November 15, 2015


News Clips For The Day


A UNION STANDS UP FOR BERNIE SANDERS AND MORE – THREE ARTICLES


http://www.thenation.com/article/postal-workers-endorse-austerity-foe-bernie-sanders/

Postal Workers Endorse Austerity-Foe Bernie Sanders
An endorsement of a longtime foe of privatization who supports postal banking.
By John Nichols Twitter
NOVEMBER 12, 2015

Photograph -- Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders waves as he marches with supporters in the Labor Day parade. (AP Photo / Jim Cole)


Samuel Gompers, the immigrant cigar maker who led the American Federation of Labor from the 1880s to the 1920s, argued that the purpose of political action by trade unionists was to “reward our friends and punish our enemies.”

Today, when election endorsements by labor unions are often portrayed as little more than component parts of the broader bureaucracy of contemporary politics, the Gompers premise might sound old-fashioned. Yet it still comes into play now and again, as with the American Postal Workers Union endorsement of Bernie Sanders illustrates.

Unions have divided with regard to the Democratic presidential race, as have environmental groups and other organizations that frequently support the party and its candidates. Front-runner Hillary Clinton has attracted a number of major national endorsements, from the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Sanders has the support of National Nurses United, the activist union that has been in the forefront of the fight for single-payer healthcare, along with endorsements from union locals in key states—such as International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union 490 and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 560 in New Hampshire. And now he has the 200,000-member postal workers union.

The APWU endorsement recalls the historic “reward our friends” calculus, as Sanders has for years been an ardent congressional advocate for postal workers and the United States Postal Service. Long before he considered presidential politics, the senator from Vermont was arguing against the austerity economics that seeks to balance the books by cutting public services. An ardent foe of privatization, he as well has championed the expansion of its mission, backing innovative initiatives such as postal banking.

“We should judge candidates not by their political party, not by what they say, not by what we think they stand for, but by what they do,” argues APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “Applying that criterion, Senator Bernie Sanders stands above all others as a true champion of postal workers and other workers throughout the country.”

In announcing the endorsement, Dimondstein highlighted the candidate’s broader pro-labor agenda—“No other candidate has his record of standing with workers on picket lines, fighting for a $15 per hour minimum wage…and opposing ‘fast track trade authority’ and rotten trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership.” But the APWU president and his union focused, in particular, on the senator’s history as an advocate for the postal service and its employees.

Sanders, who has walked picket lines and rallied with postal workers for years, appeared before a cheering crowd of 2,000 APWU members in late October and celebrated the historic commitment of the USPS to serve every American—“whether you are a low-income elderly woman living at the end of a dirt road in Nevada or Vermont or a wealthy CEO living on Park Avenue.”

“The beauty of the Postal Service is that it provides universal service six days a week to every corner of America, no matter how small or how remote. It supports millions of jobs in virtually every sector of our economy. It provides decent-paying union jobs to some 500,000 Americans, and it is the largest employer of veterans,” the senator declared. Yet, said Sanders, while it does this “at a cost far less than anywhere else in the industrialized world, [these] accomplishments have not shielded the agency from those who wish to dismantle it.”

Sanders decried the fact that “the Postal Service is under constant and vicious attack,” noting that “the same billionaires who want to privatize Social Security, Medicare and public education, also want to privatize the Postal Service.”

Just as Sanders advocates for the expansion of Social Security, he argues—with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren—for the expansion of the postal service with initiatives such as postal banking. “At a time when more than 68 million lower-income Americans have no bank accounts or are forced to rely on rip-off check-cashing storefronts and payday lenders, allowing the Postal Service to offer these kinds of financial services would be of huge social benefit,” says Sanders.

Dimondstein says APWU members are enthusiastic about the senator’s emphasis not just on saving the USPS but on expanding its mission.

“Bernie Sanders is a fierce advocate of postal reform. He staunchly opposes postal privatization, and supports enhanced postal services, including postal banking,” explains the APWU president. “Based on his Senate record, we are confident he will appoint good people to public office and end conflicts of interest. He has already blocked the slate of nominees to the postal Board of Governors that includes the ‘king of postal privatizers’ James Miller and payday lending industry lobbyist Mickey Barnett. No other candidate has his record of exposing the rule of the billionaire class.”

The other contenders for the Democratic nomination, Clinton and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, have made strong pitches to labor. Both have joined union protests targeted at Republican front-runner Donald Trump. And Clinton has secured endorsements that are already helping her advance her candidacy in states such as Iowa. The fight for the support of unions and their members will go on. And the APWU endorsement offers a reminder that the race will be competitive and that, in some cases, decisions about endorsements will turn on questions of history and vision that are not always been recognized by political and media elites.

The fight to preserve and strengthen the postal service has gone on for many years—often with scant attention from the media, and often with scant support from a Congress that has made it harder for the USPS to survive and compete. Along with Congressman Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, Congressman Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin, and a handful of others, Sanders has been a steady ally of the labor, civil-rights, rural-advocacy and small-business groups that have struggled to keep post offices open and to maintain strong, universal services.

That counted for a lot with APWU members, explained Dimondstein. “He doesn’t just talk the talk,” the union leader said of Sanders. “He walks the walk.”




“Sanders has the support of National Nurses United, the activist union that has been in the forefront of the fight for single-payer healthcare, along with endorsements from union locals in key states—such as International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union 490 and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 560 in New Hampshire. And now he has the 200,000-member postal workers union. The APWU endorsement recalls the historic “reward our friends” calculus, as Sanders has for years been an ardent congressional advocate for postal workers and the United States Postal Service. Long before he considered presidential politics, the senator from Vermont was arguing against the austerity economics that seeks to balance the books by cutting public services. An ardent foe of privatization, he as well has championed the expansion of its mission, backing innovative initiatives such as postal banking. …. Sanders, who has walked picket lines and rallied with postal workers for years, appeared before a cheering crowd of 2,000 APWU members in late October and celebrated the historic commitment of the USPS to serve every American—“whether you are a low-income elderly woman living at the end of a dirt road in Nevada or Vermont or a wealthy CEO living on Park Avenue.” …. “Based on his Senate record, we are confident he will appoint good people to public office and end conflicts of interest. He has already blocked the slate of nominees to the postal Board of Governors that includes the ‘king of postal privatizers’ James Miller and payday lending industry lobbyist Mickey Barnett. No other candidate has his record of exposing the rule of the billionaire class.” …. That counted for a lot with APWU members, explained Dimondstein. “He doesn’t just talk the talk,” the union leader said of Sanders. “He walks the walk.”


I was pretty much unaware of Bernie Sanders until he began to talk about running. He may not have been in the spotlight as Clinton has been, but he has been busy in the areas I am most concerned about. I thought he might be a somewhat retiring person until I heard him, first on a late night talk show and then in the news. Then he showed up as a contributor on my Google Plus network with wonderful statements about US politics. His verbalizations are highly articulate with a humorous bite to them. He has proved himself to be very effective in the two debates so far, and the more I see of him the more I hope he wins the nomination. Hillary is ahead so far, but that could change. The several months before the primaries can be slippery slopes, especially if some Republican decides to throw mud. Some dark story about our candidates could turn up yet. I think all three candidates from last night are impressive, however, including O’Malley whom I had never known at all before now. He’s a sharp guy, and has more executive experience than either of the others. This is a really exciting Democratic primary, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Bless them all!





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-really-isnt-as-socialist-as-president-eisenhower/

Democratic debate: Bernie Sanders really isn't as "socialist" as President Eisenhower
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
November 14, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Bernie Sanders on universal healthcare, taxing the rich and taking on Clinton


Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders earned laughter and applause during Saturday's Democratic debate for a line defending his progressive tax policy.

When asked how he would pay for proposals like tuition-free college for Americans, Sanders said he would finance them by "due-demanding: that the wealthiest people and the largest corporations - have gotten away with murder for years - start paying their fair share."

CBS News Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes pressed the White House hopeful: "Let's get specific. How high would you go? You've said before you'd go above 50 percent. How high?"

"We haven't come up with an exact number yet," Sanders responded. "But it will not be as high as the number under Dwight D. Eisenhower which was 90 percent."

As an aside, he said, to loud cheers in the audience: "I'm not that much of a socialist compared to Eisenhower."

Sanders went on to say that his administration would "end the absurdities as Warren Buffet often reminds us - that billionaires pay an effective tax rate lower than nurses, or truck drivers that makes no sense at all. There has to be real tax reform and the wealthiest and the large corporations will pay when I'm president."

In fact, during the first term of Republican President Eisenhower, the marginal tax rate on regular income for those earning over $400,000 -- at the time, the highest income bracket -- was 92 percent. The tax rate was carried over from Democratic President Harry Truman's administration. This was the second-highest tax rate during the 20th century, following the 94 percent instituted by President Roosevelt during World War II for those making over $200,000 annually.

In 1954, under Eisenhower, the rate for the highest income bracket decreased to 91 percent.

Taking into account these income tax rates, Sanders' assertion that he's not as "socialist" as Eisenhower's administration is correct: Sanders has said before that he doesn't believe his tax policy would tax the top bracket over 90 percent, though he has yet to offer up an exact number.

Appearing on "CBS This Morning" in September, Sanders said "We are going to ask the wealthiest people in this country who are doing phenomenally well, and many large corporations that are making billions of dollars of profits and not paying a nickel in taxes, to in fact start paying their fair share of taxes."

When asked to specify, the Vermont senator said of taxing those in the highest income bracket, "I don't think you have to go up to 90 percent."

Sanders, however, has also called for greater increases in capital gains taxes, which were capped at 25 percent during most of Eisenhower's tenure.

During Saturday's debate, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley also defended asking the wealthy to pay a higher share of taxes.

"Under Ronald Reagan's first term, the highest marginal rate was 70 percent," he pointed out.

O'Malley is also correct on this point: Under President Reagan, those with annual incomes over $215,400 were taxed at a rate of 69.1 percent.




“In fact, during the first term of Republican President Eisenhower, the marginal tax rate on regular income for those earning over $400,000 -- at the time, the highest income bracket -- was 92 percent. The tax rate was carried over from Democratic President Harry Truman's administration. This was the second-highest tax rate during the 20th century, following the 94 percent instituted by President Roosevelt during World War II for those making over $200,000 annually. In 1954, under Eisenhower, the rate for the highest income bracket decreased to 91 percent. Taking into account these income tax rates, Sanders' assertion that he's not as "socialist" as Eisenhower's administration is correct: Sanders has said before that he doesn't believe his tax policy would tax the top bracket over 90 percent, though he has yet to offer up an exact number.”


I do want to see billionaires pay as much as their secretaries. We can raise the rate of taxation on them, especially on their various investments, which I understand are taxed at a lower rate than wages earned for work by the ordinary people. The poor haven’t really had a fair shake for years, partly due to the weakening of unions. Billionaires may think they are winning, but the fact that the poor and Middle Class don’t have enough money to buy desired goods and services makes our economy weaker rather than stronger. Supposedly their trickle down philosophy is good for the country, but I think it just causes poverty to become more and more entrenched and every few years the kind of depression/recession that is dangerous even to the rich. May Sanders or one of the candidates win, so that we can have more than just a few years of Democratic influence and some financial relief for those who don’t have large reserves financially to fall back on in times of need.






ISIS -- MULTIPLE ARTICLES


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-attacks-identifications-and-arrests-start-piling-up/

Paris attacks: Identifications and arrests start piling up
CBS/AP
November 15, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Music fans targeted in Paris: Who are the Eagles of Death Metal?
Photograph -- paris, French soldiers patrol at the Eiffel Tower which remained closed on the first of three days of national mourning in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015. AP PHOTO/PETER DEJONG
Play VIDEO -- Candidates react to the Paris attacks
Play VIDEO -- Dramatic tales of survival in Paris attacks
Play VIDEO -- Encrypted messaging apps helping terrorists "go dark"
Play VIDEO -- The Paris attacks: Minute by minute


PARIS - Two days after the deadly coordinated terrorist attacks on Paris left at least 129 people dead and 352 injured, officials have begun to put together a picture of those responsible, and the arrests being made across Europe related to the attacks as well as the identity of those responsible are slowly being made public.

France has been in an official state of mourning since the attacks, with the Eiffel Tower going dark and President Francois Hollande vowing that France would wage "merciless" war on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which claimed responsibility for the mayhem, as investigators raced to track down their accomplices and uncovered possible links to networks in Belgium, Germany and Syria.

French officials have identified one of the Paris attackers as Ismael Mostefai, a 29-year-old Frenchman who had been flagged for links to Islamic radicalism. A French judicial official says Mostefai's father, a brother, and several other people, including other family members, have been detained and are being questioned Sunday, French media report.

The mayor of the French city of Chartres, Jean-Pierre Gorges, identified Mostefai as a resident in a Facebook post. The judicial official confirmed the name, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The Paris prosecutor said Mostefai was identified by fingerprints on a finger found in the carnage of the Paris attacks Friday night. A U.S. law enforcement source told CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton French law enforcement officials were taking DNA and fingerprints from the dead terrorists. The test results were being run through databases as part of effort to identify the terrorists and their networks.

A neighbor in Chartres, Eric Pudal, said roughly 20 heavily armed police swooped in on the home Saturday evening.

Pudal said he was startled by the arrest, describing the family, which recently welcomed a baby daughter, as "very nice, very sociable."

Pudal said he had never met the reported suicide bomber, Ismael Mostefai, and had never heard him being discussed by his neighbors.

Serbian police said Sunday the owner of a passport found near a suicide bomber in Paris entered the country on Oct. 7 from Macedonia - part of a wave of asylum-seekers crossing the Balkans toward Western Europe.

CBS News has confirmed the name on the passport is Ahmad Al-Mohammad. A U.S. intelligence source who confirmed the name warned however that the passport might be fake. The passport did not contain the correct numbers for a legitimate Syrian passport. Also, the picture did not match the name.

Police said in a statement Sunday that the man, identified officially only as A.A., formally requested asylum in Serbia. The statement says it's the same passport holder registered as entering Greece on Oct. 3.

The Syrian passport was found next to the body of a man who attacked France's national stadium on Friday night.

Officials in Greece say the passport's owner entered through Leros, one of the eastern Aegean islands that tens of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty have been using as a gateway into the European Union.

Belgian authorities announced Sunday a total of seven people have been detained there in relation to the attack. Officials conducted raids in a Brussels neighborhood Saturday and arrested three people near the border with France after a car with Belgian license plates was seen close to the Bataclan theater. Molins said a French national was among those arrested.

A Belgian official, who spoke to The Associated Press in Brussels on condition of anonymity, said two of the seven attackers who died in Paris on Friday night were French men living in Brussels, one of them in the neighborhood of St. Jans Molenbeek.

In addition, the governor of Bavaria said the arrest of a man in Germany last week may be linked to the Paris attacks. A spokesman for Bavarian state police spokesman confirmed that firearms, explosives and hand grenades were found when undercover police stopped a man near the German-Austrian border on Nov. 5.

Ludwig Waldinger declined to confirm reports by public broadcaster Bayrischer Rundfunk that the man appeared to be en route to Paris when he was arrested. Bavarian governor Horst Seehofer told reporters Saturday there were "reasonable grounds" to assume that there may be a link to the Paris attacks.

The Paris prosecutor said all seven attackers wore identical suicide vests containing the explosive TATP.

A French judicial official said Sunday a Seat car with suspected links to Friday's deadly Paris attacks has been found by police in Montreuil, a suburb nearly 4 miles east of the French capital.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not publicly authorized to speak, could not immediately confirm if this was the same black Seat linked to the gun attacks on the Le Carillon bar and the Le Petit Cambodge restaurant in Rue Alibert in the city's 10th district. The French channel BFMTV reports officials found three Kalashnikov automatic rifles in the car.

A Frenchman who may have hired another car used in the attacks was stopped at the Belgian border on Saturday morning, along with two other people, Molins said, according to Reuters.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Saturday that gunmen armed with automatic weapons pulled up in that model of car before opening fire, killing 15 people and injuring 10.

A U.S. intelligence source tells CBS News investigators have so far seen no insider knowledge in the chatter or communications that is being intercepted to verify who was involved. While there have been people saying glowing things about the Paris attack, no one has revealed information about the attack that only the attackers would have knowledge of, the source said.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said three groups of attackers, including seven suicide bombers, carried out the "act of barbarism" that shattered a Parisian Friday night.

Molins, the prosecutor, said all seven attackers wore identical suicide vests containing the explosive TATP.

CBS News' Investigative Unit can confirm that American law enforcement is looking into the man arrested in Bavaria. They have been in contact with Bavarian police on this, as well as Montenegrin police, as he is a citizen of Montenegro. It appears he would not talk with police and is possibly still in detention in Germany.

The militants launched six gun and bomb attacks over the course of 20 minutes Friday in areas of the capital packed with people.

For unknown reasons, the bombers were late to the game, so they detonated their bombs in a much smaller crowd. One of them was a propane tank in a backpack loaded with screws and bolts. One security source tells CBS News the bombs at all six locations killed very few victims - nearly all the dead were shot with Kalashnikov machine guns.

Around the same time, fusillades of bullets shook a trendy Paris neighborhood as gunmen targeted a string of crowded cafes.

The attackers next stormed the Bataclan concert hall, which was hosting the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal. They opened fire on the panicked audience and took many hostage. As police closed in, three detonated explosive belts, killing themselves, according to Paris police chief Michel Cadot.

Another assailant detonated a suicide bomb on Boulevard Voltaire, near the music hall, the prosecutor's office said.

The Paris carnage was the worst in a series of attacks claimed by ISIS in the past three days. On Thursday, twin suicide bombings in Beirut killed at least 43 people and wounded more than 200, and 26 people died Friday in Baghdad in a suicide blast and a roadside bombing that targeted Shiites.

The militant group also said it bombed a Russian plane that crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 31, killing 224 people.

ISIS also suffered significant reversals this week, with Kurdish forces launching an offensive to retake the strategic Iraqi city of Sinjar and the U.S. military saying it had likely killed Mohammed Emwazi, the British-accented militant known as "Jihadi John" who is seen in grisly ISIS beheading videos. The Pentagon also said an American airstrike targeted and likely killed Abu Nabil, a top ISIS leader in Libya.

France has been on edge since January, when Islamic extremists attacked the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had run cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, and a kosher grocery. Twenty people died in those attacks, including three shooters.

French authorities are particularly concerned about the threat from hundreds of French Islamic radicals who are known to have traveled to Syria and have returned home, potentially with skills to mount attacks.




“Two days after the deadly coordinated terrorist attacks on Paris left at least 129 people dead and 352 injured, officials have begun to put together a picture of those responsible, and the arrests being made across Europe related to the attacks as well as the identity of those responsible are slowly being made public. …. French officials have identified one of the Paris attackers as Ismael Mostefai, a 29-year-old Frenchman who had been flagged for links to Islamic radicalism. A French judicial official says Mostefai's father, a brother, and several other people, including other family members, have been detained and are being questioned Sunday, French media report. …. A U.S. law enforcement source told CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton French law enforcement officials were taking DNA and fingerprints from the dead terrorists. The test results were being run through databases as part of effort to identify the terrorists and their networks. …. Serbian police said Sunday the owner of a passport found near a suicide bomber in Paris entered the country on Oct. 7 from Macedonia - part of a wave of asylum-seekers crossing the Balkans toward Western Europe. CBS News has confirmed the name on the passport is Ahmad Al-Mohammad. A U.S. intelligence source who confirmed the name warned however that the passport might be fake. The passport did not contain the correct numbers for a legitimate Syrian passport. Also, the picture did not match the name. …. In addition, the governor of Bavaria said the arrest of a man in Germany last week may be linked to the Paris attacks. A spokesman for Bavarian state police spokesman confirmed that firearms, explosives and hand grenades were found when undercover police stopped a man near the German-Austrian border on Nov. 5. …. The French channel BFMTV reports officials found three Kalashnikov automatic rifles in the car. A Frenchman who may have hired another car used in the attacks was stopped at the Belgian border on Saturday morning, along with two other people, Molins said, according to Reuters. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Saturday that gunmen armed with automatic weapons pulled up in that model of car before opening fire, killing 15 people and injuring 10. …. CBS News' Investigative Unit can confirm that American law enforcement is looking into the man arrested in Bavaria.”


Individuals drive in several different cars to the attack sites, one car with three Kalashnikovs in it. A probably fake passport is found “near” a dead attacker. Fingerprints from the dead revealed at least one person who recently walked across the border in Serbia among the crush of refugees, so the enemy is using the story of personal peril to insert their fighters into European countries. Whole families are in some cases involved. This reads like a spy novel. Unfortunately it isn’t fiction, and the human instinct to help those in distress can clearly be a major mistake. We need and want to trust, but we can’t. This is very sad.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mass-grave-old-women-former-isis-territory-sinjar-iraq-kurds/

Mass grave of old women found in former ISIS Iraq territory
AP November 15, 2015

Photograph -- A member of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces stands in the town of Sinjar, Iraq November 13, 2015. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. REUTERS/ARI JALAL Play VIDEO -- U.S. backed Kurdish forces seize key Iraqi city from ISIS
MAP -- isis-held-territory-map-cropped3.jpg, CBS
Play VIDEO -- Is it time for a new strategy to fight terror?


IRBIL, Iraq - Kurdish forces said Sunday they uncovered two mass graves outside Sinjar, a northern Iraqi town near the Syrian border that was ruled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) for more than a year before the extremists were driven out last week.

The first grave uncovered was west of the town's center near the technical institute and contained 78 elderly women's bodies, the Sinjar director of intelligence, Qasim Samir, told The Associated Press. The second grave was uncovered about 15 kilometers west of Sinjar and contained between 50 and 60 bodies of men, women and children, he said.

More precise information from the second grave is unavailable at the moment, Samir explained, because the surrounding area is thought to be rigged with homemade bombs, preventing investigation teams from reaching it.

ISIS captured Sinjar during its rampage across northern Iraq in the summer of 2014 and killed and captured thousands of members of the Yazidi religious minority, including women forced into sexual slavery. Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes pushed the extremist group out of the town in a two-day operation last week.

"These people (in the mass graves) were shot and buried during the Daesh invasion last year," Samir said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. Sinjar was taken by ISIS militants in August 2014 following the earlier fall of Mosul. During the same territorial push, ISIS advanced on Erbil, prompting the beginning of a US-led campaign of airstrikes against the group, first in Iraq and later in Syria.

A security official with the Kurdish militia forces known as peshmerga also confirmed the discovery of the mass graves.

"This is not a surprise," the official explained, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media on the matter. "In other areas that have been taken back, we have found similar mass graves."


In the nearby town of Snuny, the Peshmerga uncovered 7 mass graves after retaking the territory earlier this year, the peshmerga official said.

Nawaf Ashur, a resident of Sinjar who was forced to flee with his family in August last year, said the news of the mass graves has jarred the Yazidi community.

"Everyone who was missing a family member was hoping that they were still out there, that they are still alive and maybe they'll come back," he said. Thousands of Yezidis remain unaccounted for more than a year after ISIS took a number of majority Yezidi towns in Iraq's north.

While hundreds of Yezidi women and girls have been released or escaped ISIS captivity, human rights groups estimate thousands still remain in ISIS custody.

"But now with the news of each grave found, we know not all of them will come back," he said. "Some of them are never coming back."




“The first grave uncovered was west of the town's center near the technical institute and contained 78 elderly women's bodies, the Sinjar director of intelligence, Qasim Samir, told The Associated Press. The second grave was uncovered about 15 kilometers west of Sinjar and contained between 50 and 60 bodies of men, women and children, he said. …. ISIS captured Sinjar during its rampage across northern Iraq in the summer of 2014 and killed and captured thousands of members of the Yazidi religious minority, including women forced into sexual slavery. …. "This is not a surprise," the official explained, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media on the matter. "In other areas that have been taken back, we have found similar mass graves." In the nearby town of Snuny, the Peshmerga uncovered 7 mass graves after retaking the territory earlier this year, the peshmerga official said. …. While hundreds of Yezidi women and girls have been released or escaped ISIS captivity, human rights groups estimate thousands still remain in ISIS custody. "But now with the news of each grave found, we know not all of them will come back," he said. "Some of them are never coming back."


It’s hard to know which is worse, the discovery that your loved one has been killed or the suspicion that she is still alive and perhaps being raped daily. There was a very good news article about the Yezidi who are looked down upon by many Muslims including ISIS because of their religion which involves ancient Mesopotamian cultural elements including a supernatural being called Satan, who is not the same as the Satan of the Bible. See the following:

http://www.angelfire.com/empire/serpentis666/Yezidis.html.

The Yezidi Devil Worshippers of Iraq

There have been many conflicting articles concerning the Yezidi Devil worshippers of Iraq. The Yezidi people originally came from Southern Iraq and migrated north to Mount Lalish. It is believed they are descendants of the Assyrians who sought refuge after the fall of Nineveh in 612 BCE. ¹

Eridu also known as “Enkidu” was an ancient city in Southern Iraq. This was Father Satan's [Enki’s] city. The Valley of Baten El Ghoul which is right over the buried ancient city is now known as "The Devil's Hole" and "Belly of the Beast." The Jordanians and many others consider it to be haunted. Demons have been seen by many who have spent the night there, mostly soldiers in bivouac [camps]. Those who have been there for any length of time claim it has a powerful energy which the followers of the Judeo/Christian/Muslim programs label as "evil."

Those who have spent the night there also claim the entire area is "bathed in a strange bluish grey light." "Apparitions" are also seen. [The above information was taken from the book "Psychic Warrior" by David Moorehouse]. The author was a US Army soldier who was hit in the head by a mortar shell while camping with his platoon in that valley and experienced psychic phenomena and abilities he never had before the incident. He was eventually assigned to the US Army Psychic Warfare Dept.

Iraq has many ancient artifacts and evidence of Satan. Mount Lalesh is near the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh and along a three hundred mile stretch are the Ziarahs; the Seven Towers of Satan with the center tower on Mount Lalesh. The "Seven Towers or Power houses -a high white cone shaped structure with bright rays flashing from its pinnnacle."²

"...seven towers - the Towers of Satan [Ziarahs] -six of them trapezoidal in form, and one, the "center" on Mount Lalesh, shaped like a sharp, fluted point."
— The Satanic Rituals by Anton LaVey

The above excerpt is also an allegory, as the center is the odd one out, the heart chakra. It does have power, but not the power of the strongest chakra of the soul, the '666' chakra of the Sun. The powers of the heart chakra are minimal. This is why the enemy is always touting it in the mainstream books, and in the new age dogma out there that is readily available to the public.

Each tower is topped by a brilliant heliographic reflector, and was intended to serve as a power house from where a Satanic/Yezidi Priest could beam his will to influence events in the world.

The Yezidis have often been described as a secretive people who are not permitted to reveal their religion to outsiders; they keep their real beliefs hidden. Modern Yezidism has changed somewhat from the old ways due to outside interference. The Yezidi people have been severely persecuted and are very suspicious of outsiders. It is obvious their doctrines have been altered to conform to Christian beliefs as in the Qu’ret Al Yezid; Satan dictates he is a God and in other places it reads he is an “archangel.”

Satan dictated the Al Jilwah directly to Yezidi prophet Sheik Adi in the 12th century. The Al Jilwah is the most important doctrine in Satanism and every Satanist should be familiar with its teachings. I asked Satan if the Al Jilwah was from him and he confirmed it was, but stated that the Muslims altered some of the Yezidi doctrines.

The Yezidis have been victims of mass-murder and genocide at the hands of others, mainly those of the Christian and Muslim religions. In the year 1415 CE, Muslims desecrated and burned the tomb of Sheik Adi, ransacking his grave and removing his bones and burning them in front of the Yezidis. “Some of the Yezidi multitude they took as prisoners and made slaves of them, and the others they murdered.” Badr al-Din further ordered the execution of two hundred members of the sect and had Sheik Adi’s bones disinterred and burned.” ³

In 1892, Farik ‘Omar Pasa invited several Yezidi Chiefs to Mosul. His agenda was to collect 20 years of back taxes and to try to convert them to Islam. A few Christians were present at the meeting. He began to tell them that “if they would give up their Devil-worship, they would be rewarded with high place and rank, and would please the great Allah.” When they refused to answer, Farik threw them into prison, marched on their village, and “slew about 500 of them.” 4

Most Yezidis are illiterate and the few doctrines they have are passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. In order to avoid persecution, the Yezidi people have purposely deceived outsiders concerning their beliefs and doctrines. This explains why there are so many conflicting accounts of their faith. The Yezidis have very few scriptures; in the Al-Jilwah, Satan instructs: “I lead to the straight path without a book.”
”Melek Ta’us taught “first by oral tradition and secondly by this book Jilwe.” 5

The Yezidi people are forbidden to say the name “Shaitan.” They refer to Satan as “Melek Ta’us.” Melek means “King.” He is known as the Peacock Angel because of his beauty and pride. He is the “Proud One” and “Ruler of the Earth.” He is a God of Light rather than of darkness and is concerned with the destinies of the world. 4 The Yezidis represent Satan by both the peacock and the snake. “The peacock represents the beauty of the worshipped God and the snake represents his wisdom because he is both beautiful and wise.” Their holy relic is the copper sanjak, an image of the peacock. 6

The Yezidis play the flute and the tambourine at their festivals and dance; “a worship which led to every excess of debauchery and lust.”7

”The Jalwah and the Resh are the authentic holy scriptures of the Yezidis. The Yezidis not only acknowledge the loss of many copies of their scriptures but also Shaikh Hayder’s recording of the Book of Resh. The latter no doubt the Resh scripture was set down from memory.” The Yezidis indeed avoid mentioning the very name “Satan” or any of his attributes, and have kept themselves aloof for centuries. Their books are a mystery. They also are forbidden to wear the color blue as this is the sacred color of Satan. 8

The Yezidis sometimes use the name “Ankar” for Satan and the name Angar-Manyu for Ahriman in Zoroastrianism. 9 The Mishaf [Scripture] Resh [Black] the Yezidis believe was written by Shaikh Hasan al-Basri has been called “Black” because the word Satan is covered in it. It measures 28 x 21 cm. and has a leather cover. The Yezidis also have a reputation for being adepts at black magick. 10

_________________________________________________________

1 The Yezidis, their Life and Beliefs by Sami Said Ahmed 1975

2 Adventures in Arabia: Among the Bedouins, Druses, Whirling Dervishes & Yezidee Devil Worshipers by W.B. Seabrook 1927

3 Yezidism- its Background, Observances and Textual Tradition
by Philip G. Kreyenbroek 1995
4 Ibid.

5 The Yezidis: A Study in Survival by J.S. Guest 1987

6 Peacock Angel by E.S. Drower 1941
7 Ibid

8 The Yezidis, their Life and Beliefs by Sami Said Ahmed 1975
9 Ibid

10 Devil Worship 1919: The Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yezidiz
by Isya Joseph





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/g-20-summit-turkey-isis-talk-no-solutions/

G-20 summit in Turkey dominated by ISIS talk
AP November 15, 2015

Photograph -- U.S. President Barack Obama (C) stands for a family photo with fellow world leaders at the start of the G20 summit at the Regnum Carya Resort in Antalya, Turkey, November 15, 2015. Also pictured in the front row are China's President Xi Jinping (L-R), Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff and Russia's President Vladimir Putin. REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST
Play VIDEO -- Is it time for a new strategy to fight terror?
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Play VIDEO -- Pentagon "reasonably certain" hell-fire missile fired by drone killed Jihadi John


ANTALYA, Turkey - President Barack Obama pledged Sunday to redouble U.S. efforts to eliminate the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and end the Syrian civil war that has fueled its rise, as world leaders struggled to offer concrete proposals for how to escalate the fight in the wake of the extremist group's horrifying terror spree in Paris.

Opening two days of talks at a major summit in Turkey, Obama pledged solidarity with France in the effort to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice. He said "the skies have been darkened" by the Paris attacks, but offered no details about what the U.S. or its coalition partners might do to step up its assault against ISIS.

"The killing of innocent people, based on a twisted ideology, is an attack not just on France, not just on Turkey, but it's an attack on the civilized world," Obama said after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In addition to the Paris attacks, ISIS is blamed for two deadly bombings in Turkey this year.

The specter of the ISIS threat and Syria's civil war hanged over the Turkish seaside city of Antalya as Obama and other leaders descended for the Group of 20 summit meeting of leading rich and developing nations. Although the overlapping crises were already on the lineup for talks, they were thrust to the forefront by elaborately coordinated attacks that killed 129 in the French capital just two days earlier. It was the most destructive attack in the West blamed on the extremist group.

In a fresh reminder of the ISIS' expanding capacity to wreak havoc, five Turkish police officers were injured Sunday when a suicide bomber blew himself up during a police raid on a suspected ISIS hideout near the Syrian border. Turkish security forces also rounded up 20 suspected ISIS militants in and around Antalya in the run-up to the G-20.

Yet beyond sweeping condemnations of ISIS, leaders have yet to float new, specific proposals for intensifying the fight following the Paris attacks.

European Union leader Donald Tusk called on G-20 leaders to show "full determination" against terrorism and urged cooperation to prevent terror financing - a step that nations have already been pursuing for more than a year. Obama, asked whether he would consider additional action against IS, wouldn't tip his hand.

Obama's meeting with Erdogan came at the start of a 9-day trip to Turkey, the Philippines and Malaysia that has already been largely overshadowed by the Paris attacks and two related issues: Syria's civil war and the resulting migrant crisis. Obama said the U.S. stands with Turkey and Europe in the effort to reduce the flow of migrants, and Erdogan predicted a "strong message" on fighting terrorism would emerge from the summit.

"This terror attack was not just against the French people, it was against the whole of humanity," Erdogan said. The summit's host, Erdogan is fresh off his party's impressive victory in Turkey's recent elections, but his relations with Obama have been strained over tactical disagreements about how to push Assad out of power in Syria.

The United States, along with coalition partners, has been bombing ISIS in Iraq and Syria for more than a year with limited success. Obama has been reluctant to get pulled deeper into the conflict and has ruled out a major U.S. ground offensive, although he recently authorized sending a few dozen special operations forces into Syria.

Other nations the U.S. views warily - like Iran and Syria - have also bombed ISIS, in a dizzying range of militaries piloting the skies above ISIS' self-proclaimed caliphate. Cautious U.S. optimism about Russia's involvement quickly soured when the U.S. determined Russian President Vladimir Putin was more focused on targeting rebel groups fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad's government than defeating ISIS.

Putin and Obama, who are now on opposing sides of Syria's bloody civil war, planned no formal sit-downs while in Antalya - just a few hundred miles from Turkey's border with Syria. Yet they crossed paths briefly during a group photo, shaking hands and exchanging a few words.

"It's only possible to deal with the terror threat and help millions of people who lost their homes by combining efforts of the entire global community," Putin said earlier.

Obama also scheduled a meeting Sunday with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, a majority Sunni nation that opposes Assad and is deeply skeptical of Iran's involvement in any solution to the conflict.

One option that emerged in the wake of Friday's attacks was the possibility of France asking for help from its NATO allies. Only once in its 66-year-history - after 9/11 - has NATO's communal defense obligation been invoked.

Shrouding deliberations about ISIS were diplomatic maneuverings over a new plan to wind down Syria's long-raging civil war. The proposal, discussed over the weekend by foreign ministers in Vienna, appears based largely on a Russian initiative, and envisions negotiations between Assad's government and opposition groups starting by Jan. 1.

But hopes for a major breakthrough were softened by gaping, open questions about the proposal - such as Assad's future and the list of opposition groups to be deemed terrorists and barred from participating.

Although the ISIS threat promised to dominate this year's G-20 summit, the agenda also included efforts to hasten global economic growth, with a particular focus on addressing the effect that China's economic slowdown is having on other nations.




“In a fresh reminder of the ISIS' expanding capacity to wreak havoc, five Turkish police officers were injured Sunday when a suicide bomber blew himself up during a police raid on a suspected ISIS hideout near the Syrian border. Turkish security forces also rounded up 20 suspected ISIS militants in and around Antalya in the run-up to the G-20. Yet beyond sweeping condemnations of ISIS, leaders have yet to float new, specific proposals for intensifying the fight following the Paris attacks. …. The summit's host, Erdogan is fresh off his party's impressive victory in Turkey's recent elections, but his relations with Obama have been strained over tactical disagreements about how to push Assad out of power in Syria. The United States, along with coalition partners, has been bombing ISIS in Iraq and Syria for more than a year with limited success. Obama has been reluctant to get pulled deeper into the conflict and has ruled out a major U.S. ground offensive, although he recently authorized sending a few dozen special operations forces into Syria. …. Cautious U.S. optimism about Russia's involvement quickly soured when the U.S. determined Russian President Vladimir Putin was more focused on targeting rebel groups fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad's government than defeating ISIS. …. Obama also scheduled a meeting Sunday with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, a majority Sunni nation that opposes Assad and is deeply skeptical of Iran's involvement in any solution to the conflict. One option that emerged in the wake of Friday's attacks was the possibility of France asking for help from its NATO allies. Only once in its 66-year-history - after 9/11 - has NATO's communal defense obligation been invoked.”


A commenter on my Google Plus account said that there will be lots of angry talk, but in the end nothing would be done. It looks like he may be correct. Too bad. Lots of ostrich rear ends dot the landscape as they place their heads firmly in the sand.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-calls-paris-attacks-blasphemy/

Pope Francis calls Paris attacks "blasphemy"
CBS/AP
November 15, 2015

Photograph -- A woman holds up a placard reading "I'm French and I stand up" during Pope Francis' Angelus prayer in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican, November 15, 2015, in response to the attacks in Paris, France. REUTERS/TONY GENTILE
Play VIDEO -- Dramatic tales of survival in Paris attacks


VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has once again condemned the Paris terror attacks, calling it "blasphemy" to use the name of God to justify "violence and hatred."

The pope expressed shock at the "barbarity" of the attacks and told followers in St. Peter's Square on Sunday that "we wonder how can it come to the heart of man to conceive and carry out of such horrible events."

The pope added that "the road of violence and hatred does not resolve humanity's problems. And using the name of God to justify this road is blasphemy."

Francis expressed his deepest condolences to French President Francois Hollande and to the French people.

Pope Francis has often framed the upsurge in violence around the globe in terms of a "third World War" being waged piecemeal through crimes, massacres, religious persecution and the destruction of cultural sites.

On Saturday, he told the Italian Bishops Conference TV2000 that the attacks in Paris were "part" of that, adding "there are no justifications for these things."

At least 127 people died in Friday night's rampage in Paris. France has been in an official state of mourning since the attacks, with the Eiffel Tower going dark and President Francois Hollande vowing that France would wage "merciless" war on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which claimed responsibility for the mayhem, as investigators raced to track down their accomplices and uncovered possible links to networks in Belgium and Syria.




The pope expressed shock at the "barbarity" of the attacks and told followers in St. Peter's Square on Sunday that "we wonder how can it come to the heart of man to conceive and carry out of such horrible events." The pope added that "the road of violence and hatred does not resolve humanity's problems. And using the name of God to justify this road is blasphemy." The comment summarizes my view of this type of religion. When religion becomes confused with greed or power it has gone completely astray, and should not in my opinion be defended or respected. Religion should ennoble each person rather than removing their best thinking abilities by what I call brain washing. All others are harmful rather than helpful, and should be called “cults.” That’s my opinion, of course, but it’s how I feel about the matter.