“Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Friday that the American public would ‘never leave the house’ if they knew what he knew about terrorist threats. … It’s everywhere. It’s constant. It’s nonstop,’ he said of the terror threat.”

These words are from a report about a statement by the Director of Homeland Security on Fox News [sic]. Now neither the venue nor the speaker make this particularly credible to me, but I was struck by how applicable this could be to gun violence in the U.S.A., where some people actually “never leave the house” because of shootings in their neighborhoods. And yes, gun violence is everywhere, constant, non-stop, yet the establishment and the American people would rather get worked up by hypothetical terrorism when we have actual terrorism raging all unchecked in our midst.

I read yesterday that Russia has mounted an alternative facts campaign the gist of which is that all the business of Russian collusion in the gassing civilians in Syria is part of a big conspiracy to make Russia look bad. Well, we’ll see how this plays out, but I’m not much worried. The late Soviet Union and its successor state, the Russian Federation, have an historical practice of lying, and, to give credit where credit is due, have succeeded fairly well for amateurs. But now they are going up against the Father of Lies in D.C., and our Liar and his minions can out-lie the Russians any time.

However, I am worried about Bashar al-Assad. Assad, may not be a major player in the world of violence, but he plays like a pro. He is so ruthless that he makes our old enemy Sadaam seem scrupulous. Assad and his gang are fighting for their lives, for if their foes prevail in Syria, they and many of their families will be slaughtered for sure. Some coalition of interests may out-maneuver or overwhelm Assad, but one-on-one he is much tougher than the real-estate agent from N.Y. City.

In Saturday’s paper there was an article from the AP entitled “Israel will curb West Bank construction ‘when possible’.” I suppose Israel’s takeover of the West Bank is becoming a bit of an embarrassment, hence this meaningless concession from the expansionist government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel has for years now been carrying out a colonization of the West Bank, sending in colonists to create new settlements in the wilderness. Of course, as in the case of American colonization, the wilderness is populated by natives. Wholesale relocation of Palestinian populations has been tried, but usually has awkward consequences. So the plan is to build settlements of Israelis newly arrived from the United States in sufficient number that at some point a claim can be made that there is an Israeli majority on the West Bank and/or that there is an Israeli minority in Palestinian lands that Israel must protect.  Then Israel will declare itself the “protector” of the West Bank Jews, and make Israeli annexation of the West Bank a pre-condition of any peace agreement in the area.

We can all feel relieved that Rep. Mickey Gates will no longer be afraid in Arkansas’ Capitol (see blog entry for 7 III 2017). The newspaper reports that Arkansas’ governor has signed a bill that will allow concealed handguns in the Capitol, in public buildings, in state colleges, and certain select saloons. Finally!

The same paper reported another manifestation of Arkansas’ refinement. Next month Arkansas will be executing eight men within a 10-day period. Why the rush? One of the three ingredient chemicals used in executions is about to expire. Some fear that due to the rapid succession of the executions the prison staff is likely to botch a few of them, due to stress or inexperience, and leave the victim on a gurney for a lingering death. No need for all this. They should have Rep. Mickey and his friends in the legislature shoot the prisoners. Surely a bullet in the brain is a quicker and less humiliating death than unreliable chemical injections, with all the ghoulish rites that attend them, and if he has a pistol with an 8-round magazine, just one legislator could do this job, and in a lot less time than two weeks.