April 6 and 7, 2017


News and Views


ALLIES APPROVE ATTACK ON ASSAD. AT LEAST HE DIDN’T SIDE WITH RUSSIA THIS TIME. A CAUTION, HOWEVER. IT IS PRETTY CLEAR TO MY EARS THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS HEAVILY SLURRING HIS WORDS. WATCH HIS ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE NEWS VIDEO HERE. OF COURSE, ONE RIGHT WINGER – I CAN’T REMEMBER WHO – SAID IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS OF OBAMA’S PRESIDENCY THAT HE WAS SLURRING HIS WORDS. I DIDN’T HEAR THAT INSTANCE. THERE WAS ALSO UNDER OBAMA AND NOW UNDER TRUMP A REPORT OF SECRET SERVICE AGENTS BEING DRUNK ON THE JOB. OF COURSE, IN RUSSIA THEY WILL LAUGH AT THIS STATEMENT, BECAUSE IT IS THEIR WIDELY-HELD REPUTATION, WHETHER TRUE OR FALSE, FOR PRETTY MUCH LIVING ON VODKA.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-missile-strike-syria-what-message-is-president-trump-sending/
What message is Trump sending the world with Syria air base attack?
CBS NEWS
April 7, 2017, 1:10 PM

Related:
Russia responds to U.S. strike in Syria
Allies and adversaries react to U.S. missile strike in Syria
Syria decries “aggression” of U.S. missile strike
How accurate was U.S. strike on Syrian airbase?

U.S. allies are praising President Trump’s order on the U.S. missile attack against the Shayrat air base in Syria, which is believed to be the origin of Tuesday’s chemical weapons attack that killed more than 80 people in the Idlib province. Russia and Syria denounced the move Friday.

According to former CIA deputy director and CBS News senior national security contributor Michael Morell, Mr. Trump is sending a “very strong” message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other foreign leaders watching: “You can’t use these weapons.”

“This will deter [al-Assad]. But we did not go after regime command and control, so that will also send him a message that we are not going to try to force him out militarily. So he will read both of those messages,” Morell said Friday on “CBS This Morning.”

Inside Trump's decision to strike Syrian air base
Play VIDEO
Inside Trump's decision to strike Syrian air base

Two U.S. Navy warships in the Mediterranean fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles in the strike, early-morning local time. Syrian officials say at least seven people died in the attack.

Fran Townsend, a former homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush and CBS News senior national security analyst, said sources within the Trump administration said “the driving principle is proportionality.”

“One, you didn’t want unnecessary civilian casualties when what you were doing was retaliating for the horrific civilian casualties. Two, you wanted to be careful not to be hitting other sites,” Townsend said. “There are six major airfields. We only hit the one from which where they launched this awful chemical attack. Because what you didn’t want to do is hit potential stockpiles and caused the plume where you caused the release of sarin or chlorine gas.”

Morell said one of the biggest successes of the attack was that the president acted decisively.

How Trump's strike on Syria impacts foreign relations
Play VIDEO
How Trump's strike on Syria impacts foreign relations

“He didn’t take weeks to try to bring other people on board. That’s a message that is going to be heard not only in Syria and in the region [but] around the world. I think that’s very important. And so I would encourage not waiting for others to join. I would encourage the president to continue to act decisively,” Morell said.

“By the way, if I was North Korea, the timing of this while President Xi is [in the U.S.] gives impetus to that conversation with the Chinese: ‘Look, we’re willing to act alone. That may not be our preference, but we need you to act with us,’” Townsend said.

Morell said Mr. Trump gets high marks for sending a message about chemical weapons, but he could get higher marks if he uses this moment to try to bring the world together and pressure Assad to “come to the negotiating table and end the civil war in Syria once and for all.”

“He has an opportunity to do that, and I hope he does it, and it has to start in Moscow next week,” Morell said, referring to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s upcoming meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Morell said Tillerson’s Russia trip will be key.

“The Russians bear significant responsibility for what President Assad has done in Syria to his own people. They bear responsibility for the chemical attack last week, and it’s going to be very important for Secretary Tillerson to make that clear to Putin and to make it clear that his support for Assad has to stop,” Morell said.


I THINK THAT THERE ARE LIMITS ON THIS PRESIDENTIAL RIGHT TO WAGE WAR, WHICH USED TO BE IN PLACE, BUT SINCE WWII AND VIETNAM, PRESIDENTS HAVE BEEN GRADUALLY USING LESS AND LESS DISCRETION, AND WE CITIZENS HAVE BECOME INURED TO THAT SITUATION. THE SO-CALLED "UNITARY EXECUTIVE CONSTITUTIONAL THEORY" WHICH THE RIGHT LEANING TEAM OF GEORGE W BUSH DREAMED UP TO GIVE HIM EXTRAORDINARY POWERS IS THE CAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY FEELING THAT THE TRUE GOAL OF "CONSERVATIVES" OF MANY TO MOST TYPES IS TO STOP DEMOCRACY IN ITS' TRACKS AND GRAB UP ALL THE MONEY FOR THEIR OWN USE. I KNOW. THAT'S DECIDEDLY A PREJUDICE ON MY PART.

HOWEVER, I DO AGREE WITH THOSE IN CONGRESS WHO SAID THAT, THOUGH IT WAS HIGH TIME ISIS, ASSAD AND SOME OTHERS WHO ARE THE FACES OF PSEUDO ISLAM, ARE PUT IN THEIR' PLACES, CONGRESS SHOULD BE ASKED FIRST AND NOT NOTIFIED AFTER THE FACT. PERHAPS THEY NEED TO PUT THIS PRESIDENT IN HIS PLACE. BESIDES, IN THE MIDDLE EAST I THINK THE ONLY SOLUTIONS ARE TO FORCE ISRAEL AND PALESTINE TO MAKE A TRUE AND DEPENDABLE PEACE THROUGH AN APPROPRIATE SACRIFICE ON THE PART OF BOTH COUNTRIES, PERHAPS ENFORCED BY THE UN, IF THAT IS POSSIBLE. SOMETIMES IT DOES SEEM TO ME THAT THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL WILL SEND IN "PEACE KEEPERS," BUT THEY WON'T DO ANYTHING TO STOP THE BASIC PROBLEM. THERE WAS A NEWS ARTICLE SOME FIVE YEARS AGO, WHEN OSAMA BIN LADEN WAS RAMPAGING, THAT THE HATRED OF THOSE GROUPS TOWARD US HERE IN THE US IS DUE TO OUR UNFAILING SUPPORT OF ISRAEL.

THE ORIGINAL ISLAMIC FURY IS AGAINST ISRAEL. WE'RE ALL JUST SITTING AROUND AND WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO CHANGE, AND I DON'T BELIEVE IT WILL. IN THE TIME OF JESUS, THE ROMANS CAME IN AND PACIFIED THAT WHOLE AREA IN THEIR OWN FASHION -- THEY CRUSHED IT. THAT'S WHAT THE RUSSIANS DID TO EASTERN EUROPE, TOO. THAT SHOULD NOT BE OUR WAY. I WISH WE HAD NO TIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AT ALL. IT'S A DOOMED AREA, EXCEPT FOR THE GRADUAL CHANGE THAT SOME OF THOSE NATIONS ARE MAKING. CRUSHING ALL OPPOSITION DOESN'T PRODUCE RESPECT. IT PRODUCES HATRED. JESUS' WORDS "GIVE UNTO CAESAR THAT WHICH IS CAESAR’S AND GIVE UNTO GOD THAT WHICH IS GOD’S." THAT IS THE ONLY SOLUTION. IT'S JUST LIKE THE RACIAL ISSUES -- THE CHANGE IS MADE ON AN INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL BASIS, AND THAT WILL PRODUCE A PREDOMINANTLY PACIFIED SOCIETY, WHICH IS ALL THAT IS POSSIBLE. FOR THAT BIBLICAL REFERENCE, WHICH HAS BEEN TRANSLATED AND QUOTED IN QUITE A FEW DIFFERENT WAYS, GO TO MARK 12:17.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-trump-was-able-to-order-u-s-strikes-on-syria-without-congressional-approval/
How Trump was able to order U.S. strikes on Syria without congressional approval
CBS/AP April 7, 2017, 7:48 AM

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. missile strikes Thursday on a Syrian air base were conducted without formal congressional approval. Some questions and answers about how and why presidents can conduct military action without permission from the 535 representatives of the American people.

DID CONGRESS KNOW?

Trump did let Congress know of his plans to launch 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles Thursday evening, targeting the air base from which Syrian President Bashar Assad launched a chemical weapons attack earlier this week against his own people, killing more than 80 men, women and children. A White House official said more than two dozen members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, were briefed Thursday by White House and Cabinet officials. House Speaker Paul Ryan, the No. 3 U.S. official, said he was among those informed.

WHAT’S THE JUSTIFICATION FOR UNILATERAL ACTION?

A U.S. official says as commander in chief, the president has power under Article II of the Constitution to use force overseas to defend U.S. national interest. The official said that the U.S. has a strong national interest in promoting regional stability, which the use of chemical weapons threatens. The official added that this justification is similar to what President Obama used in 2011 to use force in Libya. The White House also argues that the chemical weapons use violates a 2013 deal for Syria to get rid of them.

IS INFORMING THEM ENOUGH? DON’T THEY GET A SAY?

The War Powers Resolution, enacted in 1973, long after American troops began fighting in Vietnam, required the president to consult with Congress before sending U.S. armed forces into combat unless there already had been a declaration of war. The troops could not stay more than 90 days unless lawmakers backed the decision. The law also sought to give the president “leeway to respond to attacks or other emergencies,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

And it is that leeway that presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and now Trump have used to their advantage. Following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Congress gave Bush authority to attack any countries or groups involved in the attacks, which was generally accepted to mean al-Qaida. Obama used that same authority to fight the Islamic State militant group, which emerged in 2014 as an outgrowth of al-Qaida. Trump has used that same authority to continue military action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

The Obama administration maintained in 2011 that U.S. involvement in the months-long air campaign against Libya didn’t require congressional permission because American forces were largely playing a supporting role as part of an international coalition.

In February 2015, Obama asked Congress to formally authorize war against the Islamic State, saying the militant group could threaten the U.S. homeland if left unchecked. His resolution would have limited authorization to three years, with no geographic restrictions for U.S. forces. It would have banned “enduring offensive combat operations,” an ambiguous term that attempted to define a middle ground between Democrats leery of another protracted Middle Eastern conflict involving ground troops, and Republicans, who largely believe the U.S. needs maximum flexibility to pursue IS.

Congress held a few hearings, but never acted on the proposal.

WHAT DOES CONGRESS THINK NOW?

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said before Thursday’s missile launch that he thought it would be prudent to consult with Congress, but didn’t insist Congress had to approve Trump’s actions.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, insisted that if the U.S. increased the use of military force in Syria, “we should follow the Constitution and seek the proper authorization from Congress.” Kentucky lawmakers Thomas Massie and Rand Paul, both Republicans, agreed.

“President Trump should make his case in front of the American people and allow their elected representatives to debate the benefits and risks of further Middle East intervention to our national security interests,” Lee said in a statement.

Other Republicans, like former Trump primary opponent Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, applauded the strikes without mentioning congressional approval.



RUBIO EXPRESSES CONCERN BUT ISN’T CONDEMNING THE ATTACK

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/marco-rubio-concerned-about-possibility-of-syrian-chemical-attack-against-u-s-troops/
Marco Rubio concerned about possibility of Syrian chemical attack against U.S. troops
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS
April 7, 2017, 7:46 AM

Sen. Marco Rubio on Friday expressed concern about the possibility that Syria could respond to U.S. airstrikes launched against its regime by launching a chemical attack against Americans.

“Syrians don’t have the capacity to retaliate against the United States other than, perhaps, doing asymmetrical things -- or a chemical attack,” the Florida Republican said in an interview with “CBS This Morning.”

Rubio pointed out that there are hundreds of U.S. troops serving as military advisers in Syria.

“If Assad is willing to use sarin gas against his own people -- civilians -- he’s probably willing to use [it] against Americans,” he said.

The missile strikes launched Thursday night targeted an airfield from which the aircraft believed to have launched the chemical attack earlier this week is believed to have taken off. Rubio said he hopes the White House now realizes that as long as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remains in power, the other radical elements in the country like al-Nusrah and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will also remain.

Rubio, who opposed President Obama’s proposed military strike on Syria in 2013, said Assad must be removed by a combination of things on the ground, but not by “foreign fighters” or “foreign forces.”

“Ultimately, I think you’ve got to have Sunni -- which is the majority in Syria -- a Sunni, non-jihadist alternative, which is what we should have done back in 2011 and I hope now the work will begin to carve out a space for them to be able to grow and get more powerful,” he said.

He reiterated his suggestion that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s comments last week in which he appeared to abandon the policy of regime change in Syria, gave Assad “license” to attack his own people.

“I do believe that when the sentiment is out there that somehow we have given up on efforts to remove him and that in fact he’s going to stay, I do think it gave him license or perhaps an incentive to believe he could get away with something like this,” he said.



I DON’T WANT TO SEE OUTRIGHT WAR, BUT CHEMICAL WEAPONS, ESPECIALLY AGAINST BABIES IS UNACCEPTABLE, SO I DO UNDERSTAND THIS MOVE.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/congressional-response-to-syria-missile-strike/
What is Congress saying about the Syria missile strike?
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS
April 6, 2017, 10:16 PM

Members of Congress began to quickly respond Thursday night to President Trump’s decision to order U.S. military strikes against the Syrian regime in response to the deadly chemical attack this week, with some applauding the action and others deriding it.

Did the U.S. bomb Syria?

Photograph -- 170406-cbs-map-airfield-chemical-attack.jpg
Map shows site of Shayrat Airfield which was hit by U.S. missiles Thu., April 6, 2017, and the site of a chemical attack days earlier. CBS NEWS

Nearly 60 cruise missiles were launched from ships in the eastern Mediterranean, CBS News’ David Martin reports, aimed at various locations around the Shayrat airfield, including hangars and fuel storage areas. This is believed to be the location from which the plane that dropped the chemical weapons took off.

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, issued a joint statement saying that the strikes send an important message that “the United States will no longer stand idly by as Assad, aided and abetted by Putin’s Russia, slaughters innocent Syrians with chemical weapons and barrel bombs.”

What comes next after Syria missile attack
Play VIDEO
What comes next after Syria missile attack

They emphasized that these actions must be followed through with a “new, comprehensive strategy” in coordination with U.S. allies to end the Syrian civil war, the destruction of the Assad regime’s air force, and more support for “vetted” Syrian opposition group.

But they Graham and McCain may be disappointed, according to Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “It is, I think, at the present not the intention to have more than this single strike, but of course the administration is reserving their options,” Schiff said in an interview with MSNBC.

The California Democrat said that he was alerted by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats as the cruise missiles were on their way to their targets. Schiff went on to urge the administration “not to make this a military effort to change the regime.”

Immediate reaction from senior Democrats appeared to be relatively positive. “Making sure Assad knows that when he commits such despicable atrocities he will pay a price is the right thing to do,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a statement while calling for further administration consultation with Congress.

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, did not condemn the attack but insisted the president would have to explain his legal authority to order it.

Trump speaks after cruise missile launch
Play VIDEO
Trump speaks after cruise missile launch

“The Administration is also going to have to set out the legal justification for tonight’s action and any future military operations against the Assad regime as part of its consultations with Congress,” Reed said in a statement.

Approximately two dozen members of Congress were briefed and notified about the strikes by the White House and Cabinet officials Thursday evening, according to a White House official.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who ran against Mr. Trump in the 2016 GOP primary, appeared to respond positively to the airstrikes. Rubio opposed a U.S. strike against the Syrian regime in 2013 when President Obama threatened to take such action following another deadly chemical attack in a suburb of Damascus.

“Tonight’s strike against the Assad regime’s Shayrat Air Base will hopefully diminish his capacity to commit atrocities against innocent civilians. By acting decisively against the very facility from which Assad launched his murderous chemical weapons attack, President Trump has made it clear to Assad and those who empower him that the days of committing war crimes with impunity are over,” Rubio said.

“The targeting of a specific airfield from which these chemical attacks were conducted from was the right move,” he told CBS News.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, another former rival of the president, expressed opposition to the strike because he did not seek Congressional approval.

Follow
Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
While we all condemn the atrocities in Syria, the United States was not attacked.
9:41 PM - 6 Apr 2017
14,002 14,002 Retweets 27,029 27,029 likes

18h
Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
While we all condemn the atrocities in Syria, the United States was not attacked.

Follow
Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
The President needs Congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution.
9:41 PM - 6 Apr 2017
14,838 14,838 Retweets 25,922 25,922 likes

18h
Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
The President needs Congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution.
Follow

Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Our prior interventions in this region have done nothing to make us safer and Syria will be no different.
9:42 PM - 6 Apr 2017
11,660 11,660 Retweets 20,267 20,267 likes

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, who visited Syria in January, also expressed dissent about the airstrikes. She said in a statement that the airstrikes were “reckless and short-sighted.”

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-California, a major proponent of Congress passing a new authorization for the use of military force (AUMF), said on Twitter that the airstrikes are “an act of war” and that lawmakers should return to Washington. They left Capitol Hill Thursday for a two-week recess.

Follow
Rep. Barbara Lee ✔ @RepBarbaraLee
This is an act of war. Congress needs to come back into session & hold a debate. Anything less is an abdication of our responsibility. https://twitter.com/cnn/status/850158440240599041 …
9:54 PM - 6 Apr 2017
13,088 13,088 Retweets 21,212 21,212 likes

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, said the strike was justified, and said he wanted Congress to be involved in future deliberations over the Syrian crisis.

“This action was appropriate and just,” Ryan said. “These tactical strikes make clear that the Assad regime can no longer count on American inaction as it carries out atrocities against the Syrian people. Resolving the years-long crisis in Syria is a complex task, but Bashar al-Assad must be held accountable and his enablers must be persuaded to change course. I look forward to the administration further engaging Congress in this effort.”

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, also called on Mr. Trump to consult with Congress while applauding the attack.

New video of U.S. launching missile attack on Syria
Play VIDEO
New video of U.S. launching missile attack on Syria

“The U.S. and world community stood by as Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad brutally tortured and murdered more than 500,000 of his own people, and I applaud President Trump for taking decisive action following the latest chemical weapons attack,” Corker, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, said.

“It is critical that Assad knows he will no longer enjoy impunity for his horrific crimes against his own citizens, and this proportional step was appropriate. As we move forward, it will be important for the administration to engage with Congress and clearly communicate its full strategy to the American people.”

The Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee, Rep. Ed Royce, R-California, also backed the strike.

“Assad was warned, repeatedly, by the U.S. and the U.N. that the intentional targeting of innocent men, women and children is intolerable,” Royce said in a statement. “Now Assad has been caught red-handed carrying out another abhorrent chemical attack, and the administration has taken a measured response. Moving ahead, the administration must work with Congress and lay out clear policy goals for Syria and the region.”

Sen. David Perdue, R-Georgia, expressed a similar sentiment, and knocked former President Obama in the process.

“Assad is a tyrant and his chemical weapon attack against innocent civilians this week was beyond inhumane,” Perdue, a member of the Senate Armed Services committee, said. This will not be tolerated. After six years of inaction by the Obama Administration, I am glad to see that President Trump is willing to stand up for these innocent victims and stop those responsible for this violence. I commend our brave servicewomen and men who are carrying out this vital mission tonight.”

ap-17095555756920.jpg
Syrian man Abdul-Hamid Alyousef, 29, carries his twin babies who were killed during the chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun, in the northern province of Idlib, Syria, April 4, 2017. AP



http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/bannon-removed-trumps-national-security-council?cid=eml_mra_20170405
Bannon removed from Trump’s National Security Council
04/05/17 12:51 PM
By Steve Benen

Photograph -- US President Donald Trump congratulates Stephen Bannon during the swearing-in of senior staff in the East Room of the White House on January 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images


Almost immediately after becoming president, Donald Trump made all kinds of strange decisions, but one of the toughest to defend was his appointment of Chief White House Strategist Stephen Bannon – up until recently, a guy who ran a right-wing website – to a full seat on the principals committee of the National Security Council.

Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said soon after, “This is a ‘Holy Crap’ moment.’”

The concerns grew more acute soon after when Foreign Policy reported that Steve Bannon had begun “calling the shots” at the NSC, “doing so with little to no input from the National Security Council staff.” The magazine quoted an intelligence official who described the NSC’s work environment as one in which there’s “little appetite for dissenting opinions” and “shockingly no paper trail of what’s being discussed and agreed upon at meetings.”

That was just nine weeks ago. As of today, however, Bannon has been removed from the NSC.

President Donald Trump has removed Steve Bannon, his chief strategist, from the National Security Council, according to a filing in the federal registry. […]

A senior White House official told NBC News that the changes were not the result of any “power struggle” within the administration.

Bannon was put on the Principals’ Committee only as a check against then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, the official said. Now that Flynn is gone, Bannon is no longer needed in that role, the official said.

That’s an odd explanation. For one thing, why would the president find it necessary to have a check against his own hand-picked National Security Advisor? For another, Flynn was ousted on Feb. 13. If Bannon’s role on the Security Council became unnecessary after Flynn departed, why wait until April to make the change?

If you’re thinking there are parts to this story the White House hasn’t yet disclosed, you’re not alone. Perhaps the current NSA, H.R. McMaster, has prevailed in some kind of behind-the-scenes power struggle. Maybe Bannon’s star is falling in Trump’s orbit. Perhaps Ezra Cohen-Watnick, a Bannon ally and a young man who was elevated to be senior director for intelligence at the National Security Council despite a lack of qualifications, is in trouble, too, in the wake of the Devin Nunes fiasco.

While we wait for answers to be uncovered, it’s also worth noting that today’s announcement was part of a larger re-reorganization of the NSC, following Trump’s January shake-up. As the NBC News report added, “As part of the shakeup announced Wednesday, two officials were added back to the NSC’s Principal’s Committee: the director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford.”

As for the broader context, I hope you saw Rachel’s segments this week on Team Trump’s politicization of the National Security Council:

THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW, 4/3/17, 9:34 PM ET
Trump uses National Security Council as personal political tool



PERHAPS PARENTS SHOULD USE THAT COMPUTER PROGRAM I HEARD ABOUT A YEAR OR TWO AGO TO BLOCK A KID’S USE OF THE NET ENTIRELY, UNLESS THE ADULT IS ACTIVELY SUPERVISING, WHEN THEY NEED TO RESEARCH A TERM PAPER, FOR INSTANCE. THE EMPHASIS, NO MATTER HOW UNREASONABLE AND ANGRY THEY MAY BE AT THAT AGE, SHOULD BE ON SCHOOLWORK. IF THAT WERE TO HAPPEN, OUR SOCIETY WOULDN’T BE NEAR THE BOTTOM ON THOSE LISTS OF NATIONS WHICH ARE PUBLISHED SHOWING LITERACY AND MATH SKILLS LEVELS, OFTEN BENEATH THOSE OF THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES. EVERY TIME I SEE THOSE LISTS. I CRINGE WITH SHAME AND SORROW. NO, I DON’T REMEMBER THE NAME OF IT. I THINK IT’S AN APP THAT HAS TO BE PURCHASED.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michigan-boy-kills-himself-response-social-media-prank-mother-says-n743941
Michigan Boy Kills Himself in Response to Social Media Prank, Mother Says
by SAFIA SAMEE ALI and ASSOCIATED PRESS
APR 7 2017, 3:54 PM ET

An 11-year-old Michigan boy died after hanging himself in response to his girlfriend's fake suicide prank on social media, the boy's mother said on Thursday.

Katrina Goss, 41, said her son, Tysen Benz, attempted suicide after seeing social media posts that his 13-year-old girlfriend killed herself — a hoax carried out by the young girl and several of her friends last month, his mother told the Associated Press.

"I don't know what possessed her to do such a weird prank. It's a twisted, sick joke," Goss said.

Related: Who Is Responsible for Stopping Live-Streamed Crimes?

She said that, after thinking that his girlfriend committed suicide, Benz replied via social media that he would do the same. Even at that point, no one told an adult, according to Goss.

Goss later found the boy "hanging by his neck" in his room.

"The whole thing happened in about 40 minutes," she said. "He was fine and then I found him. I don't know what she said she did to herself."

After being on life support for three weeks, the boy died Tuesday, Captain Michael Kohler of the Marquette Michigan Police Department said in a statement on Thursday.

Play Video -- Missing Tenn. Teen Was Bullied At School, Recalls Sister Facebook Twitter Embed
Missing Tenn. Teen Was Bullied At School, Recalls Sister 1:38
Charges are pending against at least one of the juveniles involved, he said.

While authorities are not releasing the name of the individual or what relation they had to the incident, "the Marquette County Prosecutors Office authorized charges for telecommunication services-malicious use and computers used to commit a crime," Kohler said.

Related: NY Near Deal to Combat Cyber Bullies: Report

The Marquette prosecutors office did not return a request for comment by NBC News.

A GoFundMe Page to help with medical expenses, started shortly after the boy was hospitalized, garnered more $35,000 by Friday.

"He was loved by everyone he knew and he will absolutely never be forgotten," said Goss of her son on the GoFundMe page. "Our family is completely heartbroken," she said.

"I want Tysen to be remembered as he was and all the joy he's brought to everyone. Keep his spirit alive by standing strong & fighting against social media bullying!!" Goss added.


RELATED SUBJECT, 2012 – DIGNITY FOR ALL STUDENTS ACT. A WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE BELOW DOES A REVIEW OF OTHER SUCH ANTI-BULLYING LAWS IN OTHER STATES AND NATION. WE STILL AREN'T WHERE WE NEED TO BE ON THIS ISSUE, BUT THERE IS DEFINITE PROGRESS.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Cyber-Bully-Law-New-York-Bullying-Online-Bullies-Social-Media-158548085.html
NY Near Deal to Combat Cyber Bullies: Report
By Michael Gormley
Published at 7:59 AM EDT on Jun 12, 2012

The bill combines measures sought by the Assembly's Democratic majority and the Senate's Republican majority

New York could announce as early as this week a legislative deal to crack down on cyber bullying in schools and through social media, according to a state official closed to the private negotiations.

The official told The Associated Press that Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver are planning to pass the measure by the end of the regular session June 21.

Rock Stars: Then and Now[NATL] Rock Stars: Then and Now

The bill combines measures sought by the Assembly's Democratic majority and the Senate's Republican majority. The Assembly stresses prevention and awareness, particularly in schools. The Senate also requires reporting and provides immunity from civil lawsuits for "good-faith" reporting of cyber bullying.

The proposed education laws are backed up by criminal laws under which the behavior can be prosecuted.

"We are hopeful an agreement can be reached to address the very serious problem of cyber-bullying," Michael Whyland, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Each chamber seeks to crack down in threatening, taunting or insulting e-mails, instant messages and postings to social media including Facebook.

More than 30 states, including New York, have some laws targeting "cyber harassment" and most also have laws focusing on stalking through the Internet, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

But the measures differ greatly.

"Many states have enacted "cyber stalking" or "cyber harassment" laws," NCSL stated. "Recent concerns about protecting minors from online bullying or harassment have led states to enact 'cyberbullying' laws."

Although threatening or harassing behavior has long been covered in law, specific laws regarding abuse of the internet can make enforcement easier, according to NCSL.

New York Sen. Stephen Saland, a Poughkeepsie Republican, said he pushed his part of the cyber bullying package because fear and abuse has impeded instruction, "and, in some cases, severely impeded."

The measure is fueled by cases such as the 15-year-old Staten Island girl two days after Christmas. A witness said they say [saw] Amanda Diane Cummings jump in front of a city bus. A relative told the Staten Island Advance that she was tormented by bullies, inappropriate Facebook messages and was dealing with a romantic breakup. New York City police said she was carrying a suicide note when she was struck, and died soon after.

Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell has sought to add cyber bullying to the Dignity for All Students Act passed in 2010, which outlaws harassment and requires schools to produce and enforce codes of conduct.

His bill defines bullying as creating "a hostile environment by conduct or by verbal threats, intimidation or abuse conveyed in any manner" including electronic messages.

"Egregious incidents of bullying, both in person and through the use of technology, continue to plague all of our students," the Senate's version of the bill states. "The Legislature recognizes that bullying manifests in many forms and for innumerable reasons ... While the physical wounds may heal, the effects of bullying can last a lifetime."


Source: NY Near Deal to Combat Cyber Bullies: Report | NBC New York http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Cyber-Bully-Law-New-York-Bullying-Online-Bullies-Social-Media-158548085.html#ixzz4dbOYYr91
Follow us: @nbcnewyork on Twitter | NBCNewYork on Facebook


GO TO THIS WEBSITE FOR AN OVERVIEW OF ANTIBULLYING LAWS AROUND THE WORLD, INCLUDING THE US. WE HAVE SOME, BUT BULLYING STILL GOES ON, OBVIOUSLY, BY THE NEWS ARTICLE ON THE TEEN SUICIDE ABOVE. EMAIL YOUR CONGRESSPERSONS. SEE THE NEW JERSEY LAW AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ARTICLE TO SEE WHAT OUR STRONGEST LAW COVERS. IT GOES A LONG WAY TO PUT TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS ON THE CARPET FOR FAILING TO INTERVENE OR EVEN REPORT CASES WHEN THEY HEAR OF IT. PEOPLE HAVE LONG HAD THE IDEA THAT KIDS "JUST HAVE TO LEARN TO TOUGHEN UP," AND OTHER SUCH WAYS OF PLACING THE BLAME ON THE VICTIM. TEACHERS, LIKE IT OR NOT, MUST BE INVOLVED IN SUCH EXTREME MISBEHAVIOR AND IN PROTECTING THOSE WHO APPARENTLY CAN'T PROTECT THEMSELVES. THERE ARE ACTUALLY A LOT OF KIDS WHO ARE TOTALLY INTIMIDATED IN SCHOOL. WE WON'T HAVE A MENTALLY HEALTHY GROUP OF CITIZENS UNTIL WE START TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY. BEING A PERPETUAL VICTIM INTIMIDATES PEOPLE TO THE DEGREE THAT THEY WILL HAVE LITTLE CHANCE OF SUCCESS IN SOCIETY. THE US IS A VERY COMPETITIVE PLACE. THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN TRUE, BUT IT'S MUCH WORSE NOW. THERE'S A HUGE AMOUNT OF SEETHING ANGER UNDER THE SURFACE.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-bullying_legislation
Anti-bullying legislation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anti-bullying legislation is legislation enacted to help reduce and eliminate bullying. This legislation may be national or sub-national, and is commonly aimed at ending bullying in schools or work places. . . . .

Canada[edit]

The provincial government of Quebec initiated legislation providing for anti-bullying laws, with the Quebec law having come into effect in 2004.[3] Federal politicians also debated the groundwork for a national anti-bullying strategy the same year.[4]

United States[edit]

History[edit]

All fifty states in the United States have passed school anti-bullying legislation, the first being Georgia in 1999. Montana became the most recent, and last, state to adopt anti-bullying legislation in April, 2015. A watchdog organization called Bully Police USA advocates for and reports on anti-bullying legislation.[5] . . . .

Georgia's anti-bullying legislation was strengthened in 2010 with the passage of Senate Bill 250, which included a provision allowing for those accused of bullying another student to be reassigned to another school in order to separate the offender from the victim of bullying;[6]

The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act is part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It provides federal support to promote school safety but does not specifically address bullying and harassment in schools. There are no federal laws dealing directly with school bullying;[7] however, bullying may trigger responsibilities under one or more of the federal anti-discrimination laws enforced by the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.[8]

Starting in September 2011, the State of New Jersey will enforce the toughest bullying law in the country. Each school will have to report each case of bullying to the State, and the State will grade each school based on bullying standards, policies, and incidents. Each school must have an effective plan to deal with bullying. All school administrators and teachers are required to deal with any incidents of bullying reported to them or witnessed by them. Teachers must report any bullying incidents they witness to the administrators. Bullies risk suspensions to expulsions if convicted of any type of bullying; from minor teasing to severe cases.

Legal scholar Jonathan Burley has stated "bullying is an extremely serious injustice towards our children" and has been a consistent advocate of anti-bullying legislation.[9]



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Turley
Jonathan Turley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonathan Turley (born May 6, 1961) is an American lawyer, legal scholar, writer, commentator, and legal analyst in broadcast and print journalism. He is currently a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School.

Education and personal life[edit]

Turley was born in Chicago, Illinois. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1983 and his Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1987.[1] He married his wife Leslie on New Year's Eve in 1997.[2]
He served as a House leadership page in 1977 and 1978 under the sponsorship of Illinois Democrat Sidney Yates.[3] In 2008 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law from John Marshall Law School in recognition of his career as an advocate of civil liberties and constitutional rights.[4]

Turley lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and four children.

Career[edit]

Turley holds the Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law at The George Washington University Law School where he teaches torts, criminal procedure, and constitutional law. He is the youngest person to receive an academic chair in the school's history. He runs the Project for Older Prisoners (POPS),[5][6] the Environmental Law Clinic, and the Environmental Legislation Project.[1]

Prior to joining the George Washington University, he was on the faculty of Tulane University Law School.[1]

PLEASE CONTINUE READING IF YOU WISH AT THE WEBSITE.



BRITAIN’S EARLIEST FIND OF A COMPLETE BRONZE AGE WHEEL

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE HAPPY STORIES. ARCHAEOLOGISTS LOVE FINDING LIFE DETAILS FROM THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE THEY ARE STUDYING, INCLUDING BIOLOGICAL MATTER, LIKE PERFECTLY PRESERVED 3000 YEAR OLD WOODEN WHEELS. THE PRESERVATION IS LIKELY DUE TO THE FACT THAT WHEN THE HOUSES BURNED, THE REMAINDERS FELL DOWN INTO WATER RICH WITH TANNIC ACID, WHICH IS A PRESERVATIVE. THE FAMOUS, IF GORY, “BOG BODIES” FOUND IN ENGLAND FROM AN IRON AGE SITE, WERE EVEN MORE SPECTACULAR BECAUSE THEY WERE MUMMIFIED HUMANS – THOUGHT TO BE HUMAN SACRIFICES – WHOSE STOMACH CONTENTS WERE EQUALLY WELL PRESERVED. THE SCIENTISTS NOTICED THAT THEY EACH HAD A PIECE OF DARKLY TOASTED BREAD IN HIS STOMACH, WHICH WERE CONSIDERED TO BE A FORM OF PICKING THE POOR GUYS BY LOT. MANY OF THEM, HOWEVER, HAD BEEN KILLED BY ONE OF THREE METHODS, KNOWN TO BE USED ON CRIMINALS FOR PUNISHMENT.

IN THIS STORY, I HAVE A PARTICULAR THEORY. THE FINDING OF SO MANY DIFFERENT USEFUL, BUT RARELY FOUND, THINGS AND IN HIGHER THAN EXPECTED QUANTITIES IS INTERESTING TO ME. COULD IT POSSIBLY BE A KIND OF “GENERAL STORE,” MAINTAINED BY A PROFESSIONAL TRADER AND MERCHANT, AND PROBABLY HIS HOME AS WELL? THAT WOULD BE INTERESTING, WOULDN’T IT? BRITAIN'S FIRST SHOPKEEPER?


https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/19/archaeologists-excavate-bronze-age-wheel-cambridgeshire
Perfectly preserved bronze age wheel unearthed in Cambridgeshire
Archaeologists carefully excavating wheel made of oak planks almost 3,000 years ago at site being called a Fenland Pompeii
Maev Kennedy
Last modified on Wednesday 22 February 2017 12.55 EST
Originally published, Thursday 18 February 2016 19.01 EST

View Video Report

The largest and most perfectly preserved bronze age wheel ever discovered in the UK, made of oak planks almost 3,000 years ago, has emerged from a site in Cambridgeshire dubbed a Fenland Pompeii.

“This site is one continuing surprise, but if you had asked me, a perfectly preserved wheel is the last thing I would have expected to find,” said the site director, Mark Knight, from the Cambridge university archaeology unit. “On this site objects never seen anywhere else tend to turn up in multiples, so it’s certainly not impossible we’ll go on to find another even better wheel.”

Archaeologists are carefully excavating the wheel, which was found still attached to its hub and scorched by fire that destroyed the settlement built on stilts over a tributary of the river Nene.

The site was first revealed by the deep pits dug for a brick clay quarry at Must farm, on the outskirts of Peterborough, overlooked by a row of wind turbines and a McCain’s crisps factory.

A neat round hole punched through the wheel was left by a 20th century geologist who inadvertently bored straight through it but could have had no idea of the significance of the timber fragments in his soil sample.

Rotten luck: archaeologists hail 'unique' Mesolithic fermented fish find

In the fire, possibly started by a cooking blaze that got disastrously out of control some 3,000 years ago, the roundhouses collapsed into the river with all their contents.

The site was abandoned and gradually buried deep below the present ground level, sealed in wet silty clay with all the roof and floor timbers, the woven willow wall panels and sedge thatch eerily well preserved, along with the the bones of the animals they were eating, remains of the last meals carbonised in their cooking pots, textiles, jewellery, benches, boxes and wooden platters, knives, spears and other tools and weapons.

A skull believed to be of a woman remains half buried in the mud, possibly originally casually buried in the river bank just outside the door of the larger house. Some of her teeth have survived so scientific tests may reveal more of the origins of the people.

Photograph -- Archaeologist Mark Knight -- Mark Knight, from the Cambridge university archaeological unit: ‘A perfectly preserved wheel is the last thing I would have expected to find.’ Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Knight described the site as by far the best preserved from the period, and archaeologists from all over the world have already come to see it, including a group from Tokyo. There have also been experts much closer at hand. Collar turned up and cap pulled down over his eyes, trying to remain anonymous, Francis Pryor, one of the best-known archaeologists in the country, was paying a discreet visit with his wife, the prehistoric timbers expert Maisie Taylor.

Until now Pryor had the best bronze age wheel in the UK, found at Flag Fen, the site to which he and Taylor devoted decades. His wheel, although older, is smaller and incomplete.

At Flag Fen he had the realm of the dead but not the homes of the living.

“This is the site I have been looking for all my life,” he said, looking down at the outline of the roundhouses, the neat palisade which surrounded them and the stacked plastic tubs of finds. “This was one of the most prosperous parts of Britain at this date. All the attention has gone to sites like Stonehenge, but they were on the periphery. Economically, this was where it was at.”

The wheel was found lying on top of a massive floor timber – believed to have been part of a third house on the site – and may originally have been hanging on a wall. Knight believes it was probably brought in for repair: “My hunch is that 3,000 years ago there was a cart parked up on the dry land, with a wheel missing.”

He said the discovery was further evidence of how the people of this settlement lived on and in the water and were rich enough to all but ignore the abundant food a few feet away – the fish, eels and water fowl swimming around their foundations.

Photograph -- Archaeologists excavate the remains of a bronze age settlement that was built on stilts over a tributary of the river Nene in Cambridgeshire. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Instead the bones and food traces reveal that they were eating quantities of lamb, along with pork, beef and venison, and various grains. They clearly had large numbers of domesticated animals pastured on the nearest dry land, and though the superbly preserved log boats found five years ago on another part of the site must have been the main form of transport, the wheel proves that they also had horse drawn carts.

Lizzy Middleton, who has been working on the site since the first trial trenches in 2008, heard the whoop of excitement from a colleague as the wheel was uncovered last week. “But that happens almost every day,” she said “Somebody is always finding something extraordinary.”

The £1.1m excavation, jointly funded by Historic England and the quarry owner, Forterra, was originally intended to finish in late March but with finds still coming thick and fast may be extended. The settlement cannot be preserved in situ in a working quarry, but it is intended to display some of the timbers and the major finds in local museums and at Flag Fen.



http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/stonehenge-prehistoric-religious-ceremonial-centre-discovered-archaeologists-a7425346.html
Vast 5,600-year-old religious centre discovered near Stonehenge
The centre was built more than 1,000 years before the stones of Stonehenge were erected
David Keys Archaeology Correspondent @davidmkeys
Friday 18 November 2016 19:59 GMT

SEE ALSO TODAY’S SPECIAL SUBJECT BLOG, CALLED “BRIAN JOHN AND THE STONEHENGE CONSPIRACY.”

Image -- A reconstruction of part of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure at Windmill Hill, which would have been similar to the complex discovered near Stonehenge Historic England Archive/Judith Dobie

A huge, prehistoric religious and ceremonial complex has been discovered near Britain’s most famous prehistoric temple Stonehenge.

Its discovery is likely to transform our understanding of the early development of Stonehenge’s ancient landscape.

Built about 5,650 years ago – more than 1,000 years before the great stones of Stonehenge were erected – the 200m-diameter complex is the first major early Neolithic monument to be discovered in the Stonehenge area for more than a century.

READ MORE
Remarkable ancient structure found just two miles from Stonehenge
Glaciers moved Stonehenge from Wales to Wiltshire, not ancient people
Stonehenge 'was built in Wales and dragged to Wiltshire later'
Stonehenge: Temple near site shows evidence of a religious revolution- when Britons switched from worshipping landscape features to a solar cult

The newly discovered complex, just over a mile and a half north-east of Stonehenge, appears to have consisted of around 950m of segmented ditches – and potentially palisaded earthen banks – arranged in two great concentric circles.

So far, archaeologists have located and excavated around 100 metres worth of the outer ditch. It is not yet known how much, if any, of the rest of the monument has survived.

The new discovery shows that hundreds of years before Stonehenge existed the entire area was even more sacred and ritually active than archaeologists had thought.

Up till now, apart from more than 20 giant tombs – the so-called ‘long barrows’ – the only known early Neolithic monument in the Stonehenge area was a large circular religious and ceremonial ‘causewayed enclosure’ nicknamed Robin Hood’s Ball, 2.5 miles north-west of Stonehenge.

stonehengearch.jpg
An archaeologist excavates the newly discovered site near Stonehenge (Wessex Archaeology)

Causewayed enclosures – so-called because their ditches are “crossed” by multiple causeways – are among the most enigmatic of prehistoric monuments. Around 70 are known in England. Others exist on the continent, in Germany, Denmark and elsewhere.

Their precise original function remains a mystery, but the scant available evidence suggests that they were used for a mixture of ceremonial, religious, political and mortuary roles.

Located at Larkhill, Wiltshire, the newly found “causewayed” enclosure, dating from around 3650BC, is in an area covered by modern military buildings and other installations.

Its discovery strongly suggests that the remains of other important prehistoric monuments probably still survive undetected in the area.

The discovery suggests that Stonehenge’s ancient sacred landscape still has many secrets to reveal. Indeed, it follows fast on the heels of another discovery half a mile to the south-east, made just three months ago, when archaeologists found what, back in the Stonehenge era, had been a vast circle of giant timber posts.

Although nobody suspected that a second causewayed enclosure would be discovered near Stonehenge, its presence there is consistent with the distribution of such monuments across the country.

More than a third of causewayed enclosures occur in pairs or clusters of three or occasionally four. It is conceivable that clan or tribal rivalries saw them compete to build the most impressive enclosures.

Discovery of Bronze Age wheel sheds light on prehistoric transport

So far, archaeologists from Wiltshire-based Wessex Archaeology have excavated around 100m of ditch, probably representing around 17 per cent of the monument’s outer circuit. That investigation has already enabled them to get a sense of some of the rituals that were carried out there.

The mortuary or other religious ceremonies may well have involved feasting on large quantities of beef – and the use and deliberate smashing of ceramic bowls. Some fragments of the smashed bowls and cattle bones were then placed in the ditch ends, flanking the complex’s multiple entrances.

Some of the ditches were also used for the ritual deposition of human skull fragments, potentially re-deposited from other funerary monuments like the nearby long barrow tombs.

President Obama Is Really Into Stonehenge

So far, the archaeologists have found four human cranial fragments in one ditch location, probably belonging to a single individual. However, there are likely to have been additional human skull fragment ritual depositions in some of the monument’s other ditches.

During ritual feasts, each bowl would have held up to six litres of beverage or partially liquid food, potentially meat broth. Scientific tests are due to be carried out on the fragments to definitively determine what they originally contained.

So far, the remains of 15 such bowls, which were up to 25cm in diameter, have been found. Each had been deliberately smashed.

However, it’s likely that more than 200 such bowls and the bones of dozens of slaughtered cattle from a succession of feasts were originally placed in the complex’s ditches.

Because the bowls, including a particularly fine one made in Neolithic Devonshire style, were all deliberately smashed, it’s likely that the cattle and the bowls were viewed not just as aspects of a ritual feast but also as sacrifices to the gods.

Golden age: Ancient possessions of Stonehenge worshippers go on display

The cattle bones, bowl fragments and human material had been carefully selected. In the ritual ditch depositions, cattle were represented only by their leg bones, while humans were only represented by skull fragments. The smashed bowls were represented solely by their finer looking and sometimes decorated rims and upper portions.

The causewayed enclosures – both the newly discovered one and Robin Hood’s Ball – are the third oldest type of monument in the Stonehenge landscape.

Only the very early Neolithic long barrows – and an even earlier group of pre-Neolithic potentially totem-pole-style wooden posts – are older. The main phase of Stonehenge itself was constructed around 1,150 years after the building of the causewayed enclosures. However, the newly discovered monument appears to have been revered by local people for millennia. Indeed, the recent archaeological excavations unearthed a pottery urn which had been ritually buried in the causewayed enclosure ditch almost 1,900 years after the monument had been constructed.

A leading Wessex Archaeology prehistorian, Matt Leivers, said: “The newly found site is one of the most exciting discoveries in the Stonehenge landscape that archaeologists have ever made.

“It transforms our understanding of the intensity of early Neolithic activity in the area.”

The previously unknown prehistoric complex was discovered as developers were preparing to build houses on Ministry of Defence land to accommodate British Army personnel returning from Germany. The dig has been funded by the MoD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

Archaeologist Martin Brown of the UK-based global consultancy company WYG, responsible for the Larkhill housing development project, said: “These discoveries are changing the way we think about prehistoric Wiltshire and about the Stonehenge landscape in particular.

“The Neolithic people whose monuments we are exploring shaped the world we inhabit. They were the first farmers and the first people who settled down in this landscape, setting us on the path to the modern world.”


2014, AFTER A NATO TRIP, PRESIDENT OBAMA HAD HIS HELICOPTER PILOT TO SET IT DOWN AT STONEHENGE. HE SAID THAT SEEING IT WAS ON HIS BUCKET LIST BEFORE HE DIED. THE SURPRISED BRITONS WHO SAW OR MET HIM WERE EQUALLY DELIGHTED. HE HAD CALLED AHEAD TELLING THE PARK MANAGEMENT THAT HE MIGHT COME.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/11078801/How-cool-is-this-Obama-visits-Stonehenge.html
'How cool is this?' Obama visits Stonehenge
President Obama touches down for Stonehenge visit
By Press Association
10:09PM BST 05 Sep 2014

The president was given a guided tour of the prehistoric landmark after getting his helicopter pilot to touch down unannounced

Barack Obama enjoyed a spot of sightseeing after the Nato summit with a surprise visit to Stonehenge, saying of the prehistoric landmark: "How cool is this?"

The US president shocked onlookers when he turned up unannounced at the monument in Wiltshire, squeezing in the visit after the final day of the alliance summit in south Wales.

Mr Obama, who asked helicopter pilot to make the unscheduled stop, told reporters that seeing Stonehenge had been on his "bucket list" of things to do before he died.

The president had just departed the conference - the first ever visit to Wales by a sitting incumbent of the White House - by paying tribute to the host country.

He said: "I want to thank the people of Newport and Cardiff and the people of Wales for welcoming me and my delegation so warmly.

"It's a great honour to be the first sitting US president to visit Wales."

David Cameron weighed in, saying Wales had "done the UK and Nato proud."

Heather Sebire, English Heritage's Stonehenge curator, gave the president a tour of Stongehenge.

She said: "Mr Obama was fascinated by the story of the stones, what we know about them and the mysteries that have yet to be solved.

"He asked lots of questions about how old the monument is, how long it took to build it, and what was its purpose.

"He described the atmosphere around the stones as 'really special' and his visit to Stonehenge as 'a highlight of my tour'.

"He particularly loved seeing the colour and texture of the stones. It was a beautiful still evening and it was a privilege to show the US president around this unique monument which continues to inspire and intrigue people."

Mr Obama was met at the monument by English Heritage's Stonehenge manager Kate Davies.

She said: "We were honoured to welcome US President Barack Obama to Stonehenge.

"His office told us the president was very interested to see the iconic monument for himself. Every day people from all over the world make the trip to the ancient stones but this visit was a particularly special one."

Janice Raffle was similarly excited by the high-profile visitor.

She wrote on Twitter: "I can see president Obama! Any messages?"

After posting a picture apparently showing the President at the site, she added: "He waved to us!!"