Monday, January 24, 2011

Our Police Officers aren't safe. This is ridiculous.

....“It’s a very troubling trend where officers are being put at greater risk than ever before,” said Craig W. Floyd, the group’s chairman. “Many of these criminals are outgunning our police officers. We’re seeing criminals with high-velocity clips on their guns.”....

These are hardened and lifetime criminals.  They are prepared to kill the police because they are guilty and will be headed for prison.

I thought it might be related to the federal crackdown on organized crime, but, serving a warrant on a sex offender isn't about organized crime.

Body armor.  I don't know what else in the short term is going to answer the immediate problem.

Weapon confiscation with Swat Teams and plenty of body armor.  The police cars have to be beefed up and there needs to ba a 'rethink' on how these officers are actually performing their duties.

Miami is known to have higher rates of drug issues as well.  These criminals are not 'simply' breaking the law, this is their livelihood.  The criminals have nothing to lose and we have everything to lose.


Two officers and a gunman killed in St. Petersburg shootout (click here)

St. Petersrburg Times

ST. PETERSBURG - Two St. Petersburg police officers and a gunman were fatally shot and a U.S. marshal was injured early Monday in gunfire that broke out as police tried to serve a domestic battery warrant at a St. Petersburg home.
``Our community has suffered a loss today,'' St. Petersburg police Chief Chuck Harmon said during a somber press conference with Mayor Bill Foster outside Bayfront Medical Center.
Suncoast Benevolent Association President Mark Marland confirmed the fallen officers as Sgt. Tom Baitinger and Jeffrey Yaslowitz.
By Monday afternoon, police were able to enter the home where the shooting happened. They confirmed that the shooter, Hydra Lacy Jr., also was dead....

It isn't much of a reassurance that the criminal is dead if he took two officers with him.  I can't say it enough, there needs to be a 'rethink' about the approach officers are taking when they are carrying out the law.  There are too many high powered weapons on the street. 

This could be a 'secondary' level of criminals that were 'in service' to the organized crime, too. 

AND THEY ARE HUNGRY AND DON'T HAVE 'THEIR BOSSES AND PROTECTION' EITHER.  THEY THINK 'LYING LOW' WILL PROTECT THEM AND THEY ARE PREPARED TO KILL.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.  IT JUST SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE WAS SEEKING A SAFE HARBOR UNTIL HIS GIRLFRIEND GOT ANGRY.

When police officers are out gunned and the economy is stressed, a desperate person sees no reason to NOT turn to crime as an answer and 'make that decision' conscienously.  In other words, shooting through an attic is well contemplated and a 'readyness' to kill if law enforcement showed up.  These officers are NOT  prepared for that level of assault when they are trying to make arrests. 

If I were a mayor and the 'action' was getting this tenuous for my officers, they would be chilling and patrolling and catching up on paperwork and testimony to prosecutors until the body armor arrived.  In the meantime, I'd have my SWAT leaders coming up with training sessions and TACTICAL PLANS to carry out arrests.

Citizens have to come forward as well.  In other words, when these warrants are being issued and the officers are taking the complaints they HAVE TO ASK about the kind of conditions they are facing to arrest the individual, too.  The complaint might even be a 'set up,' too and I would not dismiss that possiblity.  Who is making these complaints.  I'd be working on prosecutor warrants before I'd work on civil warrants.  Something one knows is real.  ANY CHANCE there is something in the 'media' somewhere that brings this under 'one roof' as a plan or a fad or a 'gang' loyalty?

I don't believe these law enforcement bureaus can be too prepared.  The criminals are ALREADY PREMEDITATING MURDER before it happens.  The guns are making them feel CARELESSLY POWERFUL.

AND.

Get that crap off of the television.  They are like lesson plans from the most extremist imaginations in the country.

I like Lawrence Welk reruns on slow days.

Time for the FBI to start taking a look at this mess.

Federal hearings on gun control and bring in the mayors and police captains.  They can't protect citizens if they can't protect themselves.

...Mr. Wexler and several senior police officials said they also believed that the shootings reflected a broader lack of respect for authority in American society....

Gee, where have I heard this before?

The Florida State Bureau of Investigation needs to start profiling neighborhoods and making 'no go zones' and strategies to deal with them.  These officers need more than 'back-up.'  I don't believe anyone can 'over think' this.

Deepest sympathies to the families.  Make their memories count.  Get this under control.

Comcast doesn't want me as a viewer anymore.

The Young Turks (click title to entry - thank you) is a computer based political 'educational' website. 

Comcast is trying to pull web based audience to come to the television.  It won't work.  There is no way this is enhancing my viewing.

There was no mention of a simulcast 'online.'  That is the only way it is going to increase viewers.  This is supposed to bring a younger audience. 

I am not learning anything here.  This program is not for me and Comcast could not care less about what I am about.

Bye.

US Automakers are showing significant increases in market share.

Ford is expecting to give bonuses to their employees that will at least match last year.



...Hourly bonuses (click here) are certain to top last year's $450, but a Ford official cautioned they would not be as large as some reports have indicated.
A memo to Ford's salaried workers Thursday said that salaried workers would get their bonuses, which are based on profits, market share and other performance metrics, in March.
Still, the memo from Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, also said there would be no merit pay increases this year because a market study showed workers were being fairly compensated and Ford must be vigilant in managing its costs....

Current energy rates are going up, mostly in the area of oil and gas.  Ford held an edge over GM when it had monies set aside as money was cheap.  Ford did not need to be bailed out as GM did.  So, it makes sense Ford would seek to hold down its production costs by deferring merit pay due to its prudent management in the past.  With a more than 12% increase in profits globally, GM could be able to out save Ford in the future and put market pressure on Ford by keeping their prices down.  I think Ford is doing what it should until this 'new car market' (as fuel costs rise) is better understood.

 ...The energy index increased in December.(click here) The gasoline index rose  sharply and accounted for about 80 percent of the all items seasonally adjusted increase. The household energy index, which declined in November, increased as well. The food index increased slightly in December, with the fruits and vegetables index rising notably....

Toyota out sold GM, but, only by a margin.  That is a global inventory.  It is noted the China market for autos has picked up which indicates the Chinese are beginning to spend more on quality of life.  The problem is that the cars being sold in China aren't necessarily the most energy efficient, but, there is always Russian petroleum that doesn't rack up the overseas transportation costs.

I really think China is an excellant example as to when consumers are paid well for the economies they live in they purchase.  The purchase power of the Chinese is increasing.  The same would be true in the USA if people were back to work manufacturing cars for their own country.  The USA needs to focus on domestic production and return a better outcome to consumers seeking fuel efficient cars.  China is proof.  The outsourcing worked, but, it is killing the USA market place.  China has to domesticate its economy and labor force to allow the USA to 'take back' domestic manufacturing.

If citizens of any country don't have money to spend, they can't purchase.  Just that simple.

GM's China sales top U.S. total, a first for the automaker (click title to entry - thank you)

General Motors' sales in China increased 28.8% in 2010 while U.S. sales rose just 6.3%. GM is one of the best-positioned automakers in emerging markets, even better than Toyota, says one expert.

January 24, 2011, 9:16 a.m.
...GM's sales in China rose 28.8% last year to 2,351,610 vehicles, GM said Monday. U.S. sales rose just 6.3% to 2,215,227, in part because of the slow economy and GM's closure or sale of the Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer and Saab brands as part of its financial restructuring....


...Meanwhile, Toyota wasn't showing much growth in North America (click here) — and growing slower in China than GM — partly because it lacks the U.S. automaker's extensive model lineup such as large-size sedans, he said.
Toyota's global sales, including truckmaker Hino Motors Ltd. and Daihatsu Motor Co., which makes small cars, rose 8 percent from 2009, driven by solid sales growth in China and other Asian nations, the Japanese manufacturer said.
Toyota Motor Corp. dethroned General Motors as the world's No. 1 automaker in worldwide vehicle sales in 2008 — a position GM held for nearly eight decades. Since then, General Motors, now called General Motors Co., was bailed out by the U.S. government and underwent restructuring after a brief period in bankruptcy protection.
George Hansen, a GM spokesman in Tokyo, played down the importance of Toyota's bigger sales numbers.
"We don't focus on who is No. 1," he said of the so-called "new GM."...

Let's hope Hezbollah has found a peace way of co-existing in the Middle East now.

There is always that "W"orry that democracy doesn't achieve the same STABILITY in the Middle East as it might elsewhere.  Let's home the New Mikati government proves that "W"orry "W"rong.

Lebanese MP and former Prime Minister Najib Mikati smiles as he delivers a news conference after meeting Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman at the presidential palace in Baabda, near Beirut,

...But caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri (click title to entry - thank you) said he and his Future Movement would not take part in a government where the Shi'ite militant group has the upper hand.
Lebanon was plunged into political crisis after Hezbollah and its allies walked out of Hariri's unity government on January 12 in a dispute over still-confidential indictments by a U.N.-backed tribunal which is investigating the 2005 killing of statesman Rafik al-Hariri, the premier's father.
Hariri has stayed on in the interim and hoped to form a new coalition. But support from Jumblatt and six members of his parliamentary bloc -- added to the 57 members of Hezbollah and their allies, plus Mikati himself -- will give Mikati 65 votes in the 128-member parliament....


Country’s history of managing difficulties may be an advantage despite analysts’ fears
Monday, January 24, 2011

Bassem Mroue
Associated Press

BEIRUT: The political crisis in Lebanon is threatening to derail economic progress after a year that saw 7 percent economic growth, a record number of tourists and bank deposits among the highest in the Middle East.
Lebanon’s Western-backed government collapsed on Jan. 12 after Hezbollah and its allies resigned from the Cabinet in a row over a U.N.-backed court investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The court, which is widely expected to accuse the Shiite militant group, filed a sealed draft indictment last Monday, touching off a process many fear could ignite new bloodshed nearly six years after the massive truck bombing along Beirut’s waterfront that killed the former prime minister.
“This is a very deep and troubling crisis in Lebanon,” said Lebanese economic analyst Kamel Wazni. “The continuation of this crisis with the absence of any political resolution any time soon will have its implications in terms of growth and in terms of development.” Still, Lebanon is accustomed to managing in crises. Street protests and violence have been the scourge of this tiny Arab country of 4 million people for years, including a devastating 1975-990 Civil War and sectarian battles between Sunnis and Shiites in 2008....

Looks like it is time to pull the plug on aid to Lebanon.  Does Hariri need a new place to stay?

US threatens to stop Lebanese aid if Hezbollah leads government, says report  (click here)

What recruit of al Qaeda was traveling out of Somalia or Yemen? No different than London and the G8, this is probably linked to Davos.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has postponed his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos following the blast / AFP Source: AFP

AND. 

Then there is this THANKLESS statement by Abbas.

 If this is true it proves Abbas has no control over his people and/or aligns with them in violence.  Like, what kind of thing is this to say to a Russian President seeking solutions for peace?  Sounds like a threat to me.

Abbas urges Quartet to put pressure on Israel (click link below). 
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH AND HERB KEINON 
01/18/2011 22:43

...Medvedev stops short of saying border of future Palestinian state should be 1967 lines; PA president praises Russians for support of Palestinians.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday urged the Quartet members, who are scheduled to meet in Munich next month, to issue decisions that would oblige Israel to return to the negotiating table with the Palestinians.

Abbas, who was speaking during a joint press conference in Jericho with visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, said there were only two options: Negotiations or violence and terrorism....

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=204226

At least 31 killed and 130 injured in Moscow airport bombing (click here)

January 25, 2011 3:24AM

A SUICIDE bomber has killed at least 31 people and wounded more than 130 others this morning.
"Today at 4:32 pm [local time] an explosion went off in the international arrivals hall of Domodedovo airport," the Russian investigative committee said in a statement.
There were scenes of carnage at Domodedovo airport in southern Moscow as corpses were stretchered out of the arrivals area after the blast, the latest deadly attack to hit the capital after the metro bombings in March.

Describing the attack as an act of terror, President Dmitry Medvedev chaired an emergency meeting of transport and security officials and ordered a special security regime across the country's main airports and railway stations.

"Today at 4.32pm an explosion went off in the international arrivals hall of Domodedovo airport," the Russian investigative committee said in a statement....

What have I been saying and for how many years? Why was it clear to me and NOT you?

Topsy-Turvy Weather: U.S. Is Frigid, Artic Is Balmy
Published: January 24, 2011
Judging by the weather, the world seems to have flipped upside down.
For two winters running, an Arctic chill has descended on Europe, burying that continent in snow and ice. Last year in the United States, historic blizzards afflicted the mid-Atlantic region. This winter the deep South has endured unusual snowstorms and severe cold, and a frigid Northeast is bracing for what could shape into another major snowstorm this week.
Yet while people in Atlanta learn to shovel snow, the weather 2,000 miles to the north has been freakishly warm the past two winters. Throughout northeastern Canada and Greenland, temperatures in December ran as much as 15 or 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Bays and lakes have been slow to freeze; ice fishing, hunting and trade routes have been disrupted....
The New York Times places the Climate Crisis on the top of its website for the first time in history IN PROPER AND CORRECT CONTEXT.

What did I say about these weather satellite COMPLIMENTS of UNISYS every time I would post them?

Didn't I call those huge monsterous water vapor 'trails' in the upper troposphere 'Heat Transfer Systems?"

Yes?

Why would I call them that?

January 24, 2011
15:30:13z
UNISYS North and West Hemisphere Water Vapor Satellite (click title to entry for 12 hour loop - thank you)

Through some of the most difficult political pressure the "Free Press" ever experienced UNISYS 'found a way' to stay online and stay connected.  I am eternally grateful to them.  At one point there were faux charges of some kind of federal crime.  I mean you talk about control and hate.  If UNISYS found the will to do all that regardless, why couldn't the 'Free Press?"  And how FREE is it really?

They like to call me "The Rebel Without a Cause."  I don't think so and I never did.

Now.

The Satellite above exhibits minimally two discernable upper tropospheric vortexes.  One off the East Coast of the USA/North American Continent and one off the West Coast. 

The one off the West Coast is a formation called "The Arctic Oscillation."  This formation, when Earth is in NORMAL carbon dioxide/greenhous gas BALANCE would not be found daily NOR in joint 'appearance' with any other VOLITILE and EARTH COOLING MECHANISM.  This formation can under NORMAL Earth conditions spawn 'Mid-latitiude vortex' that deliver the most turbulent of weather across North America.

The one off the East Coast is a HUGE heat transfer system removing heat from the Equator and carrying it to the Arctic Circle, where the hotter air rises above the colder and denser air forcing down to the lower latitudes lowering temperatures and raising temperatures over the Ice Ocean.
With lack of PUBLIC acceptance of THAT FACT and reality, scientists have been seeking 'solid' more 'public friendly' ways of PROVING the existence of a dangerous and UNIQUE Earth event that would bring unrelentless warming that was deadly.
It would seem as though their persistence has paid off.



...Murray Roberts, a bioscientist (click here) at Heriot-Watt University in the UK, is impressed by the experimental work. "This is a very exciting result, and one of the nicest demonstrations of the importance of cold-water corals of archives of environmental change," he says. "[The researchers] have uncovered new evidence that the recent warm and nutrient-rich conditions in the north-west Atlantic off Nova Scotia may be rather different to earlier times – and this change seems to be related to anthropogenic climate change."...

The weather in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, USA (Crystal Wind Chime) is:

 
Local Time  ::  6:38 AM AKST (GMT -09)
Lat/Lon  ::  58.8° N 137.0° W
Elevation  ::  33 feet
Temperature  ::  39 Fahrenheit
Windchill  ::  32 Fahrenheit
Dew Point  ::  36 Farhenheit
Wind  ::  10 mph from the SE
Pressure  ::  29.75 inches and rising
Visibility  ::  10.0 miles
UV  ::  0 out of 16
Clouds  ::  Overcast 3300 feet  (Above Ground Level)
Elevation  ::  33 feet
Temperatures Map of Canada from "The Weather Network."


January 24, 2011
10:00 EST

Current Temperatures across Canada noted to be colder in the more southern locations and warmer at the Arctic Circle.








And below Canada is the Continental USA.

January 24, 2011
1345 GMT

Continental USA Temperature Map showing frigid temperatures extending to the subtropical areas of the Southern USA.

Have a better day.