Stagecoach is a great film. It is very tight, being only about ninety minutes long. Though filmed in Monument Valley (Southern Utah), the story is set near Lordsburg, New Mexico. The actual scenery in real life between Lordsburg and the Arizona border is almost as beautiful as Monument Valley itself.
I think the showdown at the end of the film between John Wayne and the Plummer brothers is as good as any in any Western. Of course, if you have seen the movie, you know my favorite character. He finds redemption as do the characters played by John Wayne and Claire Trevor.
As the article indicates, as the influence of the US and Western Europe declines, Israel is reaching out to Russia, China and India. Under Putin, though it is still economically weak, Russia is becoming a major power broker in the Middle East.
As I have said before, I was very sad when Reagan picked Big Bush as his VP. However, in hindsight Big Bush’s foreign policy wisdom makes the judgment of his successors look very bad.
The same is true of Singapore. I am investigating Mongolia. I like their wide open spaces, but I understand their winters are even colder than Amarillo’s.
“A gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun opened fire inside a crowded Florida nightclub early Sunday, killing at least 50 people before dying in a gunfight with SWAT officers, police said. It was the worst mass shooting in American history.
Authorities were investigating it as an act of terrorism.
At least 53 other people were hospitalized, most in critical condition, officials said. A surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center said the death toll was likely to climb.”
“Authorities were looking into whether the attack was an act of domestic or international terror, and if the shooter acted alone, according to Danny Banks, an agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“This is an incident, as I see it, that we certainly classify as domestic terror incident,” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.
The suspect was identified as Omar Mateen of Port St. Lucie, Florida.”
“Omar Mateen, Terrorist Who Attacked Orlando Gay Club, Had Been Investigated by FBI
Mateen was a ‘known quantity’ to federal law enforcement before he killed 53 people in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
Omar Mateen of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, came to the attention of federal authorities twice prior to being identified as the gunman in the Orlando nightclub mass shooting, a senior law enforcement source told The Daily Beast.
Mateen killed 53 people and shot more than 100 in total at the Pulse gay nightclub early Sunday morning, in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
The senior law enforcement source reports that Mateen became a person of interest in 2013 and again in 2014. The Federal Bureau of Investigation at one point opened an investigation into Mateen but subsequently closed the case when it produced nothing that appeared to warrant further investigation.”
—————————–
So was it their new, Islam friendly policies that caused them to drop this guy from their radar?
“Omar S. Mateen, the Florida resident suspected of killing 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, called 911 before the shooting and swore allegiance to Islamic State, NBC News said on Twitter.”
Listening to the commentary and interviews on the radio driving home from church today, I heard it basically being blamed on “religious extremism,” “theologies” that marginalize the gay community and women “right here in the U.S.”; “preachers” who preach hate toward the gay community; legislation that targets the gay community.
All that followed by the gun issue, of course.
ISIS and Islamic extremism seems to be getting a pass on this one. Go figure.
So I probably might as well have been a Christian, unfortunately, certainly almost sounded like it was from all the comments I heard. More cultural upheaval (and hard time for the church) ahead.
Can’t vouch for the source here (it’s Dem ‘Occupy’ publication), but here are some telling excerpts:
___________________
As the nation mourns the victims of the sickening hate attack that killed more than 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando last night, the shock was compounded as we learned that it could have happened again. Police in Santa Monica, CA arrested a man this morning who appeared to be planning an attack on the LA Pride parade today in nearby West Hollywood. ..
The suspect, who has not been named, is white. While we regret the need to descent to such cynical identity politics and racial and ethnic details should not inform our understanding of hatred and violence, it is a pertinent reminder in the face of shocking right-wing Islamophobic that hatred is not bound by race, religion, or any other factional identity. While conservatives across the country were quick to blame Islam for the Orlando shooting, we can rest assured that no similar sweeping indictment of the white race or the Christian religion will result from the arrests in Los Angeles. …
______________________
“A former Fort Pierce police officer who once worked with 29-year-old Omar Mateen, the assailant in an Orlando nightclub shooting that left at least 50 dead, said he was “unhinged and unstable.”
Daniel Gilroy said he worked the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift with G4S Security at the south gate at PGA Village for several months in 2014-15. Mateen took over from him for a 3 to 11 p.m. shift.
Gilroy, a former Fort Pierce police officer, said Mateen frequently made homophobic and racial comments. Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim. Gilroy quit after he said Mateen began stalking him via multiple text messages — 20 or 30 a day. He also sent Gilroy 13 to 15 phone messages a day, he said.”
“”I quit because everything he said was toxic,” Gilroy said Sunday, “and the company wouldn’t do anything. This guy was unhinged and unstable. He talked of killing people.””
—————————–
We also know he was investigated for his ties to a known terrorist who joined al-Nusra and became a suicide bomber.
“In his first Facebook entry in December 2011, Moner Abusalha posts video of Imam calling for death of homosexuals. In 2015 FBI investigated connection between Abusalha, who lived in Vero Beach, and Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter. Mateen lived about 30 minutes south of Abusalha – the first American suicide bomber in Syria.
In 2015, after Moner Abusalha became the first American suicide bomber in Syria, the FBI investigated Omar Mateen’s connection to Abu-Salha.
Abu-Salha went to the Middle East, trained, and returned to the Treasure Coast, specifically Vero and fort Pierce, to recruit. The FBI says he didn’t recruit anyone, but it’s possible he did have contact with Mateen.”
“The gunman who murdered at least 50 people in a Florida nightclub early Sunday morning was a follower of a controversial gang leader-turned-bank robber who was released from prison last year despite warnings from prosecutors that he would recruit people to carry out violent acts, sources told FoxNews.com.
Omar Mateen, whose bloody siege inside a packed Orlando gay nightclub ended when SWAT teams stormed the building and killed him, was a radical Muslim who followed Marcus Dwayne Robertson, a law enforcement source said.
“It is no coincidence that this happened in Orlando,” said a law enforcement source familiar with Robertson’s history of recruiting terrorists and inciting violence. “Mateen was enrolled in [Robertson’s online] Fundamental Islamic Knowledge Seminary.”
Robertson and several associates were rounded up for questioning early Sunday, according to law enforcement sources, a development his attorney refused to confirm or deny.
“No comment,” Corey Cohen said in an email reply when asked if his longtime client was in custody. Police also did not confirm or deny picking up Robertson.”
——————————-
The problem here is these radicals are hiding in plain sight, and due to the current WH occupant, they operate openly and with no fear they’ll be challenged. But hey, they were watchin’ ’em, for all the good that does.
Wandering Views 
Some advice for grads…. 🙂
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For Ricky: https://world.wng.org/2016/06/stagecoach_the_film_that_made_john_wayne_a_star_0
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Thanks, Roscuro.
Stagecoach is a great film. It is very tight, being only about ninety minutes long. Though filmed in Monument Valley (Southern Utah), the story is set near Lordsburg, New Mexico. The actual scenery in real life between Lordsburg and the Arizona border is almost as beautiful as Monument Valley itself.
I think the showdown at the end of the film between John Wayne and the Plummer brothers is as good as any in any Western. Of course, if you have seen the movie, you know my favorite character. He finds redemption as do the characters played by John Wayne and Claire Trevor.
LikeLike
What is going on between Israel and Russia is very interesting.
http://m.jpost.com/Opinion/COLUMN-ONE-Israel-rises-in-the-East-456404#article=6022MTJDOTk4QjQ3OTk0OUJFQTYyRTVBM0JCOEJBMUEwNTk=
As the article indicates, as the influence of the US and Western Europe declines, Israel is reaching out to Russia, China and India. Under Putin, though it is still economically weak, Russia is becoming a major power broker in the Middle East.
As I have said before, I was very sad when Reagan picked Big Bush as his VP. However, in hindsight Big Bush’s foreign policy wisdom makes the judgment of his successors look very bad.
LikeLike
“Like America of the past, Chile is a country that is friendly to productive, responsible, hard-working people.”
http://www.businessinsider.com/in-case-youre-wondering-why-i-spend-so-much-time-down-here-2012-2
The same is true of Singapore. I am investigating Mongolia. I like their wide open spaces, but I understand their winters are even colder than Amarillo’s.
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Another terror attack. Mass casualties after shooting at gay nightclub in Orlando.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/breakingnews/50-dead-in-florida-nightclub-shooting-worst-in-us-history/ar-AAgW3Wb?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=U142DHP
“A gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun opened fire inside a crowded Florida nightclub early Sunday, killing at least 50 people before dying in a gunfight with SWAT officers, police said. It was the worst mass shooting in American history.
Authorities were investigating it as an act of terrorism.
At least 53 other people were hospitalized, most in critical condition, officials said. A surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center said the death toll was likely to climb.”
“Authorities were looking into whether the attack was an act of domestic or international terror, and if the shooter acted alone, according to Danny Banks, an agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“This is an incident, as I see it, that we certainly classify as domestic terror incident,” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.
The suspect was identified as Omar Mateen of Port St. Lucie, Florida.”
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Oh boy…..
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/06/12/omar-mateen-id-d-as-orlando-killer.html
“Omar Mateen, Terrorist Who Attacked Orlando Gay Club, Had Been Investigated by FBI
Mateen was a ‘known quantity’ to federal law enforcement before he killed 53 people in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
Omar Mateen of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, came to the attention of federal authorities twice prior to being identified as the gunman in the Orlando nightclub mass shooting, a senior law enforcement source told The Daily Beast.
Mateen killed 53 people and shot more than 100 in total at the Pulse gay nightclub early Sunday morning, in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
The senior law enforcement source reports that Mateen became a person of interest in 2013 and again in 2014. The Federal Bureau of Investigation at one point opened an investigation into Mateen but subsequently closed the case when it produced nothing that appeared to warrant further investigation.”
—————————–
So was it their new, Islam friendly policies that caused them to drop this guy from their radar?
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http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/breakingnews/suspected-orlando-shooter-called-911-swore-allegiance-to-islamic-state-nbc/ar-AAgX1Zt?li=BBnbkly&ocid=U142DHP
“Omar S. Mateen, the Florida resident suspected of killing 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, called 911 before the shooting and swore allegiance to Islamic State, NBC News said on Twitter.”
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I have to admit that I was relieved that the shooter was not some kind of “Christian” extremist.
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So heartbreaking on so many different levels.
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Karen, I don’t think it will matter.
Listening to the commentary and interviews on the radio driving home from church today, I heard it basically being blamed on “religious extremism,” “theologies” that marginalize the gay community and women “right here in the U.S.”; “preachers” who preach hate toward the gay community; legislation that targets the gay community.
All that followed by the gun issue, of course.
ISIS and Islamic extremism seems to be getting a pass on this one. Go figure.
So I probably might as well have been a Christian, unfortunately, certainly almost sounded like it was from all the comments I heard. More cultural upheaval (and hard time for the church) ahead.
LikeLike
Can’t vouch for the source here (it’s Dem ‘Occupy’ publication), but here are some telling excerpts:
___________________
As the nation mourns the victims of the sickening hate attack that killed more than 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando last night, the shock was compounded as we learned that it could have happened again. Police in Santa Monica, CA arrested a man this morning who appeared to be planning an attack on the LA Pride parade today in nearby West Hollywood. ..
The suspect, who has not been named, is white. While we regret the need to descent to such cynical identity politics and racial and ethnic details should not inform our understanding of hatred and violence, it is a pertinent reminder in the face of shocking right-wing Islamophobic that hatred is not bound by race, religion, or any other factional identity. While conservatives across the country were quick to blame Islam for the Orlando shooting, we can rest assured that no similar sweeping indictment of the white race or the Christian religion will result from the arrests in Los Angeles. …
______________________
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Ok, I”m going to now retreat from society & join the Amish.
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I’ll join the Amish with you, Donna, as long as I can keep my laptop & air conditioners. 😉
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Looks like the FBI missed some obvious red flags on this guy.
http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/crime/2016/06/12/who-omar-mateen/85791280/
“A former Fort Pierce police officer who once worked with 29-year-old Omar Mateen, the assailant in an Orlando nightclub shooting that left at least 50 dead, said he was “unhinged and unstable.”
Daniel Gilroy said he worked the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift with G4S Security at the south gate at PGA Village for several months in 2014-15. Mateen took over from him for a 3 to 11 p.m. shift.
Gilroy, a former Fort Pierce police officer, said Mateen frequently made homophobic and racial comments. Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim. Gilroy quit after he said Mateen began stalking him via multiple text messages — 20 or 30 a day. He also sent Gilroy 13 to 15 phone messages a day, he said.”
“”I quit because everything he said was toxic,” Gilroy said Sunday, “and the company wouldn’t do anything. This guy was unhinged and unstable. He talked of killing people.””
—————————–
We also know he was investigated for his ties to a known terrorist who joined al-Nusra and became a suicide bomber.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/fort-pierce-apartment-building-evacuated-has-ties-/nrfFf/
“In his first Facebook entry in December 2011, Moner Abusalha posts video of Imam calling for death of homosexuals. In 2015 FBI investigated connection between Abusalha, who lived in Vero Beach, and Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter. Mateen lived about 30 minutes south of Abusalha – the first American suicide bomber in Syria.
In 2015, after Moner Abusalha became the first American suicide bomber in Syria, the FBI investigated Omar Mateen’s connection to Abu-Salha.
Abu-Salha went to the Middle East, trained, and returned to the Treasure Coast, specifically Vero and fort Pierce, to recruit. The FBI says he didn’t recruit anyone, but it’s possible he did have contact with Mateen.”
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Like I said…. red flags aplenty.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/12/orlando-gunman-tied-to-radical-imam-released-from-prison-last-year-say-law-enforcement-sources.html
“The gunman who murdered at least 50 people in a Florida nightclub early Sunday morning was a follower of a controversial gang leader-turned-bank robber who was released from prison last year despite warnings from prosecutors that he would recruit people to carry out violent acts, sources told FoxNews.com.
Omar Mateen, whose bloody siege inside a packed Orlando gay nightclub ended when SWAT teams stormed the building and killed him, was a radical Muslim who followed Marcus Dwayne Robertson, a law enforcement source said.
“It is no coincidence that this happened in Orlando,” said a law enforcement source familiar with Robertson’s history of recruiting terrorists and inciting violence. “Mateen was enrolled in [Robertson’s online] Fundamental Islamic Knowledge Seminary.”
Robertson and several associates were rounded up for questioning early Sunday, according to law enforcement sources, a development his attorney refused to confirm or deny.
“No comment,” Corey Cohen said in an email reply when asked if his longtime client was in custody. Police also did not confirm or deny picking up Robertson.”
——————————-
The problem here is these radicals are hiding in plain sight, and due to the current WH occupant, they operate openly and with no fear they’ll be challenged. But hey, they were watchin’ ’em, for all the good that does.
LikeLike
This Yankee lady (Meg Whitman) agrees with me on Trump:
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/meg-whitman-donald-trump-hitler-mussolini-224212
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Huff Po has a couple of articles blaming Christians and conservatives for this.
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Didn’t take long, did it?
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The ‘Right’ apparently is ‘spinning’ the tragedy to their advantage.
I’m so sorry our country has reached such a dismal state.
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