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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT        Politix   
Hillary faints just before 9/11 ceremony, taken away
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Oversight report goes behind scenes of OPM hack
[Federal Times] WASHINGTON -- It was time to purge the hacker from the U.S. government's computers.

After secretly monitoring the hacker's online movements for months, officials worried he was getting too close to critical information, so they devised a plan, called the "Big Bang," to expel him.

Trouble was, with all their attention focused in that case, they missed the other hacker entirely.
Um. Guys?
A congressional report provides previously undisclosed details and a behind-the-scenes chronology of one of the worst-ever cyberattacks on the United States. It lays out missed opportunities before the break-in at the Office of Personnel Management exposed security clearances, background checks and fingerprint records.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/11/2016 08:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Exposed: FBI Director James Comey's Clinton Foundation Connection
[Breitbart] WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A review of FBI Director James Comey’s professional history and relationships shows that the Obama cabinet leader -- now under fire for his handling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton -- is deeply entrenched in the big-money cronyism culture of Washington, D.C. His personal and professional relationships -- all undisclosed as he announced the Bureau would not prosecute Clinton -- reinforce bipartisan concerns that he may have politicized the criminal probe.

These concerns focus on millions of dollars that Comey accepted from a Clinton Foundation defense contractor, Comey’s former membership on a Clinton Foundation corporate partner’s board, and his surprising financial relationship with his brother Peter Comey, who works at the law firm that does the Clinton Foundation’s taxes.

Lockheed Martin
When President Obama nominated Comey to become FBI director in 2013, Comey promised the United States Senate that he would recuse himself on all cases involving former employers.

But Comey earned $6 million in one year alone from Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin became a Clinton Foundation donor that very year.

Comey served as deputy attorney general under John Ashcroft for two years of the Bush administration. When he left the Bush administration, he went directly to Lockheed Martin and became vice president, acting as a general counsel.

How much money did James Comey make from Lockheed Martin in his last year with the company, which he left in 2010? More than $6 million in compensation.

Lockheed Martin is a Clinton Foundation donor. The company admitted to becoming a Clinton Global Initiative member in 2010.

According to records, Lockheed Martin is also a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, which paid Bill Clinton $250,000 to deliver a speech in 2010.

In 2010, Lockheed Martin won 17 approvals for private contracts from the Hillary Clinton State Department.

HSBC Holdings
In 2013, Comey became a board member, a director, and a Financial System Vulnerabilities Committee member of the London bank HSBC Holdings.

"Mr. Comey's appointment will be for an initial three-year term which, subject to re-election by shareholders, will expire at the conclusion of the 2016 Annual General Meeting," according to HSBC company records.

HSBC Holdings and its various philanthropic branches routinely partner with the Clinton Foundation. For instance, HSBC Holdings has partnered with Deutsche Bank through the Clinton Foundation to "retrofit 1,500 to 2,500 housing units, primarily in the low- to moderate-income sector" in "New York City."

"Retrofitting" refers to a Green initiative to conserve energy in commercial housing units. Clinton Foundation records show that the Foundation projected "$1 billion in financing" for this Green initiative to conserve people’s energy in low-income housing units.

Who Is Peter Comey?
When our source called the Chinatown offices of D.C. law firm DLA Piper and asked for "Peter Comey," a receptionist immediately put him through to Comey’s direct line. But Peter Comey is not featured on the DLA Piper website.

Peter Comey serves as "Senior Director of Real Estate Operations for the Americas" for DLA Piper. James Comey was not questioned about his relationship with Peter Comey in his confirmation hearing.

DLA Piper is the firm that performed the independent audit of the Clinton Foundation in November during Clinton-World’s first big push to put the email scandal behind them. DLA Piper's employees taken as a whole represent a major Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign donation bloc and Clinton Foundation donation base.

DLA Piper ranks #5 on Hillary Clinton’s all-time career Top Contributors list, just ahead of Goldman Sachs.

And here is another thing: Peter Comey has a mortgage on his house that is owned by his brother James Comey, the FBI director.

Peter Comey’s financial records, obtained by Breitbart News, show that he bought a $950,000 house in Vienna, Virginia, in June 2008. He needed a $712,500 mortgage from First Savings Mortgage Corporation.

But on January 31, 2011, James Comey and his wife stepped in to become Private Party lenders. They granted a mortgage on the house for $711,000. Financial records suggest that Peter Comey took out two such mortgages from his brother that day.

This financial relationship between the Comey brothers began prior to James Comey's nomination to become director of the FBI.

DLA Piper did not answer Breitbart News’ question as to whether James Comey and Peter Comey spoke at any point about this mortgage or anything else during the Clinton email investigation.

Peter Comey Re-Designed the FBI Building
FBI Director James Comey grew up in the New Jersey suburbs with his brother Peter. Both Comeys were briefly taken captive in 1977 by the "Ramsey rapist," but the boys managed to escape through a window in their home, and neither boy was harmed.

James Comey became a prosecutor who worked on the Gambino crime family case. He went on to the Bush administration, a handful of private sector jobs, and then the Obama administration in 2013.

Peter Comey, meanwhile, went into construction.

After getting an MBA in real estate and urban development from George Washington University in 1998, Peter Comey became an executive at a company that re-designed George Washington University between 2004 and 2007 while his brother was in town working for the Bush administration.

In January 2009, at the beginning of the Obama administration, Peter Comey became "a real estate and construction consultant" for Procon Consulting.

Procon Consulting's client list includes "FBI Headquarters Washington, DC."
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/11/2016 00:54 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  so the crooked cop was bought off. Why am I not surprised.
Posted by: Nguard || 09/11/2016 1:40 Comments || Top||

#2  What did he do in order to earn 6M in one year from Lockheed Martin? What was he selling...or what we're they buying?
Posted by: Tennessee || 09/11/2016 9:55 Comments || Top||

#3  They were buying access, and "protection".
Posted by: Nguard || 09/11/2016 13:50 Comments || Top||

#4  On Comey's joining HSBC: The Directors have determined that Mr. Comey is independent. In making that determination the Directors concluded that there are no relationships or circumstances which are likely to affect Mr. Comey’s judgement and any relationships or circumstances which could appear to do so were not considered to be material.
Posted by: Thor Lumumba3940 || 09/11/2016 17:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Sigh.
Posted by: KBK || 09/11/2016 22:42 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
The dignity of our nation
[Dhaka Tribune] It has become a common and notorious practice on part of the Pakistain government to condemn the execution of war criminals in Bangladesh.

The recent claim made by Pakistain that Bangladesh has violated the India-Pakistain-Bangladesh tripartite agreement, commonly known as the Delhi Agreement of 1973, by executing war criminals, is not justifiable under international law.

According to the principle of "universal jurisdiction" followed in international criminal law, no embargo can be imposed upon the trial of international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, etc.

It means the trial for the accused of these crimes can take place any time by any country having competent jurisdiction. In line with that, Bangladesh in a post-war society enacted the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act in 1973. Though Bangladesh has only recently initiated the trial of the local collaborators after four decades of its independence, it is very unfortunate that we are yet to commence the trial of the Pak military officials.

Among other factors, many countries that were historically burdened with potential accusations of committing international crimes are quite eager to turn a blind eye and forego consideration of trying the Pak forces.

This poses a question: Why is it that whenever genocide or acts of brutality occur in the West, we see world leaders flying in to attend memorial services, and find expressions of solidarity pouring in from all over the world, but the issue of millions of Bengalis who were the victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in 1971 get considered "normal"?

I am not trying to underestimate the gravity of genocidal acts which have happened or are happening now in any part of the world.

Rather, I want to question the role of both the state machinery and the global community in failing to punish the primary perpetrators such as the Pak military forces.

Arguably, the war crimes trials are not only about punishing local collaborators over holding those Pak officials accountable. To quote Dr MA Hasan, convener of the War Crimes Facts Finding Committee: "The trial is never a question of vengeance but of restoring the dignity of a nation." How far have we been successful in this respect? It remains unanswered.

Why the trial of Pak officials did not take place for many years has been eloquently elucidated in the book The Bangladesh Military Coup and the CIA Link, written by BZ Khasru, in which the author sketches a political portrait of Pakistain-US alliance and diplomatic geo-strategy concerning Bangladesh’s Liberation War during and after 1971.
Posted by: Fred || 09/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


The hanging of Mir Quasem Ali
[DAWN] PAKISTAN’S Foreign Office says Pakistain is "deeply saddened" by the execution in Bangladesh last week of Mir Quasem Ali
...Jamaat-e-Islamic Central Committee member and Saudi money man in Bangla. Currently waiting to be hanged....
. Mir Quasem was found guilty in 2014 by a Bangladeshi court of torture, multiple murders and arson. He was sentenced to death after what Pakistain describes as "a flawed judicial process".

But why is Pakistain so worried about the integrity of Bangladesh’s judicial process? And why does our government care so greatly about the death of another country’s citizen -- one accused of heinous crimes? The answer: when it comes to Bangladesh, Pakistain remains chained to its past.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 09/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Home Front: Politix
IMAO: Forget Canada
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/11/2016 10:14 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


“Trump the savior”? – Regrettably, that is true
[Jpost] Why it is true and why regrettably?

It is true since America now needs a savior indeed to save it from the political and social conversion she is undertaking ‐ the conversion from the founding principles of the free-market economy and small government to a huge all-intrusive government and heavily regulated economy.

It is regrettable since America was not supposed to be in the state of such conversion ‐ our founding Judeo-Christian principles had to prevent even a possibility of such country’s transformation.

What happened? The transformational conversion had begun then when we the people allowed the government to become a much-much better employment opportunity than that in the private sector.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/11/2016 07:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  “To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it.”
Many years ago, a friend pointed out to me that what a person says about others, usually tells you more about the speaker than about those spoken about.
I have found myself, that I lack a power than many people claim to have: I have no way to reach into someone else’s brain and determine motives for their behavior or their statements. This is particularly true about people whom I have never met, and have never even heard from.

To assign motives to people before even meeting them or listening to them is to prejudge them. That is, it is to judge them before having any grounds to do so. Since the syllable ‘pre-‘signifies ‘before’, judging people in this way is the exact meaning of the phrase: ‘prejudging them’. The act of prejudging others is usually called prejudice.
Thus the speaker of the comment above has exhibited prejudice against supporters of Trump, They support him, or half of them do, she claims, not because they find Mrs. Clinton untrustworthy, nor because they object to her plans to grow government power, nor for her support of racist movements and violent protestors, nor in reaction to attacks on free speech by her supporters, nor for fear of the quality of her appointments as president, nor in reaction to the disastrous consequences of her term as secretary of state, nor for her apparent greed, nor for her apparent arrogance in acting as if laws are only for common folk and do not apply to her, nor because of her apparent frail health which may affect her brain, but because they are racist sexist homophobic xenophobic Islamaphobic, you name it.
We should have a name for this type of prejudice. Perhaps Americaphobia would describe it best.
I wonder, is it possible that half the supporters of Mrs. Clinton in this race are Americaphobic? I very much doubt that, but she has given us clear evidence that she is.
I cannot know whether she actually is Americaphobic, but it may well be.
Posted by: Grins Snese4215 || 09/11/2016 11:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Well typed Gris S. Enough meat for seconds.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/11/2016 12:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Duplicate deleted.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/11/2016 12:13 Comments || Top||

#4  ...the conversion from the founding principles of the free-market economy and small government to a huge all-intrusive government and heavily regulated economy.

I'm pretty sure we're halfway there.

Posted by: Raj || 09/11/2016 13:52 Comments || Top||

#5  I fear the ratcheting effect, Trump can probably set things on track again for a short while, stave off financial doom, realign the political parties a bit if he does things right, but the hard left will never come together with the rest of the country.

Since the far left controls the schools and thus can perpetuate their numbers through brainwashing I'm not sure what can be done to fix things long term.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/11/2016 21:24 Comments || Top||


Billionaire Trump Supporter Dan Peña Goes Off on another Profanity-Laced rant for Trump
[Gateway] Billionaire Trump Supporter Dan Peña Goes Off on Profanity-Laced EPIC RANT for Trump

Dan Peña is a Hispanic American billionaire and high-performance business coach, born in Jacksonville, Florida.

Dan is also an outspoken Donald Trump supporter.

Dan Peña recently spoke with London Real about the US presidential race. Peña says Donald Trump will "rock the planet" as president.

"He will rock, not only the United States of America, he will rock the world... Respect gets respect. Instead of all this political horsesh*t. If Donald Trump becomes president he is going to rock the planet... If you're in a foxhole, who do you want in a foxhole with you, Brian? You want some mealy-mouth expletive, politically correct assh*le? Or you want someone who is going to rip their head off and expletive down their neck?"

Dan is obviously a very passionate speaker.
This was GREAT!
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/11/2016 01:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If you're in a foxhole

Key sentence
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/11/2016 3:32 Comments || Top||


Donald Trump: Migrants Could Be ‘All Time Great Trojan Horse'
[Breitbart] Washington, D.C. -- Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump declared at the Value Voters Summit on Friday that the migrant crisis from the Middle East and North Africa could be the "all-time great Trojan Horse."

Speaking to a crowd of mostly Christian, Republican activists at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, he rattled through the top issues of the day, looking more comfortable delivering prepared remarks.

"President Obama," he said, "has allowed Syrian refugees to pour into our country at unbelievable rates. And Hillary Clinton wants to allow 550 percent more. But it’s almost impossible to get a Christian in from Syria."

"They take others but they don’t take Christians. Very rare, very rare," he added, "So I said that we need to take safe zones, we want to take care of people but we absolutely cannot allow this potential, tremendous threat to continue and we have to stop this."

"This is going to be potentially a catastrophe for our country. It’s from within, it could be the all-time great Trojan Horse."
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/11/2016 00:50 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


SC Sen. Tim Scott: Election offers change, not a perfect candidate
[Wash Times] Sen. Tim Scott said Friday that voters won’t have the chance to pick the perfect presidential in the 2016 election, but they will have the chance to vote to stop the policies of the Obama policies from continuing another four years.

Without mentioning Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump by name, Mr. Scott, told social conservatives gathered at a hotel in Washington for the 11th annual Values Voter Summit that the election is a "binary choice" between voting for the the policies of the last eight years -- which he blamed for increased poverty, and which expanded the food stamp rolls and led to sluggish economic growth -- or "you can vote for hope."

"You can vote for an alternative. You can vote ... to ’Make America Great Again,’ " he said, alluding to Mr Trump’s campaign slogan.

Mr. Scott prefaced his remarks by suggesting there is no ideal candidate in the race.

"I would like to tell you that one day we are going to have the perfect candidate to lead this country," he said, before rolling his eyes at the idea. "I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t think it is going to happen anytime soon."
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
The NYPD Has Become A Counter-Terrorism Powerhouse Since 9/11
[Daily Caller] The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 changed the world, the United States, and forced the New York Police Department (NYPD) to become a leader in the global war on terrorism.

When the Twin Towers fell, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was wrapping up his two terms as mayor of The Big Apple. America’s greatest city came under new management in January 2002 when billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg took over after his electoral victory in November 2001.

The challenges faced by Bloomberg as a newcomer to New York City politics were daunting as New Yorkers were trying to return to normalcy in the wake of the attacks. To accomplish what needed to be done for the safety of all New Yorkers, Bloomberg asked Vietnam War veteran Raymond W. Kelly to join his administration as police commissioner of the city of New York.

Kelly was no stranger to the NYPD, having served the city for decades as an officer and eventually rising to become police commissioner from 1992 to 1994 under Mayor David Dinkins. The challenges faced by his city were too important for Kelly to say no to his mayor, asking him to serve once again.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/11/2016 01:24 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Related, but seldom discussed:

NYPD's Federal Law Enforcement and Intelligence Community turf war.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/11/2016 1:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Too bad they've turned their back on crime.
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/11/2016 8:32 Comments || Top||

#3  aw skid, can't really go with that - they turned their back on De Blasio who turned his back on crime.
Posted by: Bov Flimbers || 09/11/2016 22:25 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Junket for Kashmir
[DAWN] As moral human beings, we deplore the violence being committed by Indian forces in IHK: over 70 unarmed civilians have been killed, thousands maimed, and scores blinded with shotgun pellets in the recent surge in brutality. Ever since Burhan Wani, the charismatic Robin Hood of the Kashmiri resistance, was killed in July, there has been a sharp spike in Indian repression.

But as pragmatic, rational people, we should also recognise that there is little Pakistain can do to change the status quo. The Shimla Agreement of 1972 specifically calls on both countries to "settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations"’. So Indians argue that Pakistain has contravened the agreement by seeking to internationalise the dispute.

Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as doing something over and over again and expecting a different result. So, too, has Pakistain battered in vain on the wall of Indian obduracy, and hammered time and again at the doors of the international community. We have tried war, diplomacy and jihadi proxies. Nothing has worked.

The reality -- if we are ready to accept and absorb it -- is that the world is sick and tired of the never-ending Pak-India squabbling over Kashmire. While we may deplore the injustice of the situation, and shed tears over the plight of the Kashmiris, nobody else is paying much attention. This is why Indian forces can literally get away with murder.

The hard truth is that states do not hand over real estate they control willingly. No matter what the rights and wrongs of the matter, countries cling on to land in a vice-like grip. Look at Israel: apart from expanding its UN-mandated territory in the immediate aftermath of its birth in 1948, it continues to hang on to large swathes of Paleostinian land in the West Bank nearly 50 years after grabbing it in 1967. Despite several UN resolutions and considerable international pressure, Israel is still the occupying power.

Posted by: Fred || 09/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Home Front: Culture Wars
Since 9-11, Fear Took us in the Wrong Direction
[DallasNews] Fifteen years ago, American self-confidence shattered amid the death and debris of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, a field in Pennsylvania and four hijacked aircraft.

The ripple effect has been felt ever since.

Before these terrible terrorist attacks, we believed history was on our side. Perhaps rightly so - the forces of democracy and capitalism had torn down the walls of communist tyranny, and the world was poised for an era of "perpetual peace" enforced by unchallenged U.S. power. In fact, foreign policy was barely discussed during the 2000 presidential election. The world was going our way.
Slick and Hilly had just departed the White House, taking all they could carry.
Then Sept.11, 2001, happened. It was a shock because it was not supposed to happen.

Nineteen young men from the Middle East, carrying only box cutters, killed almost 3,000 people. They caused more than $3 trillion in damage, shutting down the financial and political capitals of the United States. The mightiest and wealthiest nation was exposed as a vulnerable collection of soft targets. Overnight, the symbols of American freedom and prosperity - office buildings, tourist destinations, airports, parks and even sports arenas - became sites of potential danger.
So how is it that none of these soft targets were hit for the next ten years?
We have lived in fear ever since that terrible day. The irony is that the fear, much more than the terrorists, has done enormous damage to our country.
Oh, there has been damage, all right!
Our efforts to protect ourselves have increased our suffering and left us less safe. Our policies designed to boost our economy have increased inequality and diminished investments in critical public needs. Most ironic, our fight against hateful terrorists has made us a more hate-filled society.
Or the Democrats did it, depending on your deplorable point of view.
We see evidence of it today. Donald Trump's rhetoric against Muslims, Mexicans, immigrants and women is an extension of similar words and attitudes expressed with ever more frequency since the United States began its "War on Terror." In the years that followed 9/11, President George W. Bush spoke of a "crusade." Sarah Palin and other tea party activists encouraged Americans to arm themselves and stand their ground against suspected intruders in their communities, most of whom had darker skin. Some followers of this rhetoric still believe that the first African-American president is really a secret Muslim, which is their way of saying he is not a true American. Trump has only added more gasoline to this brewing hatred.
Hatred of being stepped on and ignored for fifty years? Disgust it more like it.
Making the hate deeper and more difficult to control are our military failures in the Middle East. Since March 2003, we have spent more than $2 trillion in Iraq on war and reconstruction. More than 4,000 Americans have died in that country, and at least 150,000 Iraqi civilians have lost their lives. Yet, more than a decade later, the situation in Iraq and the wider region is worse and more threatening. The Islamic State group, which emerged as a reaction to the war and American occupation, now controls large parts of Iraq and Syria. It uses this territory to plan attacks on American and European targets with greater zeal and effectiveness than ever exhibited by the regime the U.S. overthrew in Iraq.
Yet, somehow, this is all due to our fear, not the policy decisions of our chief executive.
Out of fear, we fought a long and costly war in Iraq that has made us less safe, less influential and less wealthy. Many Americans are angry about this, and for good reason, but they are directing much of their anger at Muslims rather than trying to bring positive change.
Solyndra - that made us more wealthy!
A similar story applies to the management of our economy. Fearing a loss in consumer confidence after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush famously told Americans to "go shopping." In a matter of months, an inherited budget surplus turned into a deficit, with much of the money going to warfare, homeland security projects, tax cuts and other efforts to stimulate the economy. This was followed by reductions in government regulations on lending and business practices, many justified by the fear that restrictive laws would limit the country's ability to respond to new threats and competition. The 2008 recession triggered yet another set of larger spending projects to bail out bankers and businessmen who were allegedly "too big to fail."
What was out national debt when the war ended and the hated Bush departed? Less than $20 trillion?
Fearful spending always makes for bad investment choices. Look at what the record budget deficits after Sept. 11, 2001, bought us: rising inequality, stagnant wages and crumbling public institutions. New spending went to consumers and investors, not the builders of schools, bridges, parks or even sidewalks. Only a few decades ago, American infrastructure was the envy of the world. Now our telecommunications, electric grid and public transportation are just above Third World standards.
But California is investing in high-speed rail. And Obama invested billions in shovel-ready projects. They helped rebuilt the infrastructure. Didn't they?
Where did all the money go? It followed the fear, not the country's needs. Spending on prisons, police and surveillance increased rapidly, just as budgets for education and infrastructure have fallen. Both Republicans and Democrats support transfer payments that protect these things, but neither has taken a strong stand to protect investments in our future crop of talented citizens - many of whom are, incidentally, dark-skinned and female.
Gosh durn it, I feel bad for being a white male!
The generation of Americans who lived through the Great Depression and the Second World War followed Franklin Roosevelt's prescient warning that "we have nothing to fear but fear itself." They built a society of hope and opportunity that we still benefit from today.

But since Sept. 11, 2001, our society has gone in the opposite direction. We have allowed fear to dominate our policymaking, our public rhetoric and even our local behavior. In this sense, the terrorists have won. The reactions of American leaders have done more to harm our society and diminish our future prospects than the crimes conducted abroad. Our wounds are almost entirely self-inflicted.
Tell that to the folks in San Bernardino and Orlando.
But here is the good news: We still have time to reverse course. The history of the past 15 years can awaken us to the perils of politics based on fear and hate. What we need is more of a willingness to see beyond immediate and exaggerated threats, with a renewed focus on hopes and possibilities. In the aftermath of a flawed, yet successful Summer Olympics, our leaders have a chance to re-introduce our country to the world and articulate a vision for increased cooperation so we can better manage climate change, nuclear proliferation and international trade. We also need a national economic policy that promises more opportunities for disadvantaged citizens through targeted investments, regulations and assistance.
You said change course, not re-elect Hobama.
Our leaders must talk more ambitiously about what we are for and less about what we are against. And most important, we must, as Americans, work toward rebuilding a civic culture that values conversation and compromise, discouraging hate, fear and violence. That is where the real courage resides - in the willingness to dream again, despite the scary shadows on the wall.
Like Make America Great Again? Is that what you're proposing? It was kind of tough to follow there, for a while!
Posted by: Bobby || 09/11/2016 11:55 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...Am feeling a little down today, looking back at the one moment that really had a chance to bring it together and then realizing it was in part caused by idiot policies and then wasted by two administrations.
And then, remembering the one thing - the only thing that would have ended this once and for all - is the one thing we never could have done: nuclear warheads on Kabul, Qum, Baghdad.
And a promise that the next time we lose three thousand, you will lose thirty million.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 09/11/2016 12:36 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd find some room for Riyadh & Jeddah, but that's just me.
Posted by: Raj || 09/11/2016 12:44 Comments || Top||

#3  I basically walked around in a rage that evening, wondering when our missiles were going to start hitting their targets. Silly me.
Posted by: Matt || 09/11/2016 12:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Jockey of Norfolk, be not so bold.
For Dickon thy master is bought and sold.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/11/2016 13:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Kabul, Qom, Baghdad, Mecca and Riyadh...add Islamabad, Abottatobad, Peshawar...
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 09/11/2016 18:13 Comments || Top||


New Class War
h/t Instapundit
[AmericanConservative] Shock gave way to relief this summer as America’s political establishment--rattled by Donald Trump’s success in winning the Republican nomination--reassured itself of his inevitable defeat come November. For a moment Trump seemed to have created a new style of politics, one that threatened to mobilize working-class voters against the establishment in both parties. But in the weeks following the Democratic National Convention, as Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers remained comfortably ahead of Trump’s, pundits discounted the risk of class war.

...Since the Cold War ended, U.S. politics has seen a series of insurgent candidacies. Pat Buchanan prefigured Trump in the Republican contests of 1992 and 1996. Ralph Nader challenged the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party from the outside in 2000. Ron Paul vexed establishment Republicans John McCain and Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012. And this year, Trump was not the only candidate to confound his party’s elite: Bernie Sanders harried Hillary Clinton right up to the Democratic convention.

...The insurgents clearly do not represent a single class: they appeal to eclectic interests and groups. The foe they have all faced down, however--the bipartisan establishment--does resemble a class in its striking unity of outlook and interest. So what is this class, effectively the ruling class of the country?

Some critics on the right have identified it with the "managerial" class described by James Burnham in his 1941 book The Managerial Revolution. But it bears a stronger resemblance to what what others have called "the New Class." In fact, the interests of this New Class of college-educated "verbalists" are antithetical to those of the industrial managers that Burnham described. Understanding the relationship between these two often conflated concepts provides insight into politics today, which can be seen as a clash between managerial and New Class elites.
They are the Mandarinate --- where formal education (whose mainstay is education in conformism - the other-thinkers [and thinkers in general] are weeded out during the said education process) is the only qualification
...The New Class plays a priestly role in its alliance with finance, absolving Wall Street for the sin of making money in exchange for plenty of that money to keep the New Class in power. In command of foreign policy, the New Class gets to pursue humanitarian ideological projects--to experiment on the world. It gets to evangelize by the sword. And with trade policy, it gets to suppress its class rival, the managerial elite, at home. Through trade pacts and mass immigration the financial elite, meanwhile, gets to maximize its returns without regard for borders or citizenship. The erosion of other nations’ sovereignty that accompanies American hegemony helps toward that end too--though our wars are more ideological than interest-driven.
Regardless of ideology, the results are indistinguishable from pure Nihilism. Possibly a subconscious effort to destroy potential threats: power threats like Russia or intellectual threats like Israel.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/11/2016 05:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The alliance between finance and the New Class accounts for the disposition of power in America today. The New Class has also enlisted another invaluable ally: the managerial classes of East Asia. Trade with China—the modern managerial state par excellence—helps keep American industry weak relative to finance and the service economy’s verbalist-dominated sectors. America’s class war, like many others, is not in the end a contest between up and down. It’s a fight between rival elites: in this case, between the declining managerial elite and the triumphant (for now) New Class and financial elites.

The above para is proof that the author is on to something.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/11/2016 7:07 Comments || Top||

#2  —the modern managerial state par excellence—

Really? Following Strategy Page and the immense level of corruption in the economy and state, the lack of proper accounting and tracking to know what is working, what is fraud, and what is just buried by corruption, who knows what the real story is. Remember - "Chicago is the city that works" turns out to be just the shadows on the wall.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/11/2016 8:09 Comments || Top||

#3  The "excellence" stands for the excellent rewards for the "managerial" class, P2k.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/11/2016 8:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Meh. I'd just call them the Inner Party.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 09/11/2016 18:18 Comments || Top||


Being white, and a minority, in Georgia
[Boston Globe] NORCROSS, Ga. -- One of the clearest signs of how times have changed in this little Southern town is literally a sign. It’s the outline of a faded red, oblong Dairy Queen sign that towers over Buford Highway just a few miles from the city line.

It used to direct residents to a fast food franchise, a beacon of Americana, where a hamburger cost 79 cents. The building is gone now. Only the sign remains, and at its base is a Hispanic man with a machete, slicing open coconuts piled in the back of his trailer.

His English is shaky. His coconuts cost $4.

A generation ago, this Atlanta suburb was 95 percent white and rural with one little African-American neighborhood that was known as "colored town.’’ But after a tidal wave of Hispanic and Asian immigrants who were attracted to Norcross by cheap housing and proximity to a booming job market, white people now make up less than 20 percent of the population in Norcross and surrounding neighborhoods. It’s a shift so rapid that many of the longtime residents feel utterly disconnected from the place where they raised their children.

"It’s not that much anger, but you don’t feel comfortable knowing that all this is around you," said Billy Weathers, 79, who has lived in the area for his whole life and doesn’t speak a lick of Spanish.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/11/2016 02:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A fine read.
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/11/2016 8:31 Comments || Top||

#2  What happened to African-Americans?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/11/2016 15:29 Comments || Top||



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