigation has been carried out to verify the claim. More importantly, following the sackings parliament speaker Yusif Muhammed of Gorran was prevented from entering the Kurdish capital by forces belonging to the KDP-led coalition government.
Public needs
The government has not paid enough attention to the demands of the public. Demonstrators called for salaries that have not been paid for the past four months, due to the region not receiving its annual share of the budget from Baghdad.
However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... critics say the Kurdish government can pay the salaries of civil servants because it exports an average of 600,000 barrels of oil per day to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , according to the latter's minister of energy and natural resources, Taner Yildiz.
Iraqi Kurdistan does not face a threat of civil war, which it experienced in the mid-1990s. However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... in expelling an important partner from the coalition government, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani faces difficulties in rebuilding public trust, satisfying public needs, paying the salaries of civil servants, and avoiding further tensions.
It is possible that Gorran will become a forceful opposition group, or the parties may find a compromise, though this seems less likely. The coming weeks will likely see more political bickering, at a time when the Kurdish government wants to bypass Baghdad in receiving U.S. military support to fight the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). If the demands of protesters are further ignored, resentment and anger toward the government will heighten.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2015 00:00 ||
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[Fred on Everything] The military, once again, puts women into jobs the cannot do--this time, the Army's Rangers--to advance the careers of political generals--among others, Maj Gen. Scott Miller, who oversees Ranger School. Or what used to be Ranger School.
Writes Susan Keating in People magazine: "A woman will graduate Ranger School," a general told shocked subordinates this year while preparing for the first females to attend a "gender integrated assessment" of the grueling combat leadership course starting April 20, sources tell People. "At least one will get through."
And two did, by being given special treatment. Again, a general's career takes precedence over the good of his troops. An old story.
The Army cheated, says Keating: lowered standards to be politically correct and keep feminists happy. This, as the Army knows, and everyone who has been in combat knows, as well as most people who have been in the field military, is a terrible idea. But the Army exists to keep feminists happy. The services are in the hands of what Dave Hackworth, whom I knew before his death, called the Perfumed Princes. These are peace-time officers more interested in their own advancement than in their troops. Being politicians, not soldiers, they are afraid of women. They allow the feminists to make fools of their men:
#1
I read and correspond with Fred quite a lot. Fred resides in Mexico with his Mexican wife. He has a good way with words.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/16/2015 8:53 Comments ||
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#2
"A woman will graduate Ranger School," but she won't be assigned to a Ranger Battalion so we will never get to see if she is actually Ranger material or not (anyway they wouldn't dare risk her in combat).
Half of the Ranger graduates are spread throughout the army to spread their Huwah (however that is spelled) to others. I suspect this Ranger graduate will end up in Public Relations doing a lot of speeches and such to civilians and otherwise wasting the training (such as it is).
#5
From The Things I Carried: A Special Forces Officer Reflects
"Relief when I recognized the voice of a West Point company-mate over the radio. She was driving her Chinooks through a hellacious snowstorm to extract Special Forces and Afghan commandos after a big operation. Thanks for coming in hot on a nasty LZ, Jill. You’re the best damned helicopter pilot in the Army."
About those combat roles ..... infantry isn't the only one.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Putin summoned Turkish Ambassador to Moscow, Umit Yardim to the Kremlin for what turned out to be a two hour diatribe by Putin with fiery accusations returned by the Turkish Ambassador. This is the best translation of key statements made by Putin:
[Fred on Everything] The military, once again, puts women into jobs the cannot do--this time, the Army's Rangers--to advance the careers of political generals--among others, Maj Gen. Scott Miller, who oversees Ranger School. Or what used to be Ranger School.
