NOT TOP SECRET AT THE TIME THEY WERE SENT period!

Repost for GD. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027573194

NOT TOP SECRET AT THE TIME THEY WERE SENT period!

"I approve this message" - What message...

Biggest fucking military in the world, yet "More is needed"

More Is Needed to Beat ISIS, U.S. Military Concludes

WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials have concluded that hundreds more trainers, advisers and commandos from the United States and its allies will need to be sent to Iraq and Syria in the coming months as the campaign to isolate the Islamic State intensifies.

In meetings with President Obama’s national security team in recent weeks, military officials have told the White House that they believe they have made significant progress in the fight against the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria, administration officials said. But to deal a lasting blow to the extremist Sunni militancy, also known as ISIS and ISIL, they believe that additional forces will be needed to work with Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian opposition fighters on the ground in the two countries.

In the past, the Pentagon’s requests for additional troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan have been met with skepticism by Mr. Obama, and his aides have said he has resented what he has regarded as efforts to pressure him. But the rise of the Islamic State has alarmed the White House, and a senior administration official said Thursday that the president is willing to consider raising the stakes in both Iraq and Syria.

<snip>
Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, in an interview last week with CNN in Davos, Switzerland, emphasized the limited role he anticipated American forces to play. “We’re looking for opportunities to do more,” Mr. Carter said, but added, “We’re not looking to substitute for local forces in terms of governing the place and policing the place.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/world/middleeast/more-is-needed-to-beat-isis-us-military-concludes.html?emc=edit_th_20160129&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=45299538&_r=0

How Two Billionaires Are Destroying High Speed Rail In America

Julie Doubleday


Eighteen years have passed since the establishment of the California High Speed Rail (CHSR) Authority. Over the course of those eighteen years, high speed rail in the state has been discussed and planned and delayed and delayed more. There have been proposals, referendums, debates, studies and budgets, but no tracks laid, no passengers queued, no trains roaring between Los Angeles and San Francisco in the promised three hour travel time at speeds exceeding 200 mph. I began looking into the state of American high speed rail in pursuit of a few simple answers. Why don’t we have the sort of rail infrastructure seen across Europe, in Japan and now in China? What do proponents and opponents say about the various projects underway today? Put simply, what are the pros and cons of funding and maintaining high speed rail lines in this country, and what do our legislators make of them?

As with every partisan issue (read: every issue), I expected to find two very different perspectives. One side of the aisle vehemently advocating for construction, their counterparts citing worrisome figures with equal fervor. I expected to find debate, analysis, anger, passion, probably a fair amount of name calling and a more than fair amount of bureaucracy. But, naively, I expected to find the story of an imperfect democracy, clattering along toward something resembling compromise at a leisurely sort of pace. Instead I found myself down a deep rabbit hole of lobbyists, think tanks, fossil fuel billionaires, propaganda, and dark money. On the downside, it was disappointing to discover that private entities with explicit financial interest in destroying public transit wield significant influence in the debate over public infrastructure. On the plus side, it was a lot more interesting than poring over budgets.

http://www.attn.com/stories/295/how-two-billionaires-are-destroying-high-speed-rail-america

There's One Big Problem With Sanders' Promise to Overturn Citizens United

Whoa, if true! On Thursday, Bernie Sanders declared that the Supreme Court would overturn Citizens United if he is elected president.

Except that's not how the Supreme Court works. Justices don't get to pick which issues or cases come their way. Only after a case is appealed to the Supreme Court can the justices decide to hear the case. There is no way for Sanders' Supreme Court picks to decide that overturning Citizens United, the 2010 campaign finance decision that fueled the rise of super-PACs, will be one of their first acts on the bench, even if they really, really want it to be.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2016/01/bernie-sanders-promise-citizens-united-supreme-court

Refresher: STUDY: Watching Only Fox News Makes You Less Informed Than Watching No News At All

For those who continue to quote FOX News on this site, please see this message as to why it is unacceptable:

STUDY: Watching Only Fox News Makes You Less Informed Than Watching No News At All

Media outlets such as Fox News and MSNBC have a negative impact on people’s current events knowledge while NPR and Sunday morning political talk shows are the most informative sources of news, according to Fairleigh Dickinson University’s newest PublicMind survey.

Researchers asked 1,185 random nationwide respondents what news sources they had consumed in the past week and then asked them questions about events in the U.S. and abroad.

On average, people correctly answered 1.6 of 5 questions about domestic affairs.

Because the aim of the study was to isolate the effects of each type of news source, they then controlled for variables such as other news sources, partisanship, education and other demographic factors.

They found that someone who watched only Fox News would be expected to answer 1.04 domestic questions correctly compared to 1.22 for those who watched no news at all. Those watching only "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" answered 1.42 questions correctly and people who only listened to NPR or only watched Sunday morning political talk shows answered 1.51 questions correctly.



http://www.businessinsider.com/study-watching-fox-news-makes-you-less-informed-than-watching-no-news-at-all-2012-5

Woody Guthrie: Musician's Unpublished Lyrics About Donald Trump's Father Discovered by Professor

Woody Guthrie Despised His Landlord—Donald Trump's Racist Father

In December 1950, Woody Guthrie signed his name to the lease of a new apartment in Brooklyn. Even now, over half a century later, that uninspiring document prompts a double-take.

Below all the legal jargon is the signature of the man who had composed “This Land Is Your Land,” the most resounding appeal to an equal share for all in America. Below that is the signature of Donald Trump’s father, Fred. No pairing could appear more unlikely.

Guthrie’s two-year tenancy in one of Fred Trump’s buildings and his relationship with the real estate mogul of New York’s outer boroughs produced some of Guthrie’s most bitter writings, which I discovered on a recent trip to the Woody Guthrie Archives in Tulsa. These writings have never before been published; they should be, for they clearly pit America’s national balladeer against the racist foundations of the Trump real estate empire.

Recalling these foundations becomes all the more relevant in the wake of the racially charged proclamations of Donald Trump, who last year announced, “My legacy has its roots in my father’s legacy.”

It's like he is an old time preacher, lecturing us only it is on how bad things are

That is what I feel like when I watch Bernie Sanders.

I don't like to be preached to!

Alabama’s win Monday means Northwest Missouri is best football team in nation*

The asterisk denotes that a certain leap in logic is required to make this claim

If you look at who beat who this season, the Bearcats theoretically could be seen as the country’s best team

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/gtotx0/picture54446920/ALTERNATES/FREE_480/NW%20MO

We can all agree that Monday’s national championship football game was fun to watch.

The Crimson Tide was crowned champions after beating Clemson 45-40. It’s worth noting that Alabama finished the season, 12-1, and that one loss is why you could say Northwest Missouri State is the best team in the country.

Assistant Sports Editor Tom Ibarra brought this to my attention, but this is how you make the case for the Bearcats beat the nation’s best team.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article54446930.html#storylink=cpy


My Alma matter!