Treme Season 4 starts soon. Eric Prince was in Philly on Friday.

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Meeting the Prince of Blackwater

by Evan Hill

November 22, 2013  7:22PM ET

An unapologetic Erik Prince, founder of the widely criticized mercenary firm Blackwater, speaks out

PHILADELPHIA – "Erik Prince – the founder of the private security firm once known as Blackwater – embarked on a publicity tour here on Friday, defending mercenaries as intrinsic to the birth of the United States and lashing out at the federal government that he believes unfairly persecuted him.

In a talk at the Free Library of Philadelphia to promote his new book, "Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror," Prince seemed uninterested in image rehabilitating, preferring instead a dose of bravado and score-settling."

MORE AT:

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/22/meeting-the-princeofblackwater.html

What do Eric Prince and Treme have in common?

This:

Prince and DeVos Families atIntersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right

Rachel Tabachnick

Mon May 16, 2011 at 12:30:25 PM EST

Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy DeVos, Building Mercenary Army in UAE

"The Prince and DeVos families are at the intersection of radical free market

privatization and the Religious Right, and have made an enormous impact on the current political atmosphere. Erik Prince played a significant role in privatizing military functions while his older sister Betsy is at the helm of a movement to privatize public schools. The billionaire brother/sister duo are also vice presidents of their parents' foundation which is one of the major funders of Focus on Family and Family Research Council and array of missionary organizations and right-wing think tanks.

The Sunday New York Times reported that Erik Prince, founder and former owner of Blackwater (now XE), is building a "secret desert force" of 800 non-Muslim foreign mercenaries for the United Arab Emirates. Blackwater "collected billions of dollars in security contracts from the U.S. government," but Prince sold the company and moved to Abu Dhabi in wake of legal troubles. Over the last decade, as Prince has built private armies funded with tax dollars, his older sister Betsy DeVos has been leading a campaign to privatize education but fund it with tax dollars. Her organizations have also run into legal troubles, including a $5.2 million fine in Ohio for breaking campaign finance laws. The Prince and DeVos families are at the intersection of radical free market privatization and the Religious Right, and have made an enormous impact on the current political atmosphere."

MORE AT:

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/5/16/123025/506

San Diego Reader
SCAM DIEGO

Blackwater Head Wants to Rid World of Muslims: Testimony

By Don Bauder, August 4, 2009


"Erik Prince, head of mercenary firm Blackwater, views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," two former employees said in a sworn statement to a Virginia court filed Monday, according to news services."

MORE AT::

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/financial-crime-politics/2009/aug/04/blackwater-head-wants-to-rid-world-of-muslims-test/

FOR MORE ABOUT TREME ON HBO: http://www.hbo.com/#/treme/index.html

Coatesville City Council meetings for those who like to live dangerously

“In Coatesville, Linda L. Morris won the Fifth Ward unexpired two-year City Council seat with 31 votes.” 

From:

Political news and notes: 2014 legislative races kicking off

The L. stands for Lavender. Linda Morris is famously or maybe infamously known as Linda Lavender. 

Linda Lavender Morris will take office as a Coatesville City Councilperson for Coatesville’s Fifth Ward at the reorganization meeting on the first Monday in January 2014.

Coatesville City Council meetings will be exciting again. That’s if you’re the risk taking type that considers combat exciting. 

Enjoy the excitement while you can, for several reasons I don’t believe that Linda Lavender will be on the Coatesville City Council very long. 

It’s already known, but surprisingly not well known, that State Representative Tim Hennessey had a convicted felon, Lisa Johnson, working in his former Coatesville office. Hennessy doesn't need more bad news concerning his Coatesville office employees. I don't think Lavender or rather Morris will get any protection from the Chester County Republican Committee. 

Just be aware that I view Linda Lavender as a physically dangerous person. If she disagrees with you don’t let her catch you alone. 

Why bother with a CASD Air Force ROTC?

"The “World Famous Rocketeers” were flying high two months ago. The Air Force fighter squadron had returned safely with its F-15E Strike Eagles and aircraft crews from a six-month Middle East deployment, and in March the entire wing passed a readiness evaluation with an unusually high rating.
  

That was then. In April, the Air Force ordered the Rocketeers — more formally, the 336th Fighter Squadron — to stop flying because of the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.
  

Now, the squadron’s two dozen F-15s are parked underneath canopies on the flight line, with red covers over their gaping afterburners to keep out birds and critters. Glum pilots find themselves with lots of time for softball and community projects. And the Air Force has one less fighter squadron available to fight.“I have zero readiness and zero combat capability right now,” said Lt. Col. Jim Howard, the 41-year-old squadron commander. “It’s extremely frustrating, knowing the unit that I had two months ago compared to where we are now.”
  

It’s a story repeated at bases across the country and the world, where the Air Force has stood down 13 combat squadrons, nearly one-third of its active-duty fighter and bomber squadrons, to meet a $600 million reduction in money available for flying and readiness dictated by the mandatory cuts."

FROM:
 Washington Post

Budget cuts leave Air Force pilots twisting in the wind

By Steve Vogel,May 27, 2013

 The U.S. Congress is renowned the world over for it’s ability to do nothing. If they continue to do nothing the full brunt of Sequester will be here in 2014 to ?

An Air Force ROTC in Coatesville is a wasted effort.

Remember that the, “Air Force has (already) stood down 13 combat squadrons, nearly one-third of its active-duty fighter and bomber squadrons.” 

If Congress does nothing in 2014 and we get the “Full Sequestration”:

“Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III estimates that sequestration will force a 15 percent cut in flying hours, meaning that “Within three to four months, many of our flying units will be unable to maintain mission readiness.”51 Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos plans to cancel modernization and infrastructure investments, diverting funds that should be supporting long-term requirements to meet urgent needs.” 

FROM: 

How Sequestration Gets Worse in 2014 

By Harry Stein November 2013

Losing Air Force readiness is only one thing that affects us here in Coatesville:

“Most elementary and secondary schools are also just beginning to feel the effects of sequestration, as it cuts key education grants.”

“The FBI will have to close its offices and furlough its agents for 10 days over the next year.”

“If sequestration is not repealed, the postponed training and upgrade requirements will place greater strain on the NRC budget, and prior-year funds will not be available to avoid deeper cuts. The average American does not have a daily interaction with the NRC, but its mission to ensure safe nuclear power and prevent a nuclear meltdown is still vitally important.”

“Cuts to the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, are shutting down promising medical research across the country.59 Dr. Anindya Dutta at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, for instance, lost NIH funding for groundbreaking research into muscle formation, which had the potential to improve treatment for muscular dystrophy and reduce falls among the elderly.60 Most Americans do not interact directly with NIH, meaning this cut is not felt immediately. But American families will suffer in the future when promising new treatments are not discovered in time.”

“CDC Director Thomas Frieden warns that “Outbreaks won’t be detected, vaccines won’t happen.”64 Problems at the CDC due to sequestration will only become truly destructive during a future public health emergency, but there are already some early warning signs: Federal authorities report that sequestration has hindered the investigation of a cyclospora outbreak that has sickened 600 people in 22 states.”

“Federal judges warn that, if sequestration continues throughout FY 2014, ‘our constitutional duties, public safety, and the quality of our nation’s justice system will be profoundly compromised.’ Sequestration puts the public at risk by stretching probation officers dangerously thin and puts the courts themselves at risk by cutting courthouse security.67 If sequestration continues, backlogs will grow longer on court dockets, meaning that justice will be delayed or denied.”

“Some of the federal government’s most important and effective work takes place in the background of our society. The average citizen does not work with agencies such as the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the National Institutes of Health, or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. But all Americans rely on functioning law enforcement, improved medicine, and safe nuclear power. Sequestration is hollowing out these critical functions of government, and the impacts will only be apparent to the public once the damage is terrible.”

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