Friday, November 30, 2012

Apple needs to defend its apps, unless of course there are copyright issues.



Editorial alliance mulls lawsuit against Apple

Updated: 2012-11-30 21:16

By Tang Yue (chinadaily.com.cn)


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Apple needs to have a frank conversation with its users. Sincerely.


Updated: 2012-11-30 21:16'

By Tang Yue (chinadaily.com.cn)

An alliance of publishing houses (click here) and periodicals are considering filing lawsuits against Apple for offering pirated content of their works on its App Store, a senior official of the China Written Works Copyright Society said on Friday.
"We will support the move by the publishing houses and periodicals to defend their rights against Apple," Chen Jiangong, president of the society, said at the International Seminar on the Collective Management of Copyright in the Digital Environment held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.
Zhang Hongbo, director general of the society, said the lawsuit could be filed "very soon" but he declined to reveal the list of the publishing houses and the amount of the compensation.
The United States tech giant has recently been entangled in similar controversies....

A drone for aircraft carriers.

A launch crew prepares a Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator for its first land-based catapult launch in this US Navy handout photo taken at Patuxent River, Maryland Nov 29, 2012. The Navy's first-ever steam catapult launch of the pilotless X-47B ensures the vehicle can structurally handle the rigors of the aircraft-carrier environment. [Photo/Agencies]

Now, about that New Year's Eve sequester. There is a reason to stop it?


Russia believes it is being infiltrated.

Yekaterina Samutsevich in Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky Court
18:46 30/11/2012

MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti) - Yekaterina Samutsevich, (click here) a member of the female punk group Pussy Riot, has appealed a court ruling that the group’s videos are extremist and the decision to ban access to them, the RAPSI news service reported Friday.
“Though Samutsevich is not involved in the litigation, she submitted a cassation appeal against the November 29 court ruling,” said Yevgenia Pazukhina, a spokeswoman for Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky Court.
The judge earlier refused to grant Samutsevich’s request to consider her an interested party in the extremism case.
The court ruled on Thursday that four Pussy Riot videos, including the “punk prayer” in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral, were extremist on Thursday....


Georgia is training activists? Why? Russians don't know how to demonstrate? If Russia invades Georgia because it aggravated the issue, the USA is not sending troops.

19:09 30/11/2012

MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian opposition activists (click here) who were allegedly plotting to orchestrate anti-Kremlin unrest were "trained" abroad, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
Markin said the opposition activists were “specially trained outside Russia to organize and carry out mass riots aimed at overthrowing the regime as happened with 'color revolutions' in other countries.”
In October, Leonid Razvozzhayev, an ally of Russian Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov,confessed to organizing mass disorder together with other opposition members, and said the effort was bankrolled by Georgian politician Givi Targamadze.
The charges against Razvozzhayev, an aide to opposition lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov, stem from grainy footage aired by the pro-Kremlin television channel NTV in early October....
I thought Vladimir was getting strange. Georgia needs to develop diplomatic relations with Moscow. Seriously. Georgia doesn't need to be involved with Russian activists. This is creating a Cold War that Europe will regret if it continues. Innocent people are being imprisoned for no reason. When Russia should be seeking civil rights expansion, it is now closing down any strides made toward individual freedoms. 

The Senate Defense Authorication Bill includes new sanctions in Iran.

By Roberta Rampton and Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON | Fri Nov 30, 2012 4:22pm EST

...The new package, (click here) which keeps in place exemptions for countries that have made significant cuts to their purchases of Iranian crude oil, would be the third round of sanctions in a year if passed into law.
The existing sanctions have already hurt Iran's economy, but it is uncertain whether the additional measures will stop or slow Iran's nuclear program.
Washington says Tehran is enriching uranium to levels that could be used in nuclear weapons. Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes.
Senators voted 94-0 to make the new sanctions part of an annual defense policy bill....

The Senate has been busy. They are seeking pressure on an arms exporter in Russia to stop sending arms to Syria.



02:40 01/12/2012

WASHINGTON December 1 (RIA Novosti) - The US Senate unanimously (click here) approved a measure that would effectively end the relationship between the Pentagon and Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state run arms export firm which has provided weapons to the Syrian government.
“The American taxpayer should not be indirectly subsidizing the mass murder of Syrian civilians, especially when there are perfectly good alternatives for purchasing these same arms through US brokers,” said Republican Sen. John Cornyn in a statement. Cornyn authored the amendment as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Senators voted on the Cornyn amendment Thursday night. The entire defense authorization bill is scheduled to be voted on by the full Senate next week....


19:43 30/11/2012


MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti) - The latest version (click here) of Russia's world-famous Kalashnikov assault rifle, the AK-12, has completed a set of preliminary tests, the weapons-making agency responsible for trials of the new gun said on Friday.
Last week, Dmitry Semizorov, head of the Tochmash state arms firm based near Moscow, said the AK-12 “has shown up a range of problems” and “a series of flaws.” He declined to elaborate on what the defects were, saying this was "the developer's confidential information."
The weapon was developed by Izhmash, the Izhevsk-based gun maker which has built Kalashnikov rifles since the 1950s....

my2k

Speak Up to Stop Taxes from going up on the Middle Class (click here)

Tell the White House how a $2000 tax increase ($40 per week) will effect your lives.

Thank you.

US House Speaker Boner states his leadership is not effective. No surprise there.

The Boner House is not capable of bi-partisan work. They have no ideas, no bills that would protect the Middle Class and the obligations to the people of the USA and they refuse to work with those that do.

If an illegitimate House of Representatives thinks they are going to be the tail wagging the dog, they are grossly in error.

The problem in resolving the complaints of the so called "Fiscal Cliff" is not that of the President or the USA Senate, it is the problem of the House which cannot work across the aisle to resolve an agreement to the best outcomes of the American people.

The Boner House is seeking to hold the American people hostage, yet again. Most citizens are serious about paying down the national debt. I doubt they care about the drama.

The taxes to the wealthy is long over due. No more stalling, no more drama; it is time to pay the bills.

It is time to GOVERN and unless I am mistaken the Boner House is incapable of carrying out the responsibilities of their offices. 

The economic methodology of the Republicans is a false face for greed. It is proven. The Republican economic methodology, which prevents the necessary tax increase, is known to do nothing to create jobs or move the American economy forward. I think that is the point, actually. The longer the Republicans can protect their cronies by stalling the best outcomes for the American people the more worthy they appear to their corrupted districts.

By  and Rosalind Helderman




Hatfield, Pa. — House Speaker John A. Boner (click here) declared Friday that talks to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff” have reached a “stalemate,” as President Obama insisted that tax rates on the wealthy must rise as part of a deal with Congress.
The president traveled to a toy factory here to follow up his pledge to lobby the American people for his proposals, which include an immediate freeze on tax rates for most Americans while allowing tax cuts benefiting the wealthy to expire....

Excuse me? Republicans are laughing at the President's proposal? They have something better to offer?




Cost of Raising a Child Climbs to $235,000 for Middle Class Income Families (click here)

By SAM HANANEL 06/14/12 06:56 PM ET

WASHINGTON — For $235,000, you could indulge in a shiny new Ferrari – or raise a child for 17 years.
A government report released Thursday found that a middle-income family with a child born last year will spend about that much in child-related expenses from birth through age 17. That's a 3.5 percent increase from 2010.
The report from the Agriculture Department's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion said housing is the single largest expense, averaging about $70,500, or 30 percent of the total cost.
Families living in the urban Northeast tend to have the highest child-rearing expenses, followed by those in the urban West and the urban Midwest. Those living in the urban South and rural areas face the lowest costs.
The estimate also includes the cost of transportation, child care, education, food, clothing, health care and miscellaneous expenses....

What exactly are the Republicans laughing at? I don't 'get it.'


What are the Republicans thinking? Do they think at all?

@CNNMoney 
September 12, 2012: 3:05 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Middle-class families (click here) continued to suffer in the aftermath of the Great Recession, and the poverty rate fell slightly, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Wednesday.
Median household income fell to $50,054 in 2011, down 1.5% from a year earlier. Income inequality widened, as the highest income echelon experienced a jump, while those in the middle saw incomes shrink....
In 2012 the average individual benefit for Social Security Recipients was $698.00 per month. The average married couple benefit in 2012 was $1048.00 per month. And for this the average citizen in the USA is being asked to wait longer to receive their benefits? And the Republicans are laughing?

Really?

Where this continues to become more and more ludicrous is the fact those amounts paid to citizens in 2012 are BEFORE the deductions for Medicare insurance.

And the Republicans laugh.

It looks as though the peasants are suppose to be more so according to Republicans.



The President's proposal is "spot on." It protects the Middle Class and fulfills the USA obligations to the citizens.

Where do the Repubicans get the nerve to laugh at changes in entitlements?

The President's proposals specifically sacrificed changes to the entitlements in the USA to make a deal which includes more than reasonable tax increases on the wealthiest of Americans.

Where do Republicans get off scoffing at changes to OUR entitlements!!!!!!!!

...Republicans are seeking overhauls of entitlement programs (click here) such as Medicare in exchange for accepting higher tax revenue. They want a higher Medicare eligibility age and an alternative yardstick for calculating inflation that would reduce Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, according to a Republican aide who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said today that Obama has made his position clear and that Democrats need a proposal from Republicans on what sort of spending cuts they want.
“This doesn’t have to be a cliffhanger,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California told reporters. “The Senate has passed a bill to extend the middle-income tax cuts,” she said. “Why are you holding this up?” she said, referring to Boehner.
Geithner’s offer, as described by two Republican aides, is based on Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget and his 2011 proposal to the deficit-cutting supercommittee, which was unsuccessful last year in coming up with a plan all sides could accept....

...It would raise taxes on top earners by $1.6 trillion over the next decade with higher rates on income, capital gains, dividends and estates, along with limits on tax breaks. It would call for about $400 billion in cuts to entitlement programs, which Republicans have deemed insufficient....


Those increases are 160 billion per year. That is nothing compared to what they should be paying for over a decade of wealth indulgence while asking the nation to fight two wars and bailing out recklessness on Wall Street that plunged this nation and the global economy into complete chaos. The chaos was very easy for Wall Street to weather while citizens wandered homeless and unemployed.

Where do the Republicans have the nerve to laugh at these sacrifices of the Middle Class?

The Republicans need to GET REAL !!!!!!!!
FORWARD MILLS, CA - Homeowners (click here) living in areas burned by Northern California wildfires last summer are being warned of the risk of mud and rock slides during the impending storms.
Emergency services officials in several counties are cautioning residents that storms expected to drop 7 to 11 inches of rain in some areas could cause destructive mudslides and force evacuations.

The National Weather Service cautioned that ground in burned areas could saturate quickly, causing flooding, mudslides and trees to fall.
In the Forward Mills community where the Ponderosa Fire burned northeast of Red Bluff, the fire burned so hot that trees burned down into the ground, leaving almost nothing to hold denuded soil in place....

The picture to the right was the area before the fire.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Why is Gerrymandered Gohmert dependent of population density in cities?

What was noted in the Presidential Nominee Race for the Republicans between Romney and Santorum?

When Santorum won delegates they were in the rural areas of the state. 

Why?

The reason Santorum won delegates in rural areas of states is because the playing field was leveled by the lack of spending by PACs and SuperPACs. When Romney spent money during the Republican Presidential Nomination Race it was in cities were monies received the most dense exposure.

Why is Gerrymandered Gohmert so very interested in grandstanding on the House Floor? Why he is so cooperative with extremist media? Why does Gerrymandered Gohmert seek constant contact with his constituents?

What gets Gerrymandered Gohmert attention, FREE MEDIA EXPOSURE? What provides Michelle Bachmann with chronic, free media exposure?

Extremist views, right? The shocking statements from these Tea Party darlings get them media attention because it is scandalous and outrageous. They are media masters and will seek the extremist view every time. The real problem is not just their outrageous demeanor and Right Wing Media pandering, but, they vote the way they speak.

Gerrymandered Gohmert follows the 'Republican Media Model' receiving monies from people like the Koch Brothers. Gerrymandered Gohmert has guarantees of winning elections because the electorate is managed through his media methodology. When Texas District One had larger constituencies in rural Texas it was not possible to use media to control outcomes. Hence. Gerrymandering for media density that entertains the electorate 24/7.

Gerrymandered Gohmert

Texas District No. 1 (click here)

Louie Gohmert is so confident in his forever seat in the House all he does is seek egotistic opportunities promoting Right Wing rhetoric and hatred.

The link above is Gohmert's official website. There it little to no other topic on the front page except the Rightest of the Right Wing media. Today the top of Gohmert's website is Hannity. The listing below the Hannity clip is an article from Newsmax.

The rest of the front page is about soldiers, veterans, 9/11, hatred of illegal immigrants by complaining some kind of amnesty program. The really interesting article is this:

August 9, 2012 
WashingtonReps. Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Trent Franks (AZ-02), Michele Bachmann (MN-06), Tom Rooney (FL-16) and Lynn Westmoreland (GA-03) sent letters a few weeks ago to the Inspectors General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of State. These letters seek answers about the U.S. government’s involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group that calls for “civilization jihad” against America....








































These guys are bizarre. They are in office because of voter manipulation of their gerrymandered district. Gohmert comes from Texas 1 District. Texas has been nothing but brick red in every federal election for as long as I can remember. When the rest of the nation was voting blue, Texas was red in recent decades.

It consists largely of three small East  Texas (click here) metropolitan areas — Lufkin-Nacogdoches, in the south, Longview-Marshall, and Tyler.

For most of its history, the district was based in Texarkana. However, in a controversial 2003 redistricting orchestrated by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Texarkana was drawn out of the district and moved to the neighboring Fourth congressional district. Lufkin, Tyler and Longview were added in its place.

The district was predominantly rural for much of its history, and thus was far friendlier to electing Democrats to Congress even as most of Texas swung toward the Republicans. The district's four-term Democratic incumbent, Max Sandlin, was a particularly severe critic of the DeLay-led redistricting effort, claiming that lumping rural areas with urban ones stifled the voice of rural voters. Indeed, the 2003 redistricting made the district more urban and Republican, especially with the addition of the Republican strongholds of Tyler and Longview. Sandlin was heavily defeated in November 2004 by Republican Louie Gohmert, a longtime judge in the Tyler area. Gohmert is the first Republican to represent the district since Reconstruction.

Gohmert is a gerrymandered House Republican. He has experienced no legitimate election.
Election results from recent races
Race and yearResults
2000: PresidentBush 68 - 32%
2004: PresidentBush 69 - 30%
2008: PresidentMcCain 69 - 30%
Gohmert was elected into office in the same proportions as the Presidential races. The link indicating the composition of Texas District 1 is Wikipedia. If one examines the entire page on Wiki about this district it is easy to note the Democrats have dominated this district since 1845. There were two exceptions to that all these years, until, it was gerrymandered by Tom Delay.

Gohmert is an illegitimate House Representative and probably one of the most overtly obvious example of illegitimate House Representatives. 

Amazing and Texas actually considers itself part of the USA? Republicans are sad examples of any leanings of democracy.

Sorry to hear Bush Senior isn't feeling well. He has holidays coming up.

I can't imagine a fella who jumped from planes at the age of 85 is happy about a chronic cough.

Hopefully it will resolve soon. 

My grandmother was 94 years old when she left us. In the later years of her life; it was nearly like clockwork; every February she had to go to the hospital for a tune up.

It was only once a year and it was an adjustment in her medication, but, it was necessary. We didn't encourage Gram to go to the hospital because as people age they are more susceptible to infection and there is plenty of it in the hospital.

I hope he will be home for a Merry Christmas with the former First Lady and his family.

You know that hacker that just stole all your information off your smart phone? Yep.

Homeland Security needs to check the vulnerability of all defibrillators including the emergency devices in hospitals, shopping malls and work places.

Published 28 November 2012

IT experts reported (click here) that security flaws in pacemakers and defibrillators could be putting lives at risk; the experts say that many of these devices are not properly secured and therefore are vulnerable to hackers who may want to commit an act that could lead to multiple deaths....

They don't care. Simple. Profits before people.


I am sure all we need is more compassion from Wall Street and Conservatives. Right? That's all we need. People die sometimes, that's all. It is a price to pay for a Wall Street economy. 

I suppose, if that is the only priority that lines your pockets. They don't need regulation, now do they?


Published November 27, 2012, 12:00 AM
By: Bryan Horwath, The Dickinson Press

Oil executive Nathan Garber (click here) pleaded not guilty Monday at the Stark County Courthouse to a felony charge that he threatened area drinking water with his company’s hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” wastewater disposal practices.
Earlier this year, the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office charged Garber — listed in court documents as a Kalispell, Mont., resident — with a Class C felony, arguing that a company led by Garber knowingly attempted to deceive Industrial Commission inspectors.
Following the brief hearing before Stark County Judge H. Patrick Weir, neither Garber nor his attorney, Monte Rogneby of the Bismarck-based Vogel Law Firm, wished to comment to The Press. A Stark County official said a date for a pretrial conference would be set at a later time....

Is the female uterus a Wall Street commodity?

It all depends on how economic growth is defined. 

If Wall Street can make a $20.00 profit off every American in a year, then they can increase profits if there are more Americans.

If that $20.00 profit means the American people are impoverished, then that is what it means and an increase in population means more $20.00 from more Americans.

Quality of life is not a priority for Wall Street. Profit driven corporations are adverse to quality of life if there is no conscience in government to counter it. 

The USA is in a very precarious spot with its economy. How does it manage to move quality of life forward for its people without crashing the economy it is recovering? Is there room for tax increases to pay down the national debt in a way that will continue the recovery of the "People's Economy?" That is the debate right now.

There is plenty of room at the top of the economy of the USA for taxes to increase. There is no reason for anyone to believe there will be an economic downturn because the wealthy has to pay more in taxes. There is sincerely no debate. The revenues for the USA has to increase and not decrease. This is not a time for cutting taxes.

President Obama and the Democrats know the national debt is a high priority and they are not about to enter into frivolous spending. The Republicans are always using the idea Democrats are 'tax and spend' to secure their political aspirations. Does anyone in the country actually believe Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is void of the understanding of the national debt in relation to the vitality of generations of Americans? I don't believe that for a minute and I am confident she is able to protect the Middle Class.

I have found the goals of the Obama Economy inspired, quite frankly. He has managed to support Americans in need while still recovery a very stubborn economy. It is amazing we are where we are right now. He is a great leader. A great President. I trust him.

The Middle Class has to grow. It has to grow globally to sincerely have a vital and vibrant world of people comfortable with each other to stop hatred and victimization. But, that is a priority the USA does not have control over, but, can simply seek cooperation. What the USA does have control over is the outcome of its own people. When the USA Middle Class has a majority it moves a global economy regardless of other priorities abroad.

Foreign economies do put a drag on the USA economy, but, that is where the State Department makes a huge difference. The State Department is not about domestic economic growth, but, international relationships that secure the USA. The economic stability of other nations is vitally important to national security in the age of terrorist infiltration into social structures. 

At any rate, the USA Middle Class has to survive and thrive. The more economic advantage the USA Middle Class has to those goals the faster the economic recover and that is why there will be contraction of the USA economy if the Middle Class is asked to pay more taxes than they are today. The economy won't disappear, but, it will contract and recover at a different rate and in a different way. We are far better off trusting the Middle Class with local economies to restore the vitality to the USA's economy and that of the global economy.

Look, have a good day. President Obama knows what he is doing, he had done his job exceptionally well and will continue to 'right the ship.' The American people are great people and we will figure it all out and move forward. Promise.

The current fiscal concerns of the USA have no analogy to anything Wall Street in 2008.

I think it is a mistake to find parallels to anything 2008 with this fiscal concern of the USA. There will be increased income post New Year's Eve, there is no sincere analogy there. 

If Wall Street freaks out that is not USA's concern. Not at all. If Wall Street freaks out it simply shows their lack of confidence and expertise in their own interests.

The added income post New Year's Eve will allow the USA to pay its bills until a solidly good solution is reached in the competent hands of a new Congress in January. If Wall Street honestly wants to protect from stress in its markets, then it needs to stop spending billions on USA elections to find guarantees to their outcomes. Sincerely. Corporations are not people. Simple.

The 'trend' in the GOP today is the course correction needed to achieve real solutions. Wall Street may be their focus but the USA has OBLIGATIONS to its people and I completely reject the inflammatory speech of the extremists "We are Greece." That is nonsense. By sheer size and economy the USA is not Greece. Greece is far more vulnerable economically than the USA.

The GOP has sincere leadership stating if 98% of the people are protected from tax increases it is abiding by its promises to stop the burden of tax increases on the American people. That reality should be secured today and the Middle Class needs to be released from its bondage as hostages to the wealthy. I am quite sure the Democrats have a bill waiting for passage to protect 98% of the people in the USA. Quite sure. The bill could be passed within days and signed by the President immediately. Such a bill would INSURE the forward movement of the current economic recovery. The lack of such a bill will cause contraction of the economy and it is directly the responsibility of the dysfunctional Republican House.

Wall Street has a problem and consumer confidence has resulted in contrary to profits. The consumer to Wall Street products has become more and more impoverished TO THEIR CONFIDENCE in purchasing power.

November 28, 2012|Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch

...What these statistical results mean: (click here) Consumer confidence tells us more about how the stock market has already performed than it does about the future. But insofar as consumer confidence tells us anything about the future, it’s that stronger readings are more negative than positive for the stock market....

The reason consumer confidence and Wall Street vitality are in opposition is because consumers lose monies in their coffers when Wall Street makes profits. So, these indexes are antagonistic to each other. The less monies consumers have in their coffers the less confident they are. Simple. When that occurs Wall Street seeks to encourage spending anyway and further impoverish their consumers.

CREDIT to consumers approach toxicity while CEOs reap bonuses.

The poverty rate in the USA is at an all time high. That is a direct result of Wall Street impoverishing their own consumers through poverty wages. The relationship between Wall Street and poverty to achieve profits has become so toxic the USA government under Republican policy has sought to gut the power of their own citizens with changes to bankruptcy laws, etc. There is NO MARGIN anymore to the impoverishment of the consumer to benefit profits of Wall Street.

Wall Street needs to imagine what their profits would look like if the impoverished to the USA and potentially the world were actually Middle Class consumers. It gets far more interesting than they could imagine.

Wall Street's loyalty to profits at the rates they have existed in recent years is hideous to their best outcomes. Sooner or later, the impoverished will become more and more impoverished and there will be no markets for Wall Street. If that is the path Wall Street wants that is their choice, but, for ME; "I simply LOVE consumer confidence in relation to local economies." And local economies are far more aware of their consumer vitality. The local consumer economy has DIRECT positive relationships to profits. The better the local consumer does the better the local economies do.

So, to worry about Wall Street's happiness in attempting to purchase elections, encouraging gerrymandering, voter oppression and consumer impoverishment has little loyalty from me. Wall Street lost in 2012. President Obama and the Democrats have four more years to turn the corner on complete national impoverishment with the ruling Plutocrats attempting to play their hand against the Middle Class. 

The USA has obligations. I stated OBLIGATIONS. It needs to pay them and it won't happen if there is chronic pandering to Wall Street. Quite the contrary. The more confidence the Middle Class has in USA obligations the better the future looks on all fronts. 

Blankfein can go straight to hell along with his buddy that was once Secretary Treasurer.

BP is $6 billion from its divestiture goal of $38 billion to pay for damages resulting from the disastrous Deepwater Horizon.

The responsibility of the USA government is to maintain the integrity of its sovereign borders, waters and economic interest of its people. The problem BP created for itself when it proceeded with a reckless methodology to increase profits is not the problem of the people of the USA. The leases stand and it is up to BP to raise the necessary funds to protect USA assets in recovery from this complete idiocy.

Eleven people died. In the latest explosion, which was not BP, two people died and one is now missing and the search efforts have stopped. This level of negligence of human life has a very long history in this industry. The most recent deaths were due to a welding rig meeting its activities with natural gas. There are indications it was avoidable. There is little to no conscience within the petroleum industry. It is a profit driven industry without regard to life or environment.

By Steven MufsonPublished: September 10

...The latest sale leaves BP close to its $38 billion goal (click here) for divestments to settle claims linked to the spill, part of a program that will leave the London-based oil giant more streamlined but still in possession of its best prospects for growth and most profitable assets. BP chief executive Bob Dudley said in a statement that the sales were “consistent with our strategy of playing to our strengths.”

BP sold interests in three fields connected to the Marlin platform the company installed in 1999 and used as a production hub southeast of New Orleans. It also sold its interests in four other fields and some exploration prospects associated with the fields. Together the fields produced 59,500 barrels a day of oil and natural gas liquids....

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

President Obama should consider Retired Admiral Mullen as Secretary of Defense.

He took on Pakistan and established a global recognition of the Haqquani Network. He put them on the map. That is not a minor accomplishment.

...The USO also honored (click here) the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, USN (Ret) and Mrs. Deborah Mullen as this year’s Spirit of the USO Honorees. The Mullens were honored for their illustrious military career and staunch support of troops and military families. They were surprised by a special tribute video by entertainer and USO tour veteran Robin Williams.
“We are here to celebrate two very dear friends of mine. Not just because they are friends of mine but because of their extraordinary dedication and service to our troops and their families both here and abroad. Admiral Mike Mullen and his wife Deborah Mullen or, as I refer, to her after thousands and thousands of miles of traveling together, ‘Mom,’” Williams said. “We visited five continents on four USO Chairman Holiday tours, the emotional highs and lows of these trips were remarkable each trip was a unique experience. … So Chairman and Mrs. Mullen, I thank you for your leadership, commitment, service and your friendship.”
Mrs. Mullen said she was humbled by the USO award, “It’s an honor for us to be recognized with the Spirit of the USO Award, but really, when you think about it, the heart and the soul and the spirit are really all the staff and volunteers, who are serving around the world, around the clock and at installations and airports. They’re in harm’s way and they’re the ones really we need to recognize and never forget their selfless work that they do on behalf of our troops, our families and the families of the fallen.”
Admiral Mullen reflected on his deep connection with the USO. “We’ve watched up closely and very personally the USO for decades, affect our lives, but more importantly, affect the lives of those we care about the most, both in peace and in war and at the most difficult times and if I were going to sum it up in so many ways, it would be to bring that smile, that support, that little piece of home into the hearts and souls of those who serve around the world and do so, so nobly, for so long.”...

One has to know the objection to Susan Rice is pure politics realizing her relationship to TransCanada.


To begin the Secretary of State is more than a pipeline carrying Oil Sludge from Canada. In addition, I trust Ambassador Rice to realize how important the topic of global warming is to President Obama. One of the reasons stated in objection to the pipeline from this administration is the dangers of proliferating carbon dioxide as an acceptable by-product in energy production in the USA.
Ms. Rice would have to recuse herself from the proceedings regarding the pipeline. That reality is far more interesting to me than her conflict of interest.
...Rice's holdings in TransCanada Corp., (click here) valued at between $300,000 and $600,000, are listed in a financial disclosure report for 2011 that was filed earlier this year.
The holdings open up Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to criticism from environmentalists at a time when she’s already under fire from Republicans over her descriptions of the attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya.
Green activists are strongly pushing the Obama administration to reject TransCanada’s proposal for the pipeline that would bring oil from Canadian tar sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries....

Susan Collins is being ridiculous about Ambassador Rice and she knows it.


When Senator Collins states she holds Ambassador Rice responsible for the bombings in 1998 when she was Assistant Secretary of African Affairs, it is like saying the current Assistant Secretary of African Affairs should be held responsible for the attacks in Benghazi.

The lack of security of the consulates across Africa has a long history. Much of it is due to lack of funding and it is the Republicans with the most significant insults to the funding issue and the poor security to our consulates. At least that is according to a highly regarded former ambassador.

The African continent has been a victim of one kind of rebel group or another for decades, since guns were invented. So, the reality violence against American embassies and consulates becomes reality is not new to our State Department.

The one person with a great deal of credibility who spoke to the lack of security in Nairobi was Ambassador Bushnell. She has an extensive career in foreign relations. She fought for the stability of Rwanda before the genocide and continued to fight to stop it once it began. She was in Kenya when the dual bombing took place. It was her point of view the embassy was not secure, but, as noted below that was nothing the USA concerned itself with.


JGH:  There seems to be such a fine line (click here) between the incredible
need for personal diplomacy and the safety of Foreign Service officers.  How can it be defined?

PB: It comes down to defining what we, as a country, stand for.
I have not seen that defined either by the current administration or by
our presidential candidates.   The lack of an articulation of the values
on which we base our foreign policy makes it difficult to rationalize
decisions, including the security risks.  I do not think that fighting terrorists is a value; it may be an imperative, but that is different.  If it is
a world at peace we are seeking, then we would likely be creating a
different range of policies and strategies.  For example, if the U.S.
seriously articulated the value of peace in the world, we could create
a range of strategies to have diplomats promote peacemakers, rather
than relying so heavily on our military to train warriors, as we are
doing now.  Without a definition of what we stand for as a country, it
is hard to create coherent policies or correctly balance the need for
safety and outreach in a way people can understand.

JGH: Have we learned anything, as a country or as a State
Department, in the decade since the bombing?

PB:  As an organization, we have learned a lot.  I think Aug. 7,
1998, was the State Department’s 9/11.  I know that ambassadors
and employees are far less likely to complain about security restrictions.  One of the differences that the East Africa bombings created was a shift in attitude about the responsibility of department leadership —
from the idea that our leadership doesn’t owe us anything because we
choose to be at a post, to:  By God, they do owe us something because
we have seen colleagues die and we could die, too.
As a country, unfortunately, we didn’t really pay any attention to
the bombings in East Africa.  That changed, of course, on Sept. 11,
2001. 


Former Ambassador Bushnell also has an extensive oral history of her life online. The excerpts regarding her life as Ambassador at the time of the dual bombings is below:

Q: When it's done by faxes and e-mail, yeah. (click here)

BUSHNELL: Right. You may remember Newt Gingrich and the Congress closed the federal government a couple of times. Agencies were starved of funding across the board. Needless to say, there was no money for security. Funding provided in the aftermath of the bombing of our embassy in Beirut in the '80 that created new building standards for embassies and brought in greater numbers of diplomatic security officer dried up.

As an answer to lack of funding, State Department stopped talking about need. For example, when we had inadequate staff to fill positions, State eliminated the positions, so we no longer can talk about the need. If there's no money for security, then let's not talk about security needs. The fact of increasing concern at the embassy about crime and violence was irrelevant in Washington. So was the condition of our building....

...I had learned before I got to Nairobi that the Foreign Buildings Operation, now Overseas Building Operations, was planning to a $4-7 million renovation of this building that was unsafe and much too small for us. Having spent three years in African Affairs dealing with an assortment of disasters, I thought it was dumb to invest more capital in a building that would never be considered safe. There just was no way to protect the building. I suggested that FBO sell the building and pool the proceeds with the money proposed for the renovations to buy a new site. Washington's response was somewhere between "are you nuts?! and get out of the way, the renovation train has already left the station."

Q: Did your security office or the apparatus in charge of that back in Washington pay any attention to the problem?

BUSHNELL: Our security officer, for whom I had a great deal of respect, understood the issue, as did the entire Country Team.

Q: Now, just to get a little feel for this, had any incidents happened, like the Khobar towers, or was that later?

BUSHNELL: The terrorist attack on Khobar Towers had already occurred but terrorism was virtually unknown in Kenya.

Q: Again, we're setting the stage. Did Osama Bin Laden or al Qaeda or the Taliban or anything like that cross your radar much?

BUSHNELL: I think I mentioned before that Nairobi was a favorite spot for a number of characters and groups. As ambassador I was told there was also an al Qaeda cell in Nairobi and that interested the intel community in Washington. Bin Laden at the time was considered a terrorist financier, not an activist, at least so far as I was told. I had been told in Washington that we wanted to disrupt his activities, which seemed pretty sensible and benign to me. I was not told that a special unit had been established to watch bin Laden's activities, nor that there was a secret indictment against him because of his hand in shooting down the black hawk helicopter. I was aware that a "walk in" had warned us in December 1997 that the embassy may be bombed but I was assured that the guy had done the same thing a number of times to other embassies in Africa and that he was considered "a flake."...

Senator Collins really should be ashamed for her roll in this scandal. Collins knows the reality of our foreign service and if she doesn't then she should not be speaking so freely. Not every US embassy was secured with $1.3 billion as was spent in Iraq. 

The Republicans are 'running game' on the President. They are also trying to distract from the fiscal changes the President wants to make to protect 98 percent of the country from increased costs to their paychecks as of midnight on New Years Eve.