Officer Down

Corporal Shane Michael Totty
Baton Rouge Police Department, Louisiana
End of Watch Friday, February 1, 2019
Age 31
Tour 4 years, 7 months

Corporal Shane Totty was killed in a motorcycle crash in the 6400 block of Jones Creek Road while escorting a funeral procession.

His police motorcycle collided with another vehicle that pulled out in front of him at approximately 2:40 pm. Bystanders and responding officers performed CPR before he was transported to a local hospital. He succumbed to his injuries a short time later.

Corporal Totty had only returned to full duty several months earlier after being shot in the face by a mental subject in February 2018.

Corporal Totty had served with the Baton Rouge Police Department for 4-1/2 years. He is survived by his wife and young child.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

K9 Down

K9 Vader
Virginia State Police, Virginia
End of Watch Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Breed Belgian Malinois
Gender Male
Age 2

K9 Vader was shot and killed during a vehicle pursuit of a murder suspect in a stolen vehicle in Sussex County at approximately 8:20 am.

A trooper initiated the pursuit after locating the stolen car traveling on I-95. The man driving the vehicle was wanted for the murder of one woman and the wounding of a second woman in Connecticut. The vehicle fled on the interstate as the driver opened fire at troopers. The pursuit continued to the area of Loco School Road and Bell Road, where the man continued to fire at troopers. One of the rounds struck K9 Vader, who was still in the backseat compart of the patrol car. Troopers returned fire, killing the suspect.

K9 Vader was a narcotics detection canine assigned to the Virginia State Police Drug Interdiction Task Force. He had served with the Virginia State Police for nine months.

Rest in Peace Vader…till our next roll call at the Rainbow Bridge!

In Memory of all Police Dogs

They handled themselves with beauty & grace

And who could ever forget that beautiful face

Whether at work; or at home; whatever the test

They always worked hard; and did their best

They were real champions; at work or at play

But their lives were cut short; suddenly one day

While working on the job with their partner one day

They put themselves out on a limb; out into harms way

They gave the ultimate sacrifice; any dog can give

They gave up their life; so someone could live

The best of their breed; as his partner and anyone would say

Many hearts are now broken; that he had to prove it this way

Now as the trees are blowing in the gentle breeze

The sun is shining; thru the leaves on the trees

The meadows are green; and the grass grows tall

Off in the distance they can see a waterfall

As they look over the falls; down through the creek

The water flows gently; as a rabbit sneaks a peek

Far up above; in the deep blue sky

They see the birds soar high; as they fly by

They see animals playing; at the bridge by a waterfall

Chasing each other; and just having a ball

They play all day; from morning to night

There's no more rain; just warm sunlight

Off in the distance; they hear trumpets blow

Then all the animals look up; and notice a bright glow

The harps would play and the angels would sing

As they know they've come home; they've earned their wings

We remember that they died; in the line of duty

And are now with the Lord; sharing in heaven's beauty

Off to the meadows now; where they can play and roam free

With an occasional rest stop; under a tall oak tree

No more bad guys to chase; or bullets to take

Just a run through the meadow; down to the lake

A quick splash in the water; then back to the shore

Then it's off to the forest; to go play some more

These special dogs are back home; up in heaven above

They're cradled in God's arm's; and covered with His love

We'll light a candle for all of them; in the dark of night

In loving memory of all; these very special knights

By John Quealy

Officer Down

Deputy Sheriff Joshua Bryan "LJ" Ryer, Jr.
Glascock County Sheriff's Office, Georgia
End of Watch Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Age 19
Tour 5 months
Badge 603

Deputy Sheriff LJ Ryer was killed in a vehicle crash while en route to the Regional Youth Detention Center in Washington, Georgia to pick up an inmate.

His patrol car collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Andrew Drive and Georgia Route 47.

Deputy Ryer had served with the Glascock County Sheriff's Office for only five months.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

K9 Down

K9 Midas
Hancock County Sheriff's Office, West Virginia
End of Watch Monday, July 30, 2018
Breed Belgian Malinois-German Shepherd mix
Gender Male
Age 4
Tour 3 years

K9 Midas died from complication of heat exhaustion suffered after the air conditioning unit and the failsafe unit failed in his handler's patrol car.

The vehicle was parked at the Hancock County Sheriff's Office when the failure occurred. The patrol car was equipped with a failsafe system that was intended to roll down the windows and activate an alarm if the air conditioner stopped, but the failsafe system did not activate.

K9 Midas was transported to a local veterinary office where he suffered additional complications from the heat exhaustion and died later that day.

K9 Midas had served with the Hancock County Sheriff's Office for three years.

Rest in Peace Midas …till our next roll call at the Rainbow Bridge!

In Memory of all Police Dogs

They handled themselves with beauty & grace

And who could ever forget that beautiful face

Whether at work; or at home; whatever the test

They always worked hard; and did their best

They were real champions; at work or at play

But their lives were cut short; suddenly one day

While working on the job with their partner one day

They put themselves out on a limb; out into harms way

They gave the ultimate sacrifice; any dog can give

They gave up their life; so someone could live

The best of their breed; as his partner and anyone would say

Many hearts are now broken; that he had to prove it this way

Now as the trees are blowing in the gentle breeze

The sun is shining; thru the leaves on the trees

The meadows are green; and the grass grows tall

Off in the distance they can see a waterfall

As they look over the falls; down through the creek

The water flows gently; as a rabbit sneaks a peek

Far up above; in the deep blue sky

They see the birds soar high; as they fly by

They see animals playing; at the bridge by a waterfall

Chasing each other; and just having a ball

They play all day; from morning to night

There's no more rain; just warm sunlight

Off in the distance; they hear trumpets blow

Then all the animals look up; and notice a bright glow

The harps would play and the angels would sing

As they know they've come home; they've earned their wings

We remember that they died; in the line of duty

And are now with the Lord; sharing in heaven's beauty

Off to the meadows now; where they can play and roam free

With an occasional rest stop; under a tall oak tree

No more bad guys to chase; or bullets to take

Just a run through the meadow; down to the lake

A quick splash in the water; then back to the shore

Then it's off to the forest; to go play some more

These special dogs are back home; up in heaven above

They're cradled in God's arm's; and covered with His love

We'll light a candle for all of them; in the dark of night

In loving memory of all; these very special knights

By John Quealy

Officer Down

Police Officer Sean Paul Tuder
Mobile Police Department, Alabama
End of Watch Sunday, January 20, 2019
Age 30
Tour 3 years
Badge 188

Police Officer Sean Tuder was shot and killed as he and several other officers attempted to serve an arrest warrant at an apartment complex at 1545 Leroy Steven Road at 3:00 pm.

The wanted subject had local and federal warrants for several charges. During the previous week, he had faked his own abduction in order to avoid reporting to jail.

Shots were fired as officers attempted to take the man into custody and Officer Tuder was fatally wounded. The subject was taken into custody at the scene.

Officer Tuder was a member of the Alabama National Guard and had served with the Mobile Police Department for three years. He had previously been recognized as Officer of the Month.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

What's going on in the World Today 190506

HYPERLINKS MAY REQUIRE AN EMAIL:

USA

Next Battle For USS Harry S Truman Will Be Over Carrier's Retirement

A Look At What Flies On U.S. Navy Carriers

The Pentagon is attempting a budget gimmick in this year’s cycle by proposing to retire an aircraft carrier more than two decades earlier than planned because doing so would save the nation billions.

The strategy has already met stiff resistance from lawmakers, who will most likely dismantle the Pentagon’s plan to retire the multibillion-dollar ship ahead of schedule. The Navy is mandated to have 11 operational aircraft carriers in its inventory, and the move would drop the fleet number to 10.

The Navy would have preferred to keep the aircraft carrier in the fleet but sacrificed it to pay for other Pentagon priorities that support the National Defense Strategy such as upgrading to the more modern Ford-class carriers instead of paying for maintenance of the legacy aircraft carrier class. Other priorities include submarines, unmanned naval systems, hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence and cyberwarfare.

Retiring an aircraft carrier early may increase U.S. Navy aviation readiness statistics

Congress must determine USS Truman’s fate this year

The nuclear-powered USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), launched in the mid-1990s, is scheduled for a midlife refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia in 2024-28. The RCOH, which refuels the carrier’s two nuclear reactors, would ensure an additional 25 years of service life...

Next U.S. Air Force Tanker Likely Autonomous

The U.S. Air Force’s next tanker aircraft will probably be autonomous, the service’s top acquisition official says.

“We can see it in the tea leaves,” said Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics.

The Air Mobility Command was scheduled by the end of last year to complete a capabilities-based assessment for KC-Z, the aircraft that the Air Force wants to follow the Boeing KC-46A into production after 2027.

The assessment marks the first step in the Pentagon’s process for launching a new acquisition program. It should be followed by a roughly yearlong analysis of alternatives, which generates the data used to set requirements ahead of a solicitation.

But Roper already seems convinced that KC-Z will not use a human operator on board the tanker aircraft to guide the Air Force’s required refueling boom into a receiver...

Will Congress Let Trump Build More Nuclear Weapons?

The administration and Capitol Hill are on a collision course over the future of U.S. nukes.

President Donald Trump’s plan to expand America’s nuclear arsenal is encountering sharp opposition in the Democratic House of Representatives, with critics saying the administration is creating unnecessary risks to world peace—particularly by adding new tactical nuclear weapons that can be used in a conventional war.

The debate is potentially set to come to a head in June, when the House will begin marking up the annual defense policy bill.

The clash comes at a pivotal moment for global arms control. The Trump administration is seriously considering dismantling at least one treaty with Russia that has set arms control policy for the past 30 years. Meanwhile, China, which is largely unbound by Cold War-era arms control agreements, is swiftly building up its military arsenal, including both nuclear and conventional missiles. And in the background, North Korea and Iran are both developing their own nuclear arsenals.

The question Congress and the administration must resolve is one that has been at the core of arms control debates for decades and has no easy answer: If potential adversaries begin to challenge U.S. dominance in nuclear weapons, is the world safer with an unmatched U.S. deterrent, or without it?

Former President Barack Obama initiated the current plan to modernize America’s aging arsenal of nuclear weapons: the Air Force’s bombers, nuclear cruise missiles, and land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as the Navy’s nuclear-armed submarines. In 2017, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Obama administration’s plan to replace and maintain the arsenal over the next 30 years would cost $1.2 trillion, including $400 billion for modernization alone. Congress largely supported Obama’s plan...

DSS Helps Secure Boston Marathon, Preps Peruvians for Pan American Games

The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is collaborating with its counterparts from Peru as they help secure runners and onlookers at Monday’s Boston Marathon. DSS will welcome members of the Peruvian National Police, giving them a chance to observe and support security at the marathon in preparation for Peru’s hosting of the Pan American Games in Lima from July 26 to August 11.

DSS is the federal law enforcement and security sector of the U.S. Department of State – primarily focused on securing the safety of U.S. personnel, property and other resources overseas. Additionally, DSS secures the Secretary of State and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations at all times and the security of all foreign dignitaries attending the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York City. Another major task of DSS is securing American interests in overseas sporting events as well as liaising with other agencies to help secure large sporting events at home, so the Peruvian officials can take home some valuable tips as they get ready to host their games...

AFRICA

Libyan war escalates amid lack of U.S strategy for secret missions in Africa

The advance of a rogue militia on Tripoli, the capital city of Libya, has forced the hasty evacuation of U.S. troops from that country, highlighting the lack of a cohesive strategy for ongoing U.S. military operations in Africa and a seeming White House ambivalence about the continent, according to former officials.

For several years, from a handful of outposts in Libya, U.S. special operators have been conducting counterterrorism missions with names like Obsidian Lotus and Odyssey Resolve. These are just two of dozens of named operations that, largely unknown to the American public, have been launched from a string of bases across the northern half of Africa, according to information obtained by Yahoo News via the Freedom of Information Act.

Despite the large number of military operations in the region, some former officials say neither the Obama administration nor the current White House has taken much interest in coming up with a coherent policy for U.S. military operations on the continent. “During my time at the White House with the Trump administration there wasn’t a great deal of concern about doing much in northern Africa,” said a former official who recently served on the National Security Council. “There was not a lot of interest or focus on Africa during the time I was there...”

ASIA

China’s Debt Diplomacy

How Belt and Road threatens countries’ ability to achieve self-reliance.

This week, leaders from around the world are descending on Beijing for China’s second Belt and Road Forum, a conference to showcase China’s signature diplomatic initiative. But these leaders should be clear-eyed that China’s efforts to use its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to broaden its geopolitical and economic clout risk saddling developing countries with unsustainable debt while increasing their dependency on China.

The fact that poorer countries struggle with debt is nothing new, but after years of successful efforts to reduce their debt burden—including through the largest debt forgiveness program in history, started under U.S. President Bill Clinton and advanced by the George W. Bush Administration and the international community—they are once again going into the red. Unlike before, developing countries’ strategic assets, such as their resources, mineral deposits, port access rights, and the like, are now targeted by creditors as collateral in many of these predatory deals...

CENTRAL/ZOUTH AMERICA

Pompeo says China prolonging Venezuela crisis
The U.S. secretary of state begins a four-country tour of Latin America with a stop in Chile.

SANTIAGO, Chile — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that China’s financing of President Nicolás Maduro’s government is prolonging the crisis in Venezuela.

Pompeo kicked off a four-country tour of Latin America in Chile, where he met with President Sebastián Piñera to discuss the U.S.-China trade war and the Venezuelan crisis. Hyperinflation, shortages of food and medicine and other hardships have forced more than 3 million Venezuelans — about one-tenth of the population — to flee the country in the last few years.

Mike Pompeo
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is greeted as he arrives in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Saturday. Associated Press/Jorge Saenz

“China’s bankrolling of the Maduro regime helped precipitate and prolong the crisis in that country,” Pompeo said, adding that China invested over $60 billion, “with no strings attached.”

“It’s no surprise that Maduro used the money to use for tasks like paying off cronies, crushing pro-democracy activists, and funding ineffective social programs,” he said...

EUROPE

Intrigue in the Sea of Azov. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is rumored to have urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to send warships to the Kerch Strait in a show of support to Ukraine during a Feb. 16 meeting. Germany refused Pence's proposal and France also declined to take part, both countries deeming such a move an unnecessary provocation of Russia. This is revealing if true and would confirm the dynamic interplay of Western powers when it comes to Ukraine. The U.S. has traditionally been bolder in its support of Kiev against Russia — both in terms of rhetoric and concrete security assistance. Germany and France, however, hold a more moderate line on the Ukraine issue. If Kiev is able to get the kind of direct military support from Western or NATO powers that it seeks to build up its military and naval capabilities, there could be an escalation of tensions in the Black Sea region.

AFGHANISTAN

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

CHINA

Chinese Wave Rider Launched In Reusable Rocket

BEIJING and LOS ANGELES—The first test flight of a privately developed Chinese reusable space launcher hurled an experimental hypersonic waverider vehicle to a speed faster than 4,300 kph (2,800 mph) on April 23, the company behind the rocket program said.
Xiamen University and the company, Space Transportation, undertook the development of the launcher and waverider combination, a test vehicle called Jiageng 1. Since Jiageng 1 was based on the winged Tianxing I-1 launcher, the company said this was also the first flight of its rocket, which is intended for a horizontal landing recovery.

The hypersonic test payload was a dual waverider design incorporating the Xiamen University-developed XTER (Xiamen Turbine Ejector-Ramjet Combined Cycle) propulsion system, a compact tandem over-under hybrid turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine. Like other hypersonic waverider designs, the vehicle is designed to gain a high-speed lift-to-drag ratio benefit from the compression lift generated by its own shock wave...

China, U.S.: Washington Raises the Stakes in the South China Sea


Clashes between the United States and China in the contested waters of the Asia-Pacific region have ramped up in recent months, abetted by the two countries' ongoing great power competition. This is particularly apparent in the South China Sea, where Beijing continues to push for dominance. In response, Washington has begun evolving its strategies to deter China's growing presence — increasing the likelihood for direct confrontation in the region.

According to an April 28 report, Chief of U.S. Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson warned that the United States would treat China's coast guard and maritime militia the same as it does the country's navy. Richardson allegedly told the Financial Times that he made these remarks to his Chinese counterpart, Shen Jinlong, in January — adding that the U.S. Navy will respond to "provocative acts" by Chinese maritime militias in its continued effort to "conduct routine and lawful operations" around the world...

IRAN

Maximum Pressure on Iran Won’t Work

Trump’s new Iran sanctions will hurt the United States in the long term.

This week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo moved to end sanctions waivers on Iranian oil—a major step to increase financial pressure on Tehran. The new policy, once it goes into force on May 2, aims to force China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Turkey to stop buying crude from Iran, depriving the country of its primary source of cash.

In the near term, the pressure tactic will mostly work, successfully siphoning off a significant share of Iran’s oil exports. The big buyers in the handful of countries still doing oil business with Iran will plead for leniency, or kick and scream, and then grudgingly wind down. They are unlikely to get to zero, for lack of affordable and available alternatives, possible permission from the United States to slow-walk their retreat, and good old-fashioned recalcitrance. But they will likely steer away from committing reputational and financial suicide by flagrantly breaching U.S. sanctions.

President Donald Trump will surely shout victory. He is right that the United States can, for now, weaponize the global financial system. Washington can use sanctions to bring businesses around the world to their knees, making them the unwilling executors of U.S. national security policy.

Tehran is seething and threatening retaliation. It is probably closer to leaving the 2015 nuclear deal than it has ever been. European countries and other supporters of the agreement are irate. Their limited willingness to cooperate with the United States on security issues is shrinking.

These are all desired outcomes for the Trump administration, regardless of the collateral damage to the working poor around the globe, who will bear the brunt of spiking energy prices.

Ultimately, by tightening the economic vice, the Trump administration aims to isolate Iran and create enough pressure to instigate regime change.Ultimately, by tightening the economic vice, the Trump administration aims to isolate Iran and create enough pressure to instigate regime change. The White House wants to exact commitments from Iran to end its support for terrorism, missile proliferation, and human rights abuses—along with other destabilizing regional activities—and curtail the country’s nuclear ambitions. The administration also wants Iran to embrace transparency, liberal politics, and peace....

IRAQ

Iraq: Baghdad Looks to Germany's Siemens to Help It Improve Its Electricity Supply

The Big Picture

Unreliable electricity supplies have hampered Iraq's reconstruction efforts since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. An agreement signed April 30 with Siemens to boost its power generation capabilities will help Iraq slowly diversify its electricity sources away from Iran and reduce protests driven by chronic brownouts and blackouts.

What Happened
Iraq has approved a deal with Germany-based Siemens to upgrade its dilapidated power sector and build electricity projects. The deal, which could be worth at least $14 billion, was announced April 30 while Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi was in Germany for a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Iraqi-Siemens "road map" to restore and boost Iraq's electricity supply "includes the addition of new and highly-efficient power generation capacity, rehabilitation and upgrade of existing plants and the expansion of transmission and distribution networks," Siemens said in a statement...

ISRAEL

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

KOREAN PENINSULA

How Significant is the Dismantlement of Yongbyon?

In Hanoi, President Trump rejected a proposal by Kim Jong Un to dismantle nuclear facilities at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center in exchange for lifting most of the economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council since March 2016. For his part, Chairman Kim rejected Trump’s ambitious proposal to dismantle all of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs in exchange for lifting all US sanctions. In the aftermath of Hanoi, US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and his North Korean counterpart Ambassador Kim Hyok Chol may resume negotiations to find a compromise between “too little and too big.” Such negotiations are likely to include further proposals to constrain or cease North Korean production of fissile material (plutonium and enriched uranium) in exchange for reciprocal actions by the US, including an “end-of-war declaration” ending the Korean War, establishment of liaison offices, and partial sanctions relief...

The North-South Dialogue: RIP or Can It Be Resuscitated?

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been the driving force behind North-South normalization and reconciliation, inter-Korean cooperation, and peace and security building on the Korean Peninsula. Significant progress has been made on this track over the past year, but the process is on life support and badly needs an industrial-scale shot of adrenaline. Unfortunately, the Trump administration and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have left Moon with no room to maneuver. The US is not vested in the success of Moon’s inter-Korean enterprise—in fact, its uncompromising approach to denuclearization and sanctions relief has effectively kneecapped Moon. The South Korean president will not risk a major rupture in relations with the US to push his North-South agenda, while Kim Jong Un has likely lost trust in Moon as a negotiating partner because of his failure to deliver on economic cooperation and a peace declaration. Simply put, Moon is now at the mercy of Trump and Kim—and the more he is perceived by either of them as straining to do something, the less they will be impressed. The only option he has at this point is to play the long game.

North-South Progress

Bilateral relations between the North and South have undergone a rapid and positive transformation. The dark and stormy days of 2017, when dialogue was scarce to nonexistent, have been replaced by a de facto normalization of relations where it is now plausible to envision a permanent end to over 70 years of mutual hostility. It is no longer frowned upon for South Korean officials to meet their North Korean colleagues, a complete change in tone from previous years that provides the leaders of both countries with the time and political space, at least until recently, to discuss problems in a respectful and constructive way.

This April 27 will mark the first anniversary of the historic inter-Korean summit in Panmunjom, where Moon and Kim clasped hands and ceremonially crossed the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in a symbolic demonstration to the world of a fresh start. The North-South track hasn’t been all symbolism and historic photo ops, however. The three Kim-Moon summits have produced concrete agreements on everything from military de-escalation measures and cross-border economic projects to discussions about joint work on ecology and tourism. The April 2018 Panmunjom declaration, which committed both countries to “more active cooperation, exchanges, visits and contacts,” jumpstarted more regular interactions at the working level. Pyongyang and Seoul reaffirmed their commitment to reconciliation during their third summit in the North Korean capital five months later. The liaison office established in the border town of Kaesong, one of the summit’s main deliverables, has been operational for months; according to South Korean officials, the office hosted 285 meetings in its first three months.

In perhaps the most iconic scene since the first Kim-Moon summit last April, North and South Korean soldiers, who are normally trained to wage war against one another, were instead seen greeting each other as they worked to verify the removal of 22 guard posts on both sides of the DMZ. Taken together, all of these measures have contributed to a period of quiet and stability on the Korean Peninsula, an objective that serves the interests of the US, North Korea, South Korea and the wider East Asian region...

RUSSIA

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

SYRIA

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

MIDDLE EAST GENERAL

Why Business as Usual May Soon Change in Saudi Arabia
More than three-quarters of Saudis live in the kingdom's big cities, like the capital, Riyadh, where jobs and other opportunities are rich.(SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

Following the broader, global trend of urban migration, differences in economic opportunity in Saudi Arabia, both between its outlying provinces and its urban core and within the cities themselves, are growing wider.
Although the kingdom is responding to the dissatisfaction that these opportunity gaps are creating, its current actions will not be enough to offset the strain. This will open the door for more pushback by Saudi citizens on development projects.

To alleviate popular concerns, the kingdom will look at changing the current elite-controlled development model, which could fundamentally alter its investment strategies and the way it develops and conducts business.
Saudi Arabia's economic transformation has made big promises to its people. But for many Saudis, the dream of a middle-class lifestyle is becoming increasingly elusive. As their disappointments add up, the social contract between the Saudi rulers and citizens becomes more frayed. A growing popular dissatisfaction is driving Saudi policymakers to look for ways to increase opportunities for their people. But the process of doing so risks politicizing the kingdom's development strategies and fundamentally changing the way Saudi Arabia does business...



CYBER ISSUES

Washington Tries a Softer Approach in Anti-Huawei Campaign

The Trump administration claims progress in signing up European allies in the fight against Beijing.

Having failed to pressure its allies to ban Huawei outright from next-generation telecommunications networks, Washington appears to be trying a softer approach in its campaign to prevent the Chinese electronics firm from dominating the market for 5G equipment.

The strategy, on display in a Wednesday conference call conducted by the U.S. diplomat leading Washington’s anti-Huawei campaign, Robert Strayer, featured something the allies in question, including Germany and France, are not accustomed to getting from the Trump administration: praise.

“At this point we’re looking for governments to adopt security standards like we’re seeing in Germany,” Strayer told the mostly European reporters on the call.

Germany has emerged as a central battleground in Washington’s campaign to curtail Huawei’s spread. But Washington’s threat to scale back U.S. intelligence sharing with Berlin if Huawei is allowed to build German networks has so far been met with indifference.

Strayer was referring to telecommunications regulations German officials announced last month that committed Berlin to working only with “trustworthy suppliers” but failed to ban Huawei outright. U.S. officials had viewed the regulations as a snub, but Strayer appeared to be more conciliatory, referring to “risk mitigation” and fears regarding “rule of law...”

INTEL GENERAL

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

TERRORISM

What the Easter Attacks in Sri Lanka Tell Us About the Islamic State
By Scott Stewart
VP of Tactical Analysis, Stratfor

Highlights

While a jihadist attack on Easter was unsurprising, the site of the attack, Sri Lanka, was.
The bombings show the Islamic State movement continues to pose a threat through its franchise groups and grassroots terrorists, but are not a useful gauge of its core organization.
The jihadist threat in Sri Lanka will no longer be ignored, and future would-be attackers will face a far less permissive environment.
The attacks against three churches and four hotels in Sri Lanka on April 21, Easter Sunday, rocked the island nation, reverberating around the globe. While the attack location — Sri Lanka — was a surprise, a holiday attack of some kind had been anticipated. In fact, Stratfor's Threat Lens team had warned clients of the elevated threat of attacks against houses of worship over Passover and Easter.

The high death toll in the Sri Lanka bombings generated much media attention, and some reports presented the attacks either as unprecedented, or as a gauge of the Islamic State's status. But neither of those assertions were accurate...

MISC

VIDEO https://video.foxnews.com/v/6003276061001/?playlist_id=5736530682001#sp=show-clips


DARPA Wants To Assemble, Demo Nuclear Rocket in Orbit

DARPA plans to demonstrate a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system that can be assembled on orbit to expand U.S. operating presence in cislunar space, according to the Pentagon advanced research agency’s fiscal 2020 budget request.

The agency is seeking $10 million in 2020 to begin a new program, Reactor On A Rocket (ROAR), to develop a high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) propulsion system. “The program will initially develop the use of additive manufacturing approaches to print NTP fuel elements,” DARPA’s budget document says.

“In addition, the program will investigate on-orbit assembly techniques (AM) to safely assemble the individual core element subassemblies into a full demonstration system configuration, and will perform a technology demonstration,” the document says.

In a nuclear thermal rocket, propellant such as liquid hydrogen is heated to high temperature in a nuclear reactor then expanded through a rocket nozzle to produce thrust. Propulsive efficiency, or specific impulse, can be twice that of a chemical rocket.

Single-Use Cargo UAV Demoed For DARPA, USMC

A disposable unmanned cargo glider designed to enable aircraft to resupply fast-moving ground forces over greater distances has entered a new phase of flight testing under contracts from DARPA and the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory.

U.S. startup Logistics Gliders says it has completed 12 prototype flight tests, six for each customer, with testing still ongoing under follow-on contracts with both. Of the prototypes flown so far, six have been deployed as sling loads under a helicopter and six have been dropped from a cargo aircraft.

Compared with the standard air-dropped parachute Container Delivery System (CDS) used to resupply ground forces, the glider would allow aircraft to deliver cargo from greater standoff range. This would increase protection from air defenses and reduce the flying time required to reach the release point.

CDS is most cost-effective when large numbers of containers can be air-dropped at a single point of need. If several locations need to be resupplied, then it will be less expensive to release multiple gliders from one point to then fly independently to the different sites, says Marti Sarigul-Klijn, principal investigator for Dixon, California-based Logistics Gliders.

The LG-2K glider developed under the DARPA-funded Revolutionary Airlift Innovation project is 12.7 ft. long with a 23.2-ft. wingspan. Payload capacity is 1,800 lb. and cargo volume about 42 ft³. Empty weight of the prototype is 400 lb. An optional landing parachute adds 45 lb. and reduces cargo volume to 36 ft³...

SpaceX's Controversial Starlink Satellite Plan Wins FCC Approval'

SpaceX's controversial plan to fly part of its initial 4,425-satellite Starlink broadband constellation at half the altitude approved in its original license has been approved by the FCC. The plan has drawn wide criticism from satellite operators concerned about interference and other issues.

The FCC ruling, issued April 26, will allow SpaceX to proceed with launch of an undisclosed number of Starlink satellites as early as next month.

Its amended license application requested permission to access U.S. markets with as many as 1,584 satellites orbiting 342 mi. (550 km) above Earth—half the altitude approved in its original license to fly 4,425 satellites in 83 orbital planes at five altitudes in the 690-823-mi. range.

SpaceX also asked to use Ku-band frequencies for up to 75 of those lower-flying satellites to communicate with ground-based gateways. Its original license, granted in March 2018, was to use Ka-band spectrum for gateway communications and Ku for user links.

The modification, SpaceX noted in its Nov. 8 request to the FCC, reflects a “rigorous, integrated and iterative process that has unlocked a constellation design that will accelerate the deployment of its satellites and services while reducing the potential for orbital debris through operation of part of the constellation at a lower altitude...”

Bob Seger has Turned the page...

On May 2, 2019, Beth and I had the pleasure of seeing Bob Seger preform his likely last concert in Houston. The 73 year old rock icon is on his final tour. For a half century he's been writing songs, putting out music, and entertaining millions. But all good things must come to an end, and that time has come.

After a delay caused by a moron blocking the Grand Parkway, we ate dinner, and then made it to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, just in time to get rained on. And thunder, and lighting. Nice to give us a two hour delay, then it starts. Beth held out as long as she could, but she unfortunately had to go to work on Friday morning. I could at least sleep in. And as I looked around the attendees, I noticed we mostly had gray hair. Unfortunately we were not 20 somethings, able to be out all night and be functional the next day. But I wouldn't have missed this concert for the world.

I'll leave you with these two videos. I started to record the entire show, but I decided no. Just sit back and enjoy it. But I did get these two great songs from the man. Thank you Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Bank for all the memories.

Have a great week.

A younger Pink is in the grove...

One of the great shows on MTV (Back when it actually played music) was Unplugged, where a rock star would go acoustic on some of their greater hits. While this was a different venue, a 20 something Pink does a great cover of Me and Bobby McGee.

Tough week, but great concert from last night (post coming). Have a great weekend.

Officer Down

Deputy Sheriff Ray Elwin Horn, III
Comal County Sheriff's Office, Texas
Age 44
Tour 11 years, 6 months
Badge 471
End of Watch Thursday, January 17, 2019

Deputy Sheriff Ray Horn suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after participating in his agency's mandatory physical fitness testing.

He had completed the testing and left the facility when he suffered the heart attack while driving his patrol car near the intersection of FM 3009 and Dimrock, in Schertz, at 5:15 pm. His patrol car then collided with two other vehicles at the intersection. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Deputy Horn was a U.S Air Force veteran and had served with the Comal County Sheriff's Office for 11-1/2 years. He is survived by his wife.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.

A double shot of Tennessee Whiskey.....

A singer I will see at some point in the future, even if I have to steal the tickets. I first saw Chris Stapleton on Saturday Night Lives years ago, and I immediately downloaded his album. An incredible guitar player and singer. He's a bit rough on the edges. Like a country singer should be, and just like the original singer of this song, David Allen Coe. Here is Chris Stapleton's version of Tennessee Whiskey


While I was on da web, I found this young man's version of it. Nine years old, this kid is talented!

It's been a long as week, and I see a double shot of some sort of whiskey in my near future. Have a better weekend, and God bless.

An image you will never forget...

I still recall the first time I saw this image. This is what an impaired driver can do to another human being (the other two in the car this idiot hit were killed). Having to live like this for decades is unfathomable to me, but she spent her life campaigning against drunk driving.

Jacqui Saburido, face of famous anti-drunk driving campaign, dies

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Jacqui Saburido, the woman who became the face of anti-drunk driving campaign after a 1999 crash left her with third-degree burns, has died, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission confirmed on Monday.

In 1999, Saburido took a break from college in her native Caracas, Venezuela, to come to the United States to learn English. She had only been in the U.S. for about a month when she was coming home from a birthday party on Sept. 19 and her friend's car was struck by 18-year-old Reggie Stephey, who had been drinking.

Stephey drifted across the road's center stripe and struck the car head-on — killing two of the passengers instantly.

Saburido survived but nearly burned to death when the car caught fire.

Stephey, a high school senior of Austin, was convicted of two counts of intoxication manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in prison — he was released in 2008.

Jacqui, meanwhile, suffered extensive third-degree burns that left her blind, melted off her hair, and resulted in the loss of her ears, lips, nose and eyelids. She also lost use of her hands. She was not expected to survive.

Since the crash, she underwent over 100 operations and at one point, her medical bills totaled up to $5 million — a price tag she faced without health insurance. She died of cancer in Guatemala.

Jacqui spent most of the rest of her life advocating for the Texas Department of Transportation's campaign urging people not to drink and drive. She appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" twice and it is estimated that at least one billion people have heard her story.

During a press conference, she once said:

"Even if it means sitting here in front of a camera with no ears, no nose, no eyebrows, no hair, I’ll do this a thousand times if it will help someone make a wise decision...”

RIP Jacqui.

Officer Down

Supervisory Deputy US Marshal Norman D. Merkel
United States Department of Justice - United States Marshals Service, U.S. Government
End of Watch Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Age 45
Tour 21 years
Badge 3019

Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Norm Merkel suffered a fatal heart attack while participating in his agency's wellness program inside the United States Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas.

A court security officer performed CPR after he was located but was unable to revive him.

Deputy Marshal Merkel was a U.S. Army veteran. He had served with the United States Marshals Service for 18 years and was the commander of the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force. He had previously served with the McIntosh County Sheriff's Office, North Dakota, for three years. He is survived by his mother and two sisters.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the

lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.

Stolen from Legal Insurrection.

Officer Down

Sergeant WyTasha Lamar Carter
Birmingham Police Department, Alabama
End of Watch Sunday, January 13, 2019
Age 44
Tour 17 years

Sergeant WyTasha Carter was shot and killed as he and another officer attempted to arrest two men who were breaking into vehicles at a bar in 900 block of Fifth Avenue North just before 2:00 am.

They were in the area on a special detail as the result of a recent rash of vehicle break-ins. A plainclothes officer spotted two subjects pulling on door handles of various cars and notified Sergeant Carter, who was in uniform and responded to the parking lot. The officer and Sergeant Carter stopped the two subjects and began to pat them down for weapons.

One of the men suddenly produced a handgun and shot officers, fatally wounding Sergeant Carter and critically wounding the plainclothes officers.

One of the subjects was wounded by return gunfire before both men were taken into custody.

Sergeant Carter was a U.S. Air Force veteran. He had served with the Birmingham Police Department for eight years and had previously served with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, Leeds Police Department, and Fairfield Police Department for an additional nine years. He is survived by his wife and children.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the

lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.

Hallelujah...He has Risen!

A revised version of Leonard Cohen's classic, Hallelujah, for the holiest day of Christianity.

In New Orleans to visit family and friends, have a great weekend.

Officer Down

Trooper Christopher Lambert
Illinois State Police, Illinois
End of Watch Saturday, January 12, 2019
Age 34
Tour 5 years
Badge 6527

Trooper Christopher Lambert was struck and killed by a vehicle while investigating the scene of a prior crash on I-294 near Willow Road in Northbrook.

He was en route home when he encountered the three-vehicle crash on the left shoulder and stopped to render aid. He was standing outside of his vehicle when he was struck by another vehicle that failed to slow down or move over.

A nurse who was on the scene performed CPR until rescue personnel arrived. He was transported to Glenbrook Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The investigation revealed that the driver who struck him was attempting to pass the accident scene by using the left shoulder and had admitted to smoking THC oil the previous day. He was charged with reckless homicide.

Trooper Lambert was a U.S. Army veteran and had served with the Illinois State Police for five years. He is survived by his wife, 1-year-old daughter, and parents.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the

lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.

The disease of political correctness is spreading and continuing to destroy....

A few days ago I had lunch with a close friend, and we got on the subject of the ban on transexuals in the military. He mentioned how there was a scenario during a command preparation course.

A transexual solder, a born female is claiming to be male. "She/He" walks into the company orderly room and announces "She/He" is pregnant. Do you let the soldier wear maternity uniforms, which are for pregnant females soldiers? The answer is yes, let "him" wear a woman's uniform.

I've said this for ages, we don't need this in the service, we're not here to help someone "find" their true self. We are here, in Douglas MacArthur's immortal words, "to win our wars." And putting people on pins and needles for addressing SGT Smith as "she" or "he," and getting it wrong, destroys cohesion and morale. Not to mention if this libtard dream of having DoD pay for transsexual surgery will encourage people to try to enter, get tax payer funded surgery, then be non-deployable for one to two years.

If you feel like you are a woman born in a man's body, fine. Wear women's clothing, get the "chop-a-dictame" operation, take hormones for the rest of your life, fine. Do it on your own time, and your own dime.

Well, some more of this stupidity has reached the other side of the planet. One of our reliable allies, the Aussies, has a serious PC infection.

A Defence Force slowly dying

Tom Lewis

The Australian Defence Force is shooting itself in the foot over political correctness. But venturing opinions on PC is reminiscent of complaining in the old Soviet Union. It’s a glance over each shoulder before saying a word – to see if the Thought Police are listening; a ‘career-limiting move’.

The recent announcements by both Air Force and Navy that they will consider ‘gender’ in offensive operations is merely the latest bit of virtue-signalling foolishness. Announcements such as ‘The Royal Australian Navy Deputy Fleet Commander has ordered that “all operations and exercises” be conducted with consideration of a “gender perspective”’ are ridiculous. For it’s obvious to anyone with the slightest bit of knowledge of military operations that there is always consideration of the target before offensive operations commence...

...Anyone who’s served for years in the forces knows what it used to be like. Opinions were forthright, sometimes with salty language. But one of the best aspects was that it was a big family – and family fights are common. But it was shoulder to shoulder against the enemy. Serving in a combat zone with the ADF then made you realise how good they were: united with the best in Aussie ingenuity and mateship. That cohesion is disappearing.

Political correctness is setting one member against another. A small coterie have determined to use PC agendas to advance their careers, a habit becoming all too common. One male general decided to wear women’s high heels so he could experience walking a woman’s mile.

General, we don't care if you wear high heels for a mile. How about you push your soldiers, in combat boots, to the point of exhaustion, but make sure they all make it through the 10-15-20 mile course? In case you didn't notice, the men you want in your infantry, were laughing at you. And you don't need that.

Their argument has often been that to meet recruiting targets the forces has to be ‘fully inclusive’ of the community. This is rubbish. Armed forces always have attracted a small part of the communities they represent: people who can cope with the physical and mental demands of deployment to harsh environments, where they will be subject to fierce mental and physical needs. You simply take anyone who can do the job.

I would rather have five qualified men in my fire team then ten quota fills. I would have a much greater chance of living through a firefight with the men who volunteered.

One irony of the present PC situation is that traditionally the armed forces have been the place where everyone was treated equally. It didn’t make any difference whether you were Aboriginal, Greek or short. You were expected to soldier. When society allowed females to be recruited, then they were gone after with enthusiasm. Why not expand your recruiting base by 50 per cent? But Western society then went too far: it insists that there is no difference between females and males in demanding trades such as the infantry – when there clearly is.

Years ago, the Australian Defence Force Academy used to be one of the jewels in the Defence crown. It was everything you expected a university-level entrance to being a young officer to be. Squads of students marched everywhere, heads held high. No officer-instructor was safe from an ‘eyes right’ from the class and a salute from the squad leader. Even though the ranks held all sorts of multinational types: they’d all made the decision to serve their country.

Now, insiders report this university campus is more interested in recruiting students from China and the Middle East; from countries that do not share Australian values – ironically against the ‘inclusion’ mentality of PC. Uniformed staff report habits such as spitting on the formerly sacrosanct grounds, or in the military-manned pools, is now normal. Civilian students talk in overseas languages, walking on the grass in whatever shoddy clothes they like, whilst young officers wear uniform and march on the pavement.

The university has lost its way, coming to be disinterested in Defence and fascinated by the $32 billion international education market. The university is distancing itself from Defence in word and in deed. Where once the slogan was ‘The University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy’, now it is ‘UNSW Canberra’...

US Army, see the Infantry School, Ranger School, Armor school. And we will get people killed because of it.

Hopefully Australia can reverse this destruction. With China on the rise, they have threats to handle. And so do we. I can only pray we reverse the damage of the Obama years.

Officer Down

Police Officer Natalie Becky Corona
Davis Police Department, California
End of Watch Thursday, January 10, 2019
Age 22
Tour 5 months
Badge 224

Police Officer Natalie Corona was shot and killed after responding to a report of a three-car vehicle crash near the intersection of 5th and D streets.

As Officer Corona was conducting an investigation at the collision scene, a person not involved with the crash rode up to the scene on a bicycle. As Officer Corona spoke to one of the persons involved in the crash the man then walked up to her and opened fire without warning, striking her. He shot her several more times after she fell to the ground before shooting randomly at others bystanders and vehicles.

The subject fled into a nearby home. As responding officers searched for him he emerged from the home wearing body armor, yelled at the officers, and then re-entered the home. He committed suicide moments later.

Officer Corona was transported to UC Davis Medical Center, where she died from her wounds.

Officer Corona started her career with the Davis Police Department in 2016 as a part-time volunteer Community Service Officer. In 2018 she attended the police academy, graduating in July 2018. She completed her field training three weeks prior to the incident. She is survived by her parents. Her father had recently retired from the Colusa County Sheriff's Office.

Rest in Peace Sis…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the

lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.

Officer Down

Police Officer Clayton Joel Townsend
Salt River Police Department, Tribal Police
End of Watch Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Tour 5 years

Police Officer Clayton Townsend was struck and killed by a vehicle while conducting a traffic stop on northbound State Route 101 just south of McDowell Road, in Scottsdale at 6:00 pm.

He was approaching the car he had stopped when another vehicle struck him and then struck the stopped vehicle. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The driver who struck him admitted to texting and driving at the time of the crash. He was charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and endangerment.

Officer Townsend had served with the Salt River Police Department for five years. He is survived by his wife and 10-month-old child.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the

lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.

I guess I'm a billionaire

Last night I finally got off my ass and finished the taxes. Afterwards, as usual, I needed a drink. But in reviewing my 2018 taxes with my 2017 filing, I guess the wife and I must be worth a fortune. Every libtard has been screeching that the tax cut put in back in December 2017 was for "the rich" only, right? Well, not exactly.

Overall the wife and I made around four thousand less in 2018 than in 2017. That's not surprising seeing I worked an enormous amount of overtime in 2017 between the Super Bowl and Hurricane Harvey. In 2018 I did not make nearly as much, but she got a new job with a nice raise.

Now in conversation with some more liberal friends of mine, they are screaming that they got screwed because their tax refund is lower or they even have to pay for the first time in ages. I ask them what the effective tax rate they are paying is. And they say they are paying more because their refund is smaller. And again, I ask, what is the percentage of your annual income are you paying. And they scream about their refund being smaller.

See a pattern here? They cannot get the simple concept that if you paid 20% of your income with a $1000.00 refund last year, and this year you paid 15% with a $500.00 refund, you paid 5% less in taxes.

Personally, looking at the numbers:

TY 2017 Effective Tax Rate: 15.60%

TY 2018 Effective Tax Rate: 13.88%

And one very pleasant change. Using the standard deduction almost doubled my deduction. I've been itemizing for over two decades, but without having to do all that work, that's a massive amount of time not wasted.

But again, to all you libtard screeching about "paying your fair share," here is the solution to your issue:

Internal Revenue Service Center
Austin, TX 73301-0010

Just write them a check and they will thank you. Personally, I'll keep more of my money and time, you can keep the change.

UPDATE:

From Reason.com

Nobody Thinks They’ve Gotten a Recent Tax Cut, but a Majority Have: Reason Roundup

Fewer than 40 percent of Americans surveyed think they’ve seen a tax cut since 2017, when President Donald Trump signed the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” In fact, most people think their personal tax burden has gone up. But “independent analyses have consistently found that a large majority of Americans would owe less because of the law” and “preliminary data based on tax filings has shown the same,” reports The New York Times. Meanwhile, “not even one in 10 households actually got a tax increase.”

Data from the Tax Policy Center show 64.8 percent of Americans got a tax cut, while SurveyMonkey/New York Times data found only 39.6 percent thought they got a tax cut.

People with household incomes of less than $30,000 were the most likely to accurately perceive the situation (32.1 percent got a tax cut, and 30 percent think they did). Much larger tax-cut perception and reality gaps exist at higher household income levels:

About 69 percent of people with a household income of $30,000 to $50,000 got a tax cut, but just 36.1 percent think they did.
Nearly 82 percent of those in the $50,000 to $75,000 range got a tax cut; 41.5 percent think they did.
86.6 percent of households making $75,000 to $100,000 saw a tax cut, but just 47.9 percent think they did.
And 89.5 percent of those in the $100,000 or more bracket got a tax cut, while just 46.4 percent think they did.

“To a large degree, ******the gap between perception and reality on the tax cuts appears to flow from a sustained—and misleading—effort by liberal opponents of the law to brand it as a broad middle-class tax increase,”****** write the Times‘ Ben Casselman and Jim Tankersley.

Wait, the NY Times is actually saying there is a "...sustained—and misleading—effort by liberal opponents of the law to brand it as a broad middle-class tax increase..." Good God, I need more coffee...well, more whiskey with a shot of coffee.

Keeping the wolves away.....

Houston has had two major fires from refineries in the last month. A major employer in the area (as well as south Louisiana), nothing comes for free. It's one of the facts of life, you refine chemicals, accidents will occur.

Uncle Lucius has a sobering song of the life of refinery families, and what they do through. Great tune, but listen to the words. Every career path has its risk, and we own a major debt to the men and women who make those facilites function.

Have a great weekend!

Officer Down

Police Officer Dale James Woods
Colerain Township Police Department, Ohio
End of Watch Monday, January 7, 2019
Age 46
Tour 15 years
Badge 47
Cause Struck by vehicle
Incident Date Friday, January 4, 2019

Police Officer Dale Woods succumbed to injuries sustained three days earlier while moving traffic control devices at the scene of a previous crash on Colerain Avenue near Harry Lee Lane.

The initial crash involved a vehicle striking a utility pole during a period of rain, requiring the utility company to respond to make repairs. Officer Woods was moving a traffic cone as part of the road closure when a pickup truck struck him.

He was transported to Cincinnati Medical Center where he passed away. His organs were donated following his death.

Officer Woods had served with the Colerain Township Police Department for 15 years. He is survived by his three children.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the

lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.

This is a "news article"

I despise what Obamacare has done to America, and the massive cost it has inflicted on the American people. And the fact the GOP has shown itself incapable of actually governing with their attempt to "repeal and replace," with John McCain stabbing America in the back like he did. And I'm hearing from the usual media suspects that if the GOP repeals Obamacare, it will cos them the 2020 election. Then again, there were the same "experts" who said Mrs. Bill Clinton had a 93% shot of winning in November 2020.

With that as an introduction, I find this "news article" interesting. From a "mainstream, objective, non-partisan" news source, Bloomber, i.e. the former mayor of New York.

Trump asks courts to erase Obamacare in risky 2020 election move

OK, nonpartisan Bloomberg can only see the GOP working to remove Obamacare as a political "move." The thought that Obamacare was overall bad for the United States and it needs to be repealed and the damage repaired, never seems to come into thinking.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) criticizes the GOP on the move against the Affordable Care Act and on the GOP's response to the Mueller report on the Russia investigation.
The Trump administration is hardening its legal position toward Obamacare, arguing now that the entire law is unconstitutional in a shift that promises to bring the issue to the forefront of the 2020 election campaign.

The position is a change for the Justice Department after it argued last year that large parts of the 2010 law — but not all of it — should be struck in the case Texas vs. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. A trial court judge sided with Texas and voided the law in a December ruling. The Justice Department in a filing Monday now says that the entire law, enacted under President Obama, should be thrown out.

The filing assures renewed attention to President Trump’s position that the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, should be eliminated, including its subsidies and popular rules banning insurers from charging more to people with preexisting conditions.

Trump’s move, which could prove to be a gift for Democrats, prompted a swift response from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Tonight in federal court, the Trump administration decided not only to try to destroy protections for Americans living with pre-existing conditions, but to declare all-out war on the health care of the American people,” the San Francisco lawmaker said Monday in a statement.

Hate to tell you this Bloomberg, the entire law is unconstitutional. No where does the Constitution empower the federal government to force me, as a private citizen, to enter into a contact. But that aside, to borrow a phrase from Johnny McCain (rest in piss), elections have consequences.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat, also weighed in, claiming on Twitter that the Trump administration was focusing on “taking away your health care...”

Actually Chuck, Obamacare destroyed countless insurance options for millions of Americans, and increased cost for all Americans.

...Texas and other states that brought the lawsuit assert that because Congress in 2017 zeroed out the tax penalty for violating Obamacare’s individual mandate to buy insurance, the provision is no longer constitutional, and that the rest of the law is “inseverable” from it and “therefore invalid....”

Point, but the entire mandate, in and of itself, it unconstitutional. The federal government does not have the powers to tell me, a private citizen, I must engage in commerce.

...The Justice Department filing came just as Trump was taking a victory lap after special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe didn’t find evidence that the president’s campaign conspired with Russians to manipulate the 2016 election, according to a summary of the report by Atty. Gen. William P. Barr.

And this has what to due with the price of tea in China? Hate to tell you Bloomturd, Russia did assist a candidate in 2016. Mrs Bill Clinton.

And the 4th Estate wonders why they are held in such contempt.

Officer Down

Master Police Officer Joseph William Shinners
Provo Police Department, Utah
End of Watch Saturday, January 5, 2019
Age 29
Tour 3 years
Badge 310

Master Police Officer Joseph Shinners was shot and killed in Orem, Utah while attempting to arrest a wanted fugitive at 10:00 p.m.

Investigators had received information that the wanted subject was going to be in the area of a retail store at 50 West University Parkway, in Orem. Members of the Provo Police Department and the Orem Police Department located the subject in the parking lot and attempted to take him into custody. During the arrest the man opened fire, fatally wounding Officer Shinners. The subject was also wounded in the shootout and is in custody.

Officer Shinners was transported to Utah Valley Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds shortly before midnight.

Officer Shinners had served with the Provo Police Department for three years and was posthumously promoted to the rank of Master Police Officer. He is survived by his wife and young son.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

Officer Down

Master Police Officer Joseph William Shinners
Provo Police Department, Utah
End of Watch Saturday, January 5, 2019
Age 29
Tour 3 years
Badge 310

Master Police Officer Joseph Shinners was shot and killed in Orem, Utah while attempting to arrest a wanted fugitive at 10:00 p.m.

Investigators had received information that the wanted subject was going to be in the area of a retail store at 50 West University Parkway, in Orem. Members of the Provo Police Department and the Orem Police Department located the subject in the parking lot and attempted to take him into custody. During the arrest the man opened fire, fatally wounding Officer Shinners. The subject was also wounded in the shootout and is in custody.

Officer Shinners was transported to Utah Valley Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds shortly before midnight.

Officer Shinners had served with the Provo Police Department for three years and was posthumously promoted to the rank of Master Police Officer. He is survived by his wife and young son.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.