The mother of James Foley — the first American hostage beheaded by ISIS — says the alleged death of Kayla Mueller is proof the Obama administration is doing nothing to rescue U.S. hostages from ISIS/ISIL. Diane Foley, whose son was killed last August, says ‘nothing was done’ to save those in captivity.

“We were always told to trust that Jim was the highest priority and that our government was doing all it could and I really found no evidence of that,” Foley told ABC News. “Instead we were kind of told just to trust and that did not work out well. I shouldn’t have trusted. We regret not having done more privately ourselves.”

In an August 29, 2014 post titled, “The Raid that Never Happened,” I pointed out:

“Oddly enough, the Syrian government has remained quiet about the deadly raid. However, the second the Obama administration announced plans to over-fly Syria to look for ISIS/ISIL activities, the Syrian foreign minister threw a fit saying such actions would be considered an act of aggression.

It doesn’t make sense. That’s because it’s all smoke and mirrors meant to deflect any criticism Obama incurred from callously returning to the links instead of the White House.”

Now, add to this what intelligence and counterterrorism senior staff writer Sean D. Naylor reports in the online magazine, “Foreign Policy.”

“The parents of an American woman being held hostage by the Islamic State did not want the U.S. military to launch a risky mission to rescue her,” Naylor writes, “and instead asked that her release be negotiated, according to a military official familiar with the discussions.”

Mueller was taken hostage August 4, 2013 and had been held alongside other prisoners — some of who’ve been beheaded. Her identity was not widely known until ISIS/ISIL said she died.

The White House has since confirmed Mueller’s death, though it remains unclear when or how she was killed.

Meanwhile, Jordanian officials say no air raids occurred over Raqqa, Jordan, where she was being held, at the time ISIS/ISIL claims Mueller died. They dismissed the statement as “criminal propaganda,” while U.S. officials say they haven’t not seen any evidence to corroborate the report.

ISIS/ISIL threatened to kill Mueller last summer. They set a deadline of August 13, for a ransom of nearly $7 million to be paid to prevent her execution.

This is what happens when an entire administration disregards the long-standing precedents of “not negotiating with terrorists” and “leaving no one behind.”

Five Reno, Nevada police officers are in Ukraine for two-months to help train Kiev’s police force, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported on February 4, 2015. The department was identified as a participant through former Reno Assistant Chief Ron Glensor, who is now with the U.S. Department of Justice’s International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP.)

What is bothersome about this is the fact that organization is a well sourced front for the Central Intelligence Agency. During the 1990’s ICITAP began providing the agency with ‘official cover’ to infiltrate foreign police agencies when it began its first operations in Panama following the U.S. military invasion.

As Strategic Culture Foundation’s Wayne Madsen writes:

“Operations were then expanded to Rwanda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Georgia, Croatia, Serbia, Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Macedonia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Albania, Liberia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa, and Iraq. ICITAP and CIA operations were closely linked in counter-narcotics/insurgency operations in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, and Haiti.”

“In August 1999, ‘The Progressive’ magazine reported that, “Janice Stromsen, a career employee of the Justice Department who served as ICITAP’s director, resisted the program’s takeover by CIA elements,” Madsen points out. “In February (1999,) Stromsen was relieved of her duties after complaining to the Justice Department Inspector General that ICITAP was being used by the CIA to recruit agents among foreign police officials.”

“ICITAP grew out of a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) program started in the early 1960s that saw U.S. police officers assigned to foreign police agencies for the purpose of training,” adds Madsen. “However, it soon became obvious the CIA was using the USAID program to gain influence over foreign police agencies to combat Soviet and Chinese influence.”

Kiev police candidates face a four-stage process that includes a test of general skills, physical agility, psychological profiling, and a face-to-face interview.  The selection and training will be supervised by those five Reno Police officers.

The Reno Police Department is the first police department in the U.S. to be selected for such a mission. The Department of Justice is footing the entire bill for the mission.

UPDATE 02/25/15:  The Reno City Council has voted to bring back the five Reno Police officers who are training police officers in Kiev, Ukraine. The council was initially told the Department of Justice would be picking up the tab; it turned out the city was paying their salaries.

Senate Democrats halted a Republican attempt to pass legislation that would defund President Obama’s executive action on immigration. After a brief debate, the Senate voted 51-48, with every Democrat and one Republican, Nevada’s Senator Dean Heller, voting against it.

Listening to those 51 Senators, because of this immigration battle, the Department of Homeland Security hangs in the balance and without action by February 27, the department will disappear. The same thing happened in the fall of 2013 during a 16-day government-wide shutdown, that left our national parks and monuments dosed, but the DHS running.

Most people working for the Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Coast Guard will continue operating. And while some employees may not get paid until a funding bill’s passed, others funded by fees, instead of by congressional appropriations, would continue their functions while still drawing a paycheck.

So what would stop during in a shutdown?

Mostly administrative staff would be furloughed. This includes support workers at DHS headquarters, Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, research and development employees, those responsible for operating and maintaining the E-Verify system and staff who make grants to state and local governments.

The President’s plan will protect about 11 million illegal aliens from deportations. His plan will also allow illegal immigrants trained in high-tech fields to enter and stay in the U.S. and it changes rules on how foreign entrepreneurs can get a visa.

Meanwhile, 26 states are suing the federal government over Obama’s executive actions on immigration, including Nevada – though Nevada’s two Senators, Harry Reid and Dean Heller are failing to back their home state.

Born in Ferndale, California, Don Clausen and serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1963 to 1983, died February 7, 2015. He was born April 27, 1923 and graduated from Ferndale elementary and high schools, enrolling in the Naval Aviation Cadet program at St. Mary’s College after the U.S. entered World War II, going on to serve as a 4FU Corsair pilot in the Pacific theater.

Following the war, he served as a member of the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors from 1955 to 1962. During that time, Don started a flight school and ambulance/charter service at the Del Norte County Airport, where the terminal still bears his name, as well as an aviation program at Del Norte High School.

While in congress, he served on the Public Works and Transportation and the Insular Affairs committees.  His work Congressional included creating the Redwood National Park in 1968, and later expanding it in 1978, securing funding for both the Klamath and Eel rivers, creating the King Range National Recreation Area, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and establishing the 200-mile off-shore fishing limit.

After Don left congress, President Ronald Regan appointed him to the Department of Transportation where he worked as the Director of Special Projects with the Federal Aviation Administration, remaining there until 1990, and moving to Fortuna shortly afterwards.

Don was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Jessie. He’s survived by daughters Dawn Marie Baumbartner of Ferndale and Bev Mendenhall of Kenne, Texas.

The schooner ‘Martha’, piloted by Captain Olsen, tried to cross a sand bar at the mouth of the Klamath River the morning of October 25, 1926. Loggers from the ‘Bull & Dunn Cedar Company’ quit work early to help pull the ‘Martha’ from the bar.

She floated free, but before she could get under away, she became caught by an incoming wave. Again she came ashore, but this time on the south beach.

Freed again and again driven into the sand bar, a final effort succeeded in freeing the ‘Martha.’ Once off the sand bar, the schooner returned deeper water and headed up the coast towards Crescent City.

During the time the ‘Martha’ blocked the river’s mouth, she caused the waters to back up until it covered the south bank of the Klamath, where cars drove onto the ferry. As soon as the ‘Martha’ broke free, the backed-up river rushed out through the channel.

But before that happened, several motorists turned around and drove back to a recently built road leading to the Douglas Bridge. And though dedicated six-months earlier, the bridge was not officially opened to traffic, but motorists drove across it anyway.

Frank Bosch ran the ferry until the Douglas Bridge officially opened to traffic. The ferry then went out of business.

President Obama and his administration continue to refuse to admit that ISIS/ISIL’s coupled to radical Islam. But there is more evidence to prove jus’ the opposite.

Recently, ISIS/ISIL burned a Jordanian pilot, and then they buried him in a massive pile of rubble. But why would they do this?

First, we need to know what the Quran states about punishment:

“O you who believe, qiṣāṣ has been prescribed for you in cases of murder … But if any remission is made by the brother of the slain, then grant any reasonable demand, and compensate him with handsome gratitude, this is a concession and a mercy from your Lord. After this whoever exceeds the limits shall be in grave penalty.”  Quran — 2:178

As Niaz A. Shah, senior lecturer in law at the University of Hull, in England, writes, there are a couple of ways Sharia law provides for a murder victim’s relatives to get justice.

“The Quran provides two options to deal with someone who is found guilty of intentional murder: qiṣāṣ (i.e. that he/she be killed in the manner in which the victim was murdered) and forgiveness by the heir/s of the victim,” writes Shah. “The conditions for the second option are that the victim’s heir/s are required to ask for ‘fair’ diyat (blood money) and the guilty person is obligated to pay diyat in a ‘good’ way.”

Qiṣāṣ is an Islamic term meaning ‘equal retaliation’ or ‘revenge.’

In this case, according to ISIS/ISIL, the pilot burned his ‘victims,’ by dropping bombs on them, burying them in ‘rubble,’ and in return, the radical Islamists did the same. However they failed the Prophet when they fore went the second option of “mercy,” and “a ‘good’ way.”

Following basic training I was assigned to Brooks Air Force Base for technical schooling. I simply took a Blue Bird from the back gate of Lackland right onto my newest assignment in San Antonio, Texas.

In a group full of  young, excitable men, were three women. One of those women was a young lady by the name of Jane.

What attracted me to Jane was her bright red hair. She was sitting alone at a table in the enlisted man’s club, watching television, when I asked if I could join her.

I had two beers with me as I sat down across from her at the table, offering her one, which she accepted.

After finishing a second beer each, she and I decided to clear or buzzed-heads with a walk. We left the club, crossed the common and the main roadway to the base’s golf course.

The moon, while not a full one, was bright as we wandered from green to sand-trap to water hazard. It was also a warm night, which made the evening walk all that more pleasant.

Jane asked if I’d like to go with her to her barracks room, to sit and talk some more. I jumped at the chance, thinking I was going to somehow get luck and get laid.

She was being house in the Base Airman’s Quarters at the time, as the women’s third floor dormitory was full. So her living arrangement seemed much more upscale than what I had, especially since she had a real closet, a full-size bed and a private bathroom with a bathtub-shower.

Since it was a non-duty day, we sat up chatting and listening to her new album, “The Dog and the Butterfly,” by Heart. It eventually grew so late (or perhaps early) that I started to excuse myself to head back to my room for some much-needed sleep.

It was somewhat surprising then, when Jane suggested I stay with her. I was even more surprised when she invited me into her bed.

We cuddled up next to each other and both fell fast asleep. The sun was already high in the sky when I awakened.

I couldn’t help myself as I felt her pressing against me, waking me by gently kissing me on the neck.

Before I realized it, we were making out and that evolved into heavy petting. But I must have gone too far, too fast.

“What in the hell are you trying to do?” Jane screeched, “Get me pregnant?”

I immediately stopped and back away from her.

My mind was racing: had I confused her signal to me or something? I didn’t know until she kicked at me through the covers.

“You should go,” she commanded.

As quickly as I could, I pulled on my jeans and shirt. I didn’t bother to put on my shoes as I just wanted to get away from her cold stare.

I felt embarrassed and ashamed, although I had no idea why.

Once outside, I stopped, slipped on my shoes, then raced towards my barracks. I was hurt by her sudden jilting and it left me angry — at her and more over at myself, for my ignorance about women.

For the remaining nine-weeks I had left in tech-school, I did everything I could to avoid her. She eventually started keeping company with another guys in class.

Later. a tech-sergeant, who was our course supervisor, surprised me one afternoon by bringing Jane up in a conversation. I guess my moodiness over the sudden rejection was clear to him, though I thought I was hiding it fairly well.

“What did you seen in her?” he asked.

My answer was simple, “Her bright red hair.”

Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work.
In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet.
Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you.
But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.

Kyla Annan’s boyfriend found her lifeless body on her bed, September 23, 2004. She lived on Quincy Street, an area known to Reno police for drug activity and vagrancy.

Ten days earlier, a late-night intruder broke into her home through a back door and began removing his clothing. He threw one shirt on her sewing mannequin.

After making his way in the dark to Kyla’s bedroom, the intruder, thinking she was alone, mistakenly cupped his hand over the boyfriend’s mouth. He ran away when the boyfriend woke up.

Police collected the intruder’s clothing — a white tank top and button-down short-sleeve shirt – which Washoe County Crime Lab DNA analysts would later use to prove the intruder was also her killer. The suspect’s DNA profile is in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System where his profile is automatically compared with DNA profiles from across the nation in hopes of linking it to other crimes.

Yet, it’s been more than a decade since the 28-year-old preschool worker died. Reno police have no leads, and despite the DNA of 150 men contacted during the investigation, there has been no match to her killer.

Police know Kyla was last seen September 21, tending her garden. Neighbors recalled her often tending to her garden, waving when they walked or drove by.

Her windows had been left open with the screens missing when she was found. She had also hung bells in them for a sense of security.

However, she was known to leave her door unlocked for friends. But she also shared an alley with a temporary labor company where up to 100 transients a day try to find work.

When she was found two days later, her body was beginning to decompose. As investigators entered her home, they noted that her parrot’s cage covering was on, something she did every night around seven.

Furthermore, a bucket of water, soap and other materials were out, indicating Kyla was cleaning.  About 1:15 a.m. September 18, she used her cell phone one last time to check her voice mail.

If you have any information about Kyla’s murder, please call Reno Police at 334-2115, or Secret Witness at 322-4900.

UPDATE 04/02/2015: Reno Police arrested 32-year-old Francisco Merino-Ojeda of Santa Anna, California, on March 11, 2015, charging him with open murder, sexual assault and burglary in the death of Kyla Annan.

 

NBC’s Brian Williams has told the story  for several years, including during an appearance on “The Late Show” with David Letterman in 2013. Here’s the latest reincarnation from last week:

“The story actually started with a terrible moment a dozen years back during the invasion of Iraq when the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit by an RPG,” NBC’s Brian Williams claimed while setting up coverage of a tribute to a solider at a New York Rangers hockey game. “Our traveling NBC News team was rescued, surrounded and kept alive by an armor mechanized platoon from the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry.”

However, crew members who were actually onboard the 159th Aviation Regiment’s Chinook that came under fire say Williams and his NBC crew arrived safely on a different helicopter.

“Sorry dude, I don’t remember you being on my aircraft,” U.S. Army veteran Lance Reynolds posted on NBC’s Facebook page. “I do remember you walking up about an hour after we had landed to ask me what had happened. Then I remember you guys taking back off in a different flight of Chinooks from another unit and heading to Kuwait to report your “war story” to the Nightly News. The whole time we were still stuck in Iraq trying to repair the aircraft and pulling our own Security.”

Williams recanted, claiming a failed memory.

“On this broadcast last week in an effort to honor and thank a veteran who had protected me and so many others after a ground fire incident in the desert during the Iraq invasion I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago, it did not take long to hear from some brave men and women and the aircrews who were also in that dessert,” Williams stated. “I want to apologize, I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft.”

“We all landed after the ground fire incident and spent two harrowing nights in a sandstorm in the Iraq desert,” he continued. “This was a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran and by extension our brave military men and women veterans everywhere, those who have served while I did not.”

“I hope they know they have my greatest respect and also now my apology,” he finished.

Even his apology’s fraught with lies.

Williams was an hour behind the damaged helicopter and stayed only for about 10 minutes, then went to see the U.S. Army’s armored units guarding the nearby Forward Operating Base Rams, which came out to provide a security perimeter around the helicopter.  As for spending a couple of nights in “a sandstorm in the Iraqi desert,” no one remembers seeing Williams after he and his NBC crew took photographs of the wounded chopper.

Maybe he thinks that if you tell a lie enough time, people will begin to believe it.