Damn...

Failure...

The Conventional Wisdom Is Wrong. Libya's 2011 uprising was never peaceful, but instead was armed and violent from the start. Muammar al-Qaddafi did not target civilians or resort to indiscriminate force. Although inspired by humanitarian impulse, NATO's intervention did not aim mainly to protect civilians, but rather to overthrow Qaddafi's regime, even at the expense of increasing the harm to Libyans.

NATO's action magnified the conflict's duration about sixfold and its death toll at least sevenfold, while also exacerbating human rights abuses, humanitarian suffering, Islamic radicalism, and weapons proliferation in Libya and its neighbors. If Libya was a "model intervention," then it was a model of failure.

Three Lessons to learn from this intervention. 
First, beware rebel propaganda that seeks intervention by falsely crying genocide. 
Second, avoid intervening on humanitarian grounds in ways that reward rebels and thus endanger civilians, unless the state is already targeting noncombatants. 
Third, resist the tendency of humanitarian intervention to morph into regime change, which amplifies the risk to civilians.

• Alan Kuperman
  Belfer Center. September 2013

Cross-road...

A development firm that inked a $12 million deal with the city donated $25,000 to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s nonprofit  after receiving a phone call from Hizzoner himself, according to newly released details. A less-redacted version of the 15-page Department of Investigation report released last month gives a closer look into de Blasio’s fundraising tactics.

Though many details remain secret, the identities of four development companies that donated to de Blasio’s now-defunct nonprofit Campaign for One New York were revealed.

The latest version of the DOI document was first reported by The City.

The firms included Douglaston Development LLC, which got approved for more than $12 million in taxpayer funds, as well as a transfer of city-owned property in the Bronx, for its mixed-use project “Crossroads Plaza” in December 2014, the report said.

DOI investigators reported they “substantiated” reports the “Mayor solicited contributions from any individual who had, or whose organization had, a matter pending or about to be pending before any executive branch of the City.”

Watch...

Prior studies have examined the effects of the Dash diet on the incidence of heart failure, and they have yielded some results.

Following the Dash diet can reduce the risk of developing heart failure by almost half.

The study recommends cutting five things out of your diet: This Dash diet recommends fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, poultry, fish and low-fat dairy products, while reducing consumption of three main components: salt, red meat, sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages.

It is very similar to the Mediterranean diet, but the Dash diet recommends cutting out two more things: full cream (in favor of low-fat dairy products) and alcoholic beverages.

(Dash is an acronym for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.)

Shift...

Political parties with platforms calling for stricter immigration policies are on the rise. Support for the Sweden Democrats, a far-right political party increased from 5.7 percent of the vote in 2010 to 17.5 percent in the September 2018 elections.

Fueled by anti-immigrant sentiment, the party is promoting slogans like "Keep Sweden Swedish."

The Sweden Democrats and like-minded right-wing populist movements gained traction across Europe.

Its views are amplified by alternative news sites like Nyheter Idag ("News Today"), which regularly features stories linking newly arrived immigrants to crime.

According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, overall reported crimes increased by 2 percent in 2018, with much of the uptick due to fraud cases. The number of reported rapes rose by 8 percent, while sexual abuse declined 3 percent.

Many share a perception that crime is concentrated in ethnic enclaves where many recent immigrants have settled.

Many argue that mainstream news sites refuse to make a connection between crime and immigration which is not an accurate picture.   Just a thought.

Unintentionally...

The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group says it has unintentionally killed more than 1,300 civilians in Iraq and Syria since 2014.

In a statement, the coalition said it had carried out 34,502 strikes since its air campaign against IS began there nearly five years ago .

A UK-based monitoring group says the true toll is much higher, estimating up to nearly 13,000 civilian fatalities..

The latest figure provided by the coalition is slightly higher than its previous admission eight months ago of 1,100 civilian deaths. It says it is still assessing 111 more possible cases of civilian fatalities.

The latest acknowledgement stands in stark contrast to the claims of human rights and monitoring groups, which say the actual death toll is many times higher.

Last month, an investigation by activists concluded that more than 1,600 civilians were killed in coalition attacks on the Syrian city of Raqqa alone during a five-month campaign to oust IS in 2017.

Sad story all around it.

Status Quo...

Some became a Democrat during the George W. Bush years, due to the Democratic party’s anti-war, pro-minority, pro-environment, pro-little guy positions.

Many voters became increasingly frustrated that our national media outlets — cable, network and legacy media  have self-bifurcated into stark pro- and anti-Trump factions. 

Politicians from both parties have gotten away with letting down ordinary Americans for decades because millions of Americans are culturally wedded to their tribal political identities of Republican or Democrat, and can’t think outside the box.

The election of Donald Trump made perfect sense. Sixty-three million voters including millions of African-Americans, Hispanics and Democrats rejected status quo politics and voted in a strong, rank outsider to shake the establishment from their comfortable perches. Just a thought.

Competition...

Anderson Cooper  pressed Face Book's representative Bickert over whether Facebook had entered the "news business," questioning whether the company could be trusted to operate and make money by being a place for viewers to turn during major news events.

Cooper doesn't want any fake news generators by others and face book opened the door widely to any one who intended to manufacturing a story and reach out to the public without going through the traditional media. We all can fake the news we want  just as good or bad as the traditional media. 

What a world we are living in.  Cooper see it clearly, it is competition thing.  Just a thought.

Wholegrain...

Wholegrain cereals are the best breakfast choice for weight control.  Wholegrain cereals include wheat, rice, corn, oats, rye, barley and millet.

High fibre diet can maintain a healthy body weight and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

A 2007 Health Study found women who ate wholegrains at least twice per day had a 30 per cent lower risk of dying from an inflammation-related condition over a 17-year period.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) names porridge as their top healthiest breakfast

You need fuel in the morning, and starting the day with a filling breakfast can help you avoid reaching for a less healthy mid-morning snack to keep you going until lunch.” 

A 2015 study found the best time to eat breakfast was between 6am and 9.45am. 

Eating a high-protein meal in this time frame was linked to a reduced risk of body fat gain.

Breakfast at this time led to less hunger throughout the day.   Just a thought.

Weaponize...

Question...

 The process of impeachment is not an easy or clear cut process. While the Democrats may think they would win the public opinion, the truth is the same process may show the Democrats in a bad light as well. Things, unknown now, may come to light and become a big scandal that the party may not recover from it soon enough for 2020. 

A matter of fact the current investigation of the intelligence communities communication and behavior may be, after it is exposed, a big problem for the Democrats. Just a thought. 

save...

Apology...

The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John Brennan, issued an extraordinary apology to leaders of the US Senate intelligence committee conceding that the agency employees spied on committee staff and reversing months of furious and public denials.

Brennan acknowledged that an internal investigation had found agency security personnel transgressed a firewall set up on a CIA network, which allowed Senate committee investigators to review agency documents for their landmark inquiry into CIA torture.

Among other things, it was revealed that agency officials conducted keyword searches and email searches on committee staff while they used the network.

The admission brings Brennan’s already rocky tenure at the head of the CIA under renewed question. One senator on the panel said he had lost confidence in the director, although the White House indicated its support for a man who has been one of Barack Obama’s most trusted security aides.

[Thu 31 Jul 2014 15.00 EDT Spencer Ackerman in New York - The Guardian.]

Wanted...

Need help, Avonatti is out of this business, can't provide any kind of witnesses. Currently he is busy with other urgent matters at the moment.

Timed...

Wingman...

Decision...

Decisions to start a war should not be taken lightly. The outcome of war is devastation to the young, the old, the families and those who serve. On the other side, it devastated humanities, and other countries. Say a prayer.

Hopes...

Former CIA Director John Brennan and former DNI James Clapper blasted President Trump for directing Attorney General William Barr to declassify documents related to the surveillance of his campaign during the 2016 election, calling it "outrageous.

"I see it as a very, very serious and outrageous move on the part of Mr. Trump, once again, trampling on the statutory authorities of the Director of National Intelligence and the heads of the independent intelligence agencies," 

Brennan told MSNBC host Chris Hayes. "And it's unclear to me what Mr. Barr is actually going to do. 

Is he investigating a crime? Well, what's the predication of that crime? Or he is just going to be looking for information... 

He later said he hopes that DNI Dan Coats and CIA Director Gina Haspel will "stand up" to President Trump's "unprecedented act."  ... Just a thought.

News

Anderson Cooper pressed a Facebook executive  over the company's decision to not remove a video that was altered to make it appear that Speaker Nancy Pelosi was slurring her words in a news conference. The video is seen by 2 million viewers.

"Anybody who is seeing this video in news feed, going to share it, know they are being alerted that this video is false,"  Monica Bickert responded. 

Cooper then pressed Bickert over whether Facebook had entered the "news business," questioning whether the company could be trusted to operate and make money by being a place for viewers to turn during major news events.

Cooper doesn't want any fake news generators by others, it is competition thing.  Just a thought.

Thrive...

Since its inception in 2015, ThriveNYC — the city's sprawling $850 million initiative to address a variety of mental health issues  has operated without much scrutiny or accountability.

With few public metrics by which to measure its success so far, and the broad strokes used by city officials to describe its operations, the city has offered little insight into how it has assessed Thrive's efficacy since it began.

It is difficult to establish a central, line-item budget delineating how the city is spending taxpayer dollars on the program.

Run by the mayor’s wife and closest adviser, Chirlane McCray, 

Two budget breakdowns acquired by POLITICO  one from City Hall and one from the Independent Budget Office  show significant differences in spending.

Who is thriving of thriveNYC?

"The money is in the wrong hand" said the husband.

Momentum...

Momentum is building toward uncovering the distasteful possibility that the targeting of a U.S. presidential campaign was actually a political operation, fostered at the highest levels of government, masquerading as an FBI counterintelligence investigation.

Attorney General William Barr has signaled his investigation extends beyond whether the FBI operated. Barr also wants to understand the role that the larger intelligence community, or IC, may have played in all of this.

Barr's use of the word "spying" appears more calculated than casual. "The FBI doesn't spy" became the sputtering counter-refrain of those trying to mask their nervousness.

But it also misses the point Barr appears to be making. The IC does spy; that's what they do. Barr may have been referring less to the FBI and more to the IC's possible murky involvements.

Clowning...

The New York tabloids, conservative media and even mainstream outlets were quick to offer their assessments of this latest political development with a near-endless stream of biting headlines. From The Week: "Bill de Blasio squeezes into the Democratic clown car."

The President was also quick to share his thoughts on Twitter, calling de Blasio "a joke" and "the worst mayor in the US."

Under what circumstances would voters who yearn for a more competent executive want to usher into office a mayor who's management of NY City Housing Authority was so inept that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had to install a federal monitor to keep watch over the institution. 

Even more egregious was the mayor's outright negligence as the steward of the city's child welfare agency, which resulted in several preventable deaths of young children.

Not to mention his conflict with the Gov. Cuomo and what led to the deterioration of the  Subway system that is been used by 5 million persons on a daily basis.

De Moines...

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says neither he nor his campaign staff will eat at McDonald's until the company provides its workers with $15 per hour wages. That is three hamburgers so far.

The Democratic candidate for president made the pledge at a planned labor strike with Des Moines  employees in front of a McDonald's on Thursday.

More than 100 workers, clad in red shirts that read "Unions For All," stood in front of the McDonald's on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines, demanding increased wages and a chance to unionize. They chanted things like: "We work! We sweat! Want $15 on our checks" and "Hold the pickles, hold the fries. Make my wages super-sized."

While de Blasio worked with the governor to provide Amazon Inc a great real estate in the heart of Queens/ border of Manhattan, and credit the richest man in the world 3 Billions Dollars. Amazon clearly said we are not accepting union workers and that was ok with de Blasio.

So which is it Mr. Mayor?   Just a thought.

Else...

Forward...

Underarms...

With New York Mayor Bill de Blasio entering the Democratic primary, there are now 23 Democrats running for president. As Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) once said of consumerism — “You don’t necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or of 18 different pairs of sneakers” — do Democrats really need a choice of 23 presidential candidates?

De Blasio’s entrance was met with a lot of eye-rolling by all-too-candid New Yorkers and Democrats only too eager to speculate about the reason for his run. (Ego? Boredom? Pinning for a spot as secretary of the Department of Housing and?) 

de Blasio may find out that not many people outside New York know who he is.

One casualty probably will be fellow New Yorker Gillibrand, who’s already struggled to get above 1 to 2 percent in polls.  Frankly, the Democratic Party and the country would be worse off if de Blasio got the last spot rather than, others.

The most obvious loser is Sanders. He was already sinking in the polls, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) nipping at his heels,