Are There Any Good Choices In The 2016 General Election?

There are NO GOOD choices in this General Election.

We have:
The Devil We Know vs The Devil We Don’t Know.

We also have:
Choosing the lesser of two evils is still a choice FOR evil.

Granted, someone WILL be elected, and granted further, s/he won’t be liked by those whom didn’t vote for the winner.

The two major party’s candidates are almost universally disliked within and without the parties. And that is a very sad state of affairs. It is, in large part, why there was such enormous support for Bernie Sanders… who is the opposite side of the same coin as Trump.

What concerns me most about Trump is that he seems

BIG OIL’s Corrupting Influence in American Politics: Propping up Corrupt Regimes to Prop Up Profits

Report

Slick Moves

The SEC could help tackle corruption in resource-rich countries around the world — but the oil industry is getting in the way.

• BY Zorka Milin , Barnaby Pace
• MARCH 7, 2014

Angola, Africa’s second-largest oil producer, is regarded as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. And American oil lobbyists are only making the situation worse: They are exploiting Angola by seeking to delay and weaken the implementation of a crucial U.S. transparency law.

That law, Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act, also known as the Cardin-Lugar amendment, promises a breakthrough in preventing dirty deals and illicit payments being made for natural resources around the world, similar to the shady transaction recently uncovered by Foreign Policy. If implemented fully, the law would make U.S. oil and mining companies disclose the payments they make to governments across the world, including in Angola. However, oil lobbyists have been making misguided arguments that laws in Angola and three other countries prevent the required disclosures.

Off Shore Oil Drilling Rig – MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images

Angolan officials secretly profiting from the country’s oil riches is not a surprise. It is only the latest episode in a sad history that goes back for decades. Global Witness, where we work, began exposing the complicity of the international oil and banking industries in the plundering of state assets during Angola’s 40-year civil war in our 1999 report A Crude Awakening. This was followed by our 2002 report All the Presidents’ Men, which called on the oil companies operating in Angola to “Publish What You Pay” (PWYP). Under this rallying call, Global Witness co-launched the PWYP campaign, which is now an international coalition of more than 790 civil society organizations in over 60 countries, including Angola, advocating for transparency laws such as Section 1504.

These efforts are intended to prevent scandals similar to the Trafigura deal covered in Foreign Policy, which provide a glimpse of the endemic corruption in Angola‘s oil industry. Only a few days before Foreign Policy published its story, media reports about leaked documents relating to other corruption claims caused the share price of SBM Offshore, a Dutch oil services company operating in Angola, to plummet 17.9 percent when markets opened. SBM released a statement challenging the validity of the leaked documents, saying that they are partial, taken out of context, contain outdated information, and are not representative of the facts. SBM had also already disclosed to its investors that it was conducting an internal investigation into questionable payments in Angola. However, the dramatic stock drop suggests that SBM investors had not anticipated the scale of the corruption risk exposure.

Another oil services company active in Angola, Weatherford International, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and headquartered in Switzerland, has recently pleaded guilty to violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), including bribery of the executives of Sonangol, Angola’s state oil company. It has agreed to pay fines of $253 million to settle the case, one of the largest FCPA settlements ever.

These cases illustrate the urgent need for transparency in Angola’s oil sector. The successful implementation of

How many NSA agents does it take to screw in a light bulb?

How many NSA agents does it take to screw in a light bulb?

The reader will take note of the following:
The Federal agencies involved – ICE & HSI – discovered a violation of law secondary to another investigation.
“Law enforcement authorities discovered Smiths’ email… during an investigation into the individual in the other state.”

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News Releases

August 15, 2013
Orlando, FL

Volusia County man pleads guilty to child pornography charges

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Port Orange man pleaded guilty Tuesday to distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography. The guilty plea resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with assistance from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

According to court documents, on July 31, 2012, Tyler Andrew Smith, 23, sent an email

Yet ANOTHER reason NOT to smoke marijuana. (It makes you STOOPID.) What ~WERE~ you thinking?!?

From our “Names You Would Have Never Given Your Children Unless You Had Been Smoking Marijuana And Drinking Pepsi” department:

Oathucked Up: Were Laws Violated in “Oathgate”?

I have said earlier – and I stand by my remarks, which certainly seems to have been sadly true – that the Republicans that wanted the Constitution read in the House of Representatives were practicing pure demagoguery.

Now that two of their radical “Tea Party” candidate/members have violated the U.S. Constitution by skipping their swearing-in oath in lieu of attending a fundraiser, and then voting on issues, it seems the good ol’ days of Jack Abramoff are back!

All hail the liars and thieves, and their “Screw You and Your Constitution, Too” attitudes!

Auburn 28-27 Victor in 75th Iron Bowl: Now 8 for 11, and 5 for 6 in T-Town

Alabama Coach Nick Saban gets angry after an illegal substitution penalty on his team in the second quarter the Iron Bowl at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. (The Birmingham News/ Mark Almond)

It seems the newest football stadium in Tuscaloosa is cursed.

And what might that curse be?

Bryant-Denny Stadium – better known as “Jordan-Hare West” – has proven to be a losing grounds for the Crimson Tide when they play the Auburn Tigers.

With the direction of Head Coach Gene Chizik, leadership of Quarterback Cameron Newton, and the fearsome quarterback sacking power of Defensive Tackle Nick Fairley, Auburn proved yet again that their end game is a powerhouse, and why they’re ranked #2 nationally, and remain undefeated, now 12-0, and 8-0 in the SEC.

Alabama was first on the board, and in a big way. Quarterback Greg McElroy drove consecutive first downs the field on each play, resulting in what turned out to be three consecutive scoring drives each time ‘Bama had possession of the ball in the first quarter. However,

A note on Illegal Immigration

Image via Wikipedia

The following is one of the typical e-mail “you must do something now!” kind of messages that so many of us receive in our e-mail in boxes.

In such typical fashion, they are either contain a type of ‘the world is going to end’ (and soon, if you don’t act now!), or either “the sky is falling!,” type of message.

While the motivation for the message, or the idea behind them may – at times – be worthwhile, often the delivery is suspect.

Following is the message, and – NOT TO BE MISSED – is

Marijuana and Schizophrenia – A Clear and Unmistakable Link… ignored in America

There is a significant and growing scientific body of medical evidence that marijuana use contributes significantly to schizophrenia – a particularly debilitating mental health condition that strikes during the most productive years of one’s life.

Medical marijuana anyone?

Maybe you’d prefer your mental health, instead.

It’s a shame that mental health professionals and other researchers in the United States almost wholly ignore the vast, longitudinal (long-term) and increasing body of evidence that conclusively demonstrates that marijuana DIRECTLY contributes to schizophrenia.

Of course, the elemental breakdown between reality and perception most characteristic of schizophrenia does seem to be present in this latest (and I believe ill-fated) and contradictory decision by the Mexican government to legalize small quantities of all illicit narcotics, including cocaine, heroin and LSD.

While this recent decision allows “small amounts” for “personal use,” apparently it doesn’t allow manufacture, sale or distribution of large amounts. However, “small amounts” always come from “large amounts.”

Complicating matters, the Mexican government has a long-time, well-known and rightfully-deserved reputation for corruption at all levels.

Mexico has continually been a “Third World” nation in the Western hemisphere. For years, in hopes for a better life abroad, their people have

“What did I learn?”

“What did I learn?