Sunday, June 24, 2012

Not knowing the first thing about whether or not deeper ports will actually provide real GDP...

...Allen West calls in all the agencies he can think of to talk to citizens about promises that may be empty except for the uptick in construction employment and air and water pollution.


Not every state or city can have these ports and expect them to be profitable to the people paying for them. 


Granted there is opportunity, but, not enough to justify every port in the USA on every coast to pander to the possibility it will add to the GDP of the city, state or nation. 


Enough already. I want to see MARKET SHARE charts for these ports and I want a comparison of environmental degradation to each one as well. This is simply run away government with no ideas except the one getting the most attention of the electorate at the time.


WEST PALM BEACH) --- In the second series of roundtable discussions (click title to entry - than you) with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Congressman Allen West (R-FL) invited officials from Port Everglades, the Port of Palm Beach, elected officials, and staff from coastal communities stretching from Broward, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties to discuss the future of South Florida ports.  Representatives from the Rybovich Superyacht Service Center in Riviera Beach were also in attendance.  The discussion centered around dredging and maintenance of Port facilities, beach re-nourishment and the cumbersome federal permitting processes that municipalities and private businesses are facing. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection also attended the meeting....

I sincerely hope all these modifications for deep water ports has been adequately justified.


Key ports report dip in cargo handling (click title to entry - thank you)
Press Trust of India / New Delhi Mar 04, 2012, 11:07 IST


India's 12 major ports have reported a dip in cargo handling in the April-January period mainly due to 25% decline in iron ore exports.
"Cargo traffic at Centre-owned ports recorded a drop of 0.2% in April-January 2012 to 467.1 million tonnes (MT) over the ten-month period last fiscal. These ports have suffered huge losses of business due to curb on ore exports," a top Shipping Ministry official told PTI....

There is also the issue of offshore oil drilling and having adequate shipping lanes for these larger ships. So, from this election season there is a lot of rhetoric going on, but, when the facts are revealed there is too much inconsistency to actually believe the politicians know what they are saying, yet alone what they are doing.

The USA has to justify these expenses and put them into perspective in relation to actual growth in relation to GDP and the National Debt. These are expensive projects and deepening the ports doesn't last forever. These are not one time expenditures. Port dredging has to be repeated after a period of time if not consistently depending on the sediment the river carries. I certainly hope these deep water port projects are simply pork barrel, knee jerk reactions to a third Panama Canal shipping lane. I would hope all this has been justified from the perspective it will pay for itself in GDP and quality of life for Americans.

Knowing how rarely these projects are discussed in the media, it is easy for every mayor and governor to promise all kinds of capital improvements, when in fact they aren't justified in reality from actually paying off to the American taxpayer.

Haley doesn't even have cooperation along the Savannah River and she wants a deeper seaport?

Does one hand know what the other hand is doing in South Carolina and Georgia?


South Carolina Supreme Court gets ready for arguments in lawsuit over Savannah River dredging (click title to entry - thank you)


June 05, 2012 - 6:16 am EDT



COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court is set to decide who gets to regulate the Savannah River.
The justices will hear arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by environmentalists that say the Savannah River Maritime Commission created by South Carolina lawmakers oversees that state's side of the river. Agencies that want to deepen the Savannah River channel to help larger ships get to the Savannah, Ga., port say decisions should be made by South Carolina's environmental board.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control board decided Thursday to wait for the justices to rule before considering a request from the Georgia Ports Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the river.

South Carolina lawmakers are angry at DHEC for approving permits for the $650 million project.


Supreme Court gets ready for arguments in lawsuit over Savannah River dredging

You think I am joking? The number of deep water ports now wanting to be dredged to 50 feet or more won't have enough ships to serve the cost!

LOS ANGELES, CA


June 29, 2010


The largest CMA CGM containership (click title to entry - thank you) ever to call at a U.S. port, the 8,500-TEU* CMA CGM FIGARO, arrived today in Los Angeles on its maiden voyage in the Bohai Rim service linking China and the U.S. West Coast. The vessel will leave Los Angeles on July 1 for Oakland, before crossing the Pacific for Dalian, Tianjin Xingang, Shanghai and Ningbo in China. 

"The FIGARO and other large vessels in our fleet are critical strategic assets in the supply chains of our customers, particularly now as Asia-U.S. trade continues to grow and capacity remains constrained due to the recent economic downturn. Thanks to its size and equipment, this vessel will meet growing customer demand and ensure cost -savings due to economies of scale, while meeting our Group’s environmental goals," said Jean-Philippe Thenoz, Senior Vice President North American Lines, CMA CGM Group....



Every seaport from Miami, Florida to Portland, Maine are courting the new Post - Panamax ships. Do all these mayors and governors actually believe they will have enough traffic to every USA eastern seaport to justify the cost?


South Carolina's Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley is having a hissy fit over this!


And automatron Bobby Jindle is worse!

So, it would seem as though Florida is receptive to federal monies for infrastructure.

Florida Bay is one of those delicate ecosystems that has been studied for generations. 


...The director of Miami's port, (click title to entry - thank you) Bill Johnson, is one of those who's excited: "We are the only port south of Norfolk, Va. ... that has full approval from the U.S. Congress to go to that depth. It is the game changer," he says....


Blasting In The Bay
Kipnis grew up here on nearby Palm Island, and was active in efforts in the 1970s and '80s to restore the health of the bay. Today, the water is cleaner than in decades past, and the bay is a busy place.
Along with the cargo ships, it's one of the world's busiest ports for cruise ships. There are also sailboats, kayaks and jet skis and, Kipnis says, excellent fishing.
"I will catch you groupers that weigh 12 pounds, and hog snappers and Spanish mackerel," he says. "It's just amazing the amount of life we've got here — forgetting crabs and shrimp and all that."...
Kipnis has joined with Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper and the Tropical Audubon Society in asking Florida to make sure the port dredging project won't damage the bay....

Just to put this into perspective, generations of research and restoration have already been paid for regarding the Southern Florida ecosystems.


The south Florida ecosystem, (click here) also called the greater everglades ecosystem, stretches from Orlando, through the Kissimmee Valley, Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades, through Florida Bay and through the Florida Keys coral reef tract. The south Florida ecosystem encompasses many nationally significant conservation areas, including Everglades and Biscayne National Parks, Big Cypress National Preserve, the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Today, the south Florida ecosystem is a shell of what it used to be. Signs within Florida Bay include extremely high salinity, large algae blooms and expanses of dead seagrass. The current condition of Florida Bay is the result of greater environmental problems occurring throughout the entire south Florida ecosystem....


I mean when will reality play into this mess? Miami? The eastern cities? You know how far it is from Miami to Boston? Why not leave the entire mess in California?


Do you know former NC State Senator, Julia Boseman, managed to get China to pay for cranes for Wilmington's Port?

An enlarged Panama Canal, seen here April 21, 2012, will open in 2014, allowing bigger ships with more containers full of consumer goods to reach the big population centers along the East Coast. West Coast ports, including the Port of Tacoma, have to factor in the change in long-term strategies. (Alejandro Bolivar/MCT)


I think it is safe to say China has plans the USA economy may not want.


Why is it everyone actually believes progress is actually progress?


Main Street vs Wall Street, 


I really love local economies. 


A lot !!!!!



From the Panama Canal to the Puget Sound (click title to entry - thank you)

A wider, deeper Panama Canal will open in 2014, meaning that bigger cargo ships filled with more containers of consumer goods can move directly to the population centers of the East Coast instead of stopping on the West Coast and sending the goods across the country.
Published: 05/20/12 12:05 am 
Updated: 05/20/12 12:14 pm
WASHINGTON — A wider, deeper Panama Canal will open in 2014, meaning that bigger cargo ships filled with more containers of consumer goods can move directly to the population centers of the East Coast instead of stopping on the West Coast and sending the goods across the country....

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/05/20/2151342/from-panama-to-puget-sound.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/05/20/2151342/from-panama-to-puget-sound.html#storylink=cpy



Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/05/20/2151342/from-panama-to-puget-sound.html#storylink=cpy

From the Panama Canal to the Puget Sound

A wider, deeper Panama Canal will open in 2014, meaning that bigger cargo ships filled with more containers of consumer goods can move directly to the population centers of the East Coast instead of stopping on the West Coast and sending the goods across the country.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/05/20/2151342/from-panama-to-puget-sound.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/05/20/2151342/from-panama-to-puget-sound.html#storylink=cpy

One does have to stop and wonder about the Chinese oligarchs and a since invasion.


February 13, 2011 9:54 pm
China in talks over Panama Canal rival (click title to entry - thank you)
By John Paul Rathbone and Naomi Mapstone in Bogotá

China is in talks to build an alternative to the Panama Canal that would link Colombia’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts by rail – a move that Bogotá also hopes will spur Washington to push for Congressional approval of a US-Colombia free-trade pact.
“It’s a real proposal  ... and it is quite advanced,” Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s president, told the Financial Times. “The studies [the Chinese] have made on the costs of transporting per tonne, the cost of investment, they all work out.”...

I don't believe there has been much progress noted about the Trans-Columbian railroad lately. But, one has to wonder what goes on with these Chinese million-billionaires. But, I thought this article below interesting.

Tony Sagami 
May 25, 2011
HSBC Holdings, the U.K.-based banking behemoth, said it was going to hire 2,000 employees in China and Singapore. Since over 50% of its profits come from Asia, HSBC knows a thing or two about the region.
“Opportunities for growth are many in China. We forecast that the combined middle-class population of India and China will exceed the population of the U.S. by 2025,” the company said.
HSBC already has more than 5,000 employees working at its Chinese banks and clearly expects to make a mountain of money there by offering wealth management and insurance in addition to traditional banking services....
2025. An important year when the Middle Classes of China and India will replace the Middle Class of the USA. Then what does anyone need the USA Middle Class for?


There is also kinds of preparation for the arrival of oversized ships. One would think the Chinese are invading.


...Exercise Tradewinds 2012, which kicked off in Barbados June 15 and continues through the upcoming weekend, is focused on what Air Force Gen. Douglas M. Fraser, the Southcom commander, calls the most pressing regional challenge: transnational organized crime.
U.S. Marine Forces South is leading the exercise, which has brought together defense and law enforcement from the United States, Canada and 15 Caribbean countries for the 28th year to enhance their ability to work together against a common threat.
Speaking during opening ceremonies in Bridgetown, Barbados, Marine Corps Col. Michael Ramos, MARFOR-South chief of staff, emphasized the benefit of Exercise Tradewinds to participating nations. “We recognize the value of working together to confront these common security challenges,” he said. “We are truly united through our collaboration and collective efforts to fight terrorism, illicit trafficking and transnational criminality in all forms and in being prepared to effectively respond to natural disasters.”...
...Meanwhile, Brazil is preparing to assume leadership of the maritime component role during the upcoming PANAMAX, Fraser told Congress earlier this year. Fraser called the move “an important step in strengthening the expanding partnerships in the hemisphere.”
With expansion efforts under way at the Panama Canal that will increase the seaborne traffic it handles, close, regional cooperation will be more critical than ever, Fraser told the Senate Armed Service Committee in March. “I don’t see a direct change to the threat or to the concerns as we look into the future, but our PANAMAX exercise will remain critical to that effort,” he said.
Ketchum said the capabilities built and relationships strengthened through the exercise program have a direct impact on regional stability and U.S. national security....
Sounds like Teddy Roosevelt is still having an influence even today.

There are plans to make the Panama Canal larger. It is called the Post Panamax program.

One of the major engineering projects (click here) of the early 21st century is the construction of the so called “post-panamax” locks as part of the expansion of the nearly century old Panama Canal.
The bidding on both engineering issues and cost was won by Grupo Unidos por el Canal S. A. (GUPCSA). This group is a partnership of Sacyr Vallermoso, Impregilo, JAN DE NUL and Constructora Urbana SA. A look at the periodic reports issued by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) gives us a clue as to the immensity of the project and the professionalism in how it is being carried out.


The contractors hope to open the new third lane of the canal in 2014, when the structures turns 100 years old. It is suppose to be a game changer with larger ships and more cargo. The challenge to the USA is to rise to the occasion and ship more cargo from out ports than we receive into them. If the manufacturing sector of the USA cannot rise to the challenge then the USA economy may be swamped a larger than ever trade deficit.



A new milestone was reached at the Panama Canal, (click title to entry - thank you) after completing the construction of the first monolith for the new locks on the Pacific end of the Panama Canal.
This monolith is the first one to be completed from a total of 46 such structures being built in the Pacific locks upper chamber. The term monolith refers to each of the sections in which the lock walls are being divided to facilitate their construction.
The massive concrete and steel structure is 33.84 meters high, 7.5 meters wide and 27 meters deep and is located in the upper chamber’s east side. The enormous culverts are part of the locks filling and emptying system and will run along the lock walls, made up of these monoliths. To give an idea of their dimensions, the main culvert alone is 8.3 meters wide by 6.5 meters high, big enough to enable the simultaneous passage of two railroads. The lock walls will also contain the auxiliary culverts measuring 6.5 meters wide by 6.5 meters high.
The construction of this monolith required 232 tons of reinforced steel and 2,605 cubic meters of concrete.
As we reach another milestone, we at the Panama Canal are proud to acknowledge that this new third lane will be a game changer in world maritime commerce,” said Panama Canal Authority Administrator/ CEO Alberto Alemán Zubieta....

Believe it or not that is the face of an American President. The face that loved nature and fought to protect it.


Born October 27, 1858 in New York City, New York (click title to entry - thank you)

Died January 6, 1919 at Sagamore Hill, his home on Long Island, New York 

Accomplishments
bullet Graduated from Harvard College, magna cum laude, in 1880
bullet 26th President of the United States of America (1901-1909)
bullet First American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for ending Russo-Japanese War in 1905
bullet Wrote more than 35 books
bullet Father of six children

As 26th President of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt left an extensive and lasting legacy of environmental conservation and stewardship.

On March 14, 1903, President Roosevelt created the nation’s first wildlife refuge on Pelican Island in Florida. Located in the Indian River Lagoon just north of Vero Beach on Florida’s southeast coast, the three-acre island was home to pelicans, herons, egrets and other birds that were being hunted and killed for their large colorful and exotic feathers. The feathers, which were more commonly called plumes, adorned the most fashionable hats of the day and were in great demand both in America and across the Atlantic in Europe. By declaring the island a wildlife sanctuary, President Roosevelt protected the birds from professional plume hunters that were slaughtering flocks of the nesting birds. The National Wildlife Refuge system is now the largest in the world with over 500 refuges with more than 93,000 million acres of land....

Paul Kroegel Became the First Wildlife Officer and Refuge Manager in 1903.



Private equity could not pay for it.

The idea Teddy Roosevelt had was one of patriot standing. The USA had coast on both oceans. There was no way of protecting them except by overland transport and naval vessels on both shores. But, to have a method of ship movement across the tropics where ice and extreme weather would not be a problem expedited any naval mission by the USA.


Taking control of the project dividing a small nation unrelated to the USA was strategic and economic. Teddy Roosevelt knew a good idea when he saw it no matter how much controversy surrounded it.


REDD + is a very interesting program. I believe it has some issues, but, it is encouraging to realize the Panama Canal is taking environmental stewardship seriously; Teddy Roosevelt certainly would have taken is seriously as well.

Panama Canal to Protect Watershed Forests



REDD + program to encourage sustainable activities will be applied in Panama for the first time (click title to entry - thank you)
The Panama Canal Authority is moving to cut carbon emissions in the environmentally sensitive watershed zone around the canal by encouraging sustainable use of its forests.
It signed a technical cooperation agreement Thursday with Panama’s National Environmental Authority and the German Agency for International Cooperation to apply mechanisms that will reduce emissions.
The agreement is designed to establish the terms and conditions for the design and implementation of a pilot program in the Panama Canal watershed and compensation mechanisms for the sustainable management of forest resources that can be replicated nationwide under the parameters of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, a program known as REDD +.
The REDD + program, which will be applied in Panama for the first time, will encourage the transition from certain activities that affect the forests to others that are sustainable, thus reducing harmful patterns of land use....

A country divided. The Panama Canal.

The project started in 1880 and completed in 1914. In two more years the Panama Canal will be 100 years old.


...When the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique failed in December,1888,(click title to entry - thank you) thousands of French investors lost their money. The word Panama quickly became synonymous with scandal and fraud. About $287 million had been spent. Fifty million cubic meters of earth and rock had been moved. Eleven miles of canal had been dug. Twenty thousand men had died. The canal remained unfinished, but the dream had not yet ended. Theodore Roosevelt would soon take up the cause.

Shortly after ascending to the presidency, Roosevelt spoke of the Panama Canal in a speech to Congress. "No single great material work which remains to be undertaken on this continent," Roosevelt said, "is as of such consequence to the American people."

Roosevelt acted quickly. In 1902, the United States reached an agreement to buy rights to the French canal property and equipment for a sum not to exceed $40 million. The U.S. then began negotiating a Panama treaty with Colombia. The U.S Department of War would direct excavation. Many, both in the press and in the public, sensed a scandal, or, worse yet, good money thrown after bad....

It's Sunday Night


Styx - Come Sail Away (click title to entry - thank you)




I'm sailing away,
Set an open course for the virgin sea,
'Cause I've got to be free,
Free to face the life that's ahead of me,
On board, I'm the captain, so climb aboard,
We'll search for tomorrow on every shore,
And I'll try, Oh Lord I'll try, to carry on

I look to the sea,
Reflections in the waves spark my memory,
Some happy, some sad,
I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had,
We lived happily forever, so the story goes,
But somehow we missed out on the pot of gold
But we'll try best that we can to carry on

A gathering of angels appeared above my head,
They sang to me this song of hope and this is what they said,
They said come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me lads,
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me,
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me baby,
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me

I thought that they were angels, but to my surprise,
We climbed aboard their starship, we headed for the skies
Singing come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me lads
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me...

Odd set of vortexes, but, only if one denies the heat goes always to the Arctic Circle,

June 24, 2012
2030.00z
UNISYS Visual GOES East Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

This is the way I see it. I view it as a water vapor transport system. Each vortex is fueling the one north of it with water vapor from the Equator.


There is a votex over the North Atlantic, another over the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, the one with velocity is the tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico, there is one over the Yucatan and the water vapor trail continues into the east Pacific.


They are all in oscillation of each other with the largest in the North Atantic pulling water vapor from all four.


June 24, 2012 
2030.00z
UNISYS North and West Hemisphere Visual Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

A straight line can be drawn between the three lower vortexes low pressure centers as if they were a 'street of vortexes.' They have that dynamic. They are related. The degree the Gulf vortex accelerates and decelerates is dependent on the system, not its own autonomy.


"Houston, we have a problem."


4:18 PM 
6.24.12
Tropical Storm Debby's track shifts in Gulf of Mexico (click here)

The fourth storm of the season formed in the Gulf of Mexico this weekend. Tropical Storm Debby is putting leaders on alert and keeping forecasters on their toes.

As of 4pm Sunday, the storm was located at 28.4°N 85.8°W -- about 200 miles east-southeast of the Mississippi River -- and moving northeast at 3mph with maximum sustained winds of 60mph. Forecasters said the threat to Louisiana has lessened and they canceled all Tropical Storm Warnings.
"We're still not out of the woods. Any slight variation in the track of the storm could put us back in its direct path," ABC13 Meteorologist David Tillman said. "It is still far too early to call this storm, so stay tuned."...

Romney states there is right for those with Pre-Condition.

Romney is presenting 'his idea' of insuring Americans as a measure exactly like the Individual Mandate without the obligation to insure those coming late to the game.


The ideology is this; parents need to purchase a health insurance policy at birth that follows an individual through their lifetime. The policy has to be paid for annually in order to receive benefits.


Partically, that won't apply if one has insurance through employers, but, if that is the case and individuals are excluded from health insurance if they haven't been participating for years, employers may not offer it anymore.


What Romney stated is, "If an American learns at age 30 they need health care but haven't been participating through their 20s, then "Too Bad." No health insurance. 


Romney believes there should be years of participation as a member before there are benefits drawn.  "Cradle to Grave Health Insurance" paid for by each American. Who needs Medicare then?


That is not realistic.


To begin the Affordable Care Act acknowledges the very fact young adults are not necessarily covered by health insurance if they are not covered by existing coverage by their parents. So, the idea a person 30 years old has been contributing to a health insurance plan for a decade is hideous. It is unrealistic. It compromises every person in the country, quite frankly. It is a huge departure from his position as Massachusetts Governor.


The Affordable Care Act recognizes a primary doctrine of the USA Constitution, Habeas Corpus which is Latin for "you have the body." When the USA Constitution was written there was no such thing as The Mayo Clinic, so the provision of the law was genius. The Founding Persons realized without a body in this lifetime there is no citizen, there is life and their is no happiness.


Habeas Corpus is most frequently called upon in death penalty cases and to that end it is dominated as a 'writ' in the precedent. 


The writ of habeas corpus serves as an important check on the manner in which state courts pay respect to federal constitutional rights. The writ is "the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action."


So, it is extremely reasonable to expect states to carry out State Health Care Exchanges as part of this writ. The Commerce Claus doesn't apply here and if it does it is an extremely wayward Supreme Court. The overriding focus of The Affordable Care Act is the fact a human body does not fend off disease unaided and in the years since 1776 there are ways to insure lives are supplied with a national understanding of longevity. The right to pursue freedom and happiness is guaranteed by the USA Constitution. The Right to allow states to determine pre-mature death of individuals determined unnecessary by a 'social health standard' is unconstitutional.


The Commerce Clause does not override The Write of Habeas Corpus.


Up to now the Write of Habeas Corpus has focused on criminal law and outlawing arbitrary execution of citizens, but, to refuse health care to citizens is a modern day execution of citizens by states without reverence for a social norm.


Romney's position on health care does not respect the Writ of Habeas Corpus.


The Writ of Habeas Corpus is why prisoners are provided heath care within the prison system. It is why Gitmo evil doers are provided their care. A prison sentence in the USA does not automatically mean a death sentence. The imprisonment at Gitmo is not automatically a charge against the laws of the USA and/or death sentences. As a matter of fact prisoners have been removed to their homelands for determination of their future.


The USA Constitution is absolute about this provision. Nowhere does it dictate a person has to be supported by law to purchase death insurance or a financial benefit called life insurance. Life insurance and health insurance have very different standing under the USA Constitution. Death is assured by living. Life is not assured with acquired disease. Living is the obligation of the law to provide to the citizen and that is guaranteed by the Writs of the USA. Commerce Claus has nothing to do with this and Judge Scalia is a clown.


The USA prosecutes murderers because the USA Constitution upholds life over death. This is where health insurance finds its place.

Is the beginning of the Egyptian democracy very different than that of the USA? No.

The men of the Declaration of Independence shared spiritual consensus. As a matter of fact the American and Egyptian revolutions strongly resemble each other.


The men of the Declaration of Independence operated covertly  for some time before the writing of the document. There were representatives from 13 states already decided when it was written. The assembly of these men had their own interests to protect in each state before consenting to the document.


The majority were Masons and shared many, many spiritual identities. 


Mackey's Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry (1966) clearly shows that Washington's membership in the order was more than token. (click here)

The differences are obvious. The men of the Declaration of Independence had their ancestry in the British Isles. Their learning institutions within the knowledge base of the British and Christianity. The church in Great Britain is The Church of England and it was that god and savior Jesus Christ which dominated the thinking of these men. However, they were able to identify the very similar, if not exactly the same, desire for self-governance and allegiance to a nation and not a god separate from each other. They identified 'the king' or 'the ruling god' as a sincere problem to individual freedoms and pursuits of happiness.


The people of Egypt have a very different spiritual identity from the Freemasons of the USA heritage. However, they do believe in their own self-determination and freedom to pursue happiness. The spiritual basis of the burgeoning independence movement is Muslim. There is nothing wrong with that. It was the way they were educated, found each other and found strength to stand up for their desired freedoms.


Egypt is a very sophisticated in many ways. The way in which this movement emerged was by a woman on a street corner using an electronic devise. Very different, but, not exactly different as one if land and two if by sea. The underpinnings of the desire for freedom was there when the tweets went out. Others understood all too clearly and it was she that was the most vulnerable, a woman in a Muslim demeanor, whom called on her men to be men and move them all forward. It may have well been Paul Revere.


The picture above is by John Trumbull. His reporting of the event parallels other painters of the day. They are no different than sketch artists of today's courtroom. They were the photographers of the day. State of the art, literally. Just because the methods and speed of communication has changed doesn't change the desires of the people. People longing to be free and able to carry on their lives as others in other nations do.


Egypt is in transition in a highly turbulent part of the world known to have young men that seek jihad as a method to anger. To say the up-spring revolution has problems is an understatement. The ability to maintain stability of their nation while surviving the instability inherent to the Middle East is important to consider. The Egyptian Revolution has been successful and has come a long way, it is not finished and still seeks definition among the leadership. 


If I may be as so bold as to state, the leadership of the Egyptian opposition parties are 'not tried' on international venues of real power and might. The idea there needs to be more sophistication of those most able to lead is real. Their exposure to other nations are important. Egypt is not South Ossetia. It is already a major nation in the world, with economy and international relationships and leadership. Egypt has allies facing their own doubts about the dynamics of the Middle East, so there is potential for instability beyond what most realize. 


I am sure the election announcement today will be benevolent. It will not return Mubarak to power or instill the old regime, the people won't allow it and neither will allies wishing a greater freedom for the them. So, there is a road ahead. The opposition leadership needs to be elected into places where they are exposed to the entire dynamics of Egypt. The fact there has been such a lengthy dictatorship in Egypt has handicapped the people. 


When the USA won their war, a literal war, the British left, there was an ocean between the then two separate countries. The analogy between Egypt and the USA has its limits. I look forward to the burgeoning democracy in Egypt, let it be long lived.