I support Ashley Judd's ambitions if she decides to run for the US Senate. She is very qualified.

I think her celebrity status helps, but, she is a very smart girl and will be received well in the state of Kentucky.

Her advocacy for the end of moutaintop mining touched the lives of many and saved lives. There is no doubt in my mind she definitely saved lives.

I think she is somewhat undecided. But, if she does decide to run it would be the first time any Democratic nominee candidate would be building a significant base for her office. Even if she doesn't win the nomination it will begin to build a Democratic base which has been neglected for some time. If she doesn't win the office in 2014 it will begin a career she can be proud of as well as the people of Kentucky.

She needs to get ahead of any manufactured scandal whenever it manifests in the media. Rove is very creative, so being completely truthful about any scandalous accusations and reports will be her best friend.

Mental health is a huge issue in the USA right now. It will serve her best interest to prove to the nation how well a person can run for office after surviving bad episodes in life. There are dearly few Ameicans that have not 'been there' in their lives. The community of young women of the Country-Western persuasion need good role models and I can't think of a better one.

She should hold her head high and talk openly about her victories in life, including mental health, but not only mental health.

She is a gal and gal's win when they run. Her strengths are her ability to appeal to the public and be a real friend to them. She can easily prove how apt she is when she notes how successful her campaign was for ending the destruction of the natural world. Kentuckians value the natural world. There are employment needs in Kentucky, that means she needs to focus on educational opportunities to prepare them for the future.

I can't think of a better campaign poster than her standing in a field of Bluegrass.

Kentucky is home to more than coal fields. There are many hunters in Kentucky enjoying the large population of deer, turkey and elk. The tourist industry throughout the state is significant and she would make a wonderful voice for promoting the state's tourism industry. Besides hunting is the ecotourism crowd and of course the Kentucky derby and it's historic farms. The Bourbon distilleries, automobile manufacturing which was saved by the current President. Among the artists that are frequently forgotten by Hollywood are the Bluegrass singers and who could resist college basketball in Kentucky. I would imagine she and President Obama could find common enthusiasm for basketball tournament brackets.

If I could give her any advise personally, I'd recommend she become familiar with the work of Former Senator Wendell H. Ford (click here). He was in office a long time and was a Democrat. It isn't that Kentucky doesn't appreciate Democrats, they simply like a good argument to protect the US Constitution and American Liberties.

I wish her the best of luck.

The last time I noticed blotted livestock in a water source was the wetlands of North Carolina after Floyd.

The BBC's Martin Patience: “Local reports suggest that the animals were dumped by farms lying upstream”

Why would Chinese farmers dump their livestock in a river? Disease, they don't have money for veterinarians? Do the Chinese export their pork? The meat product, not their corporate pork.

Officials say they have to act quickly (click here) to remove the pigs, as the Huangpu River is a major source of drinking water for the city.

They are investigating the cause of the deaths and suspect the pigs were dumped by farms upriver.

Bloggers have criticised what some see as a slow government response...

So much for pork chop suey.

Shanghai is an important economic, (click here) financial, trade and shipping center in China. It contributes greatly to the whole nation's economic structure and the development of society....

A. Sea level rise and ground base subsidence (click here)

Shanghai, a city bordered by both sea and river and built on a delta, is sensitive to sea level rise and land subsidence which are directly related to urban flood prevention, the draining of waterlogged fields and resistance to some natural disasters, such as wind storms, and to economic construction.

In the Shanghai urban areas, the ground level is generally less than 4.5 m and the lowest is between- 3.0 and 3.5 m. The level in most of Jing'an District and some parts of Putuo District is less than 3.0 m. The lowest is 2.3 m. At Huangpu Park hydrometric station, the perennial mean high tidal level is 3.11 m, while the flood tidal level can be 4.0-4.35 m during the flood season (June-September). The highest tidal level on record is 5.22 m (1 September 199l), which means that all urban ground level is lower than the higher tidal levels during the flood tidal season.

The Shanghai meteorological station forecasts that absolute sea level in Wusong will rise at an accelerating rate. The rising rate is forecast to be 2.5mm/a in the period 1999-2030, and 5.00 mm/a in the 2030-2050 period. The absolute rising height is 5cm, 10cm and 20cm in 2010, 2030 and 2050 respectively.

Moreover, since land subsidence was first discerned in Shanghai city in 1921, the accumulative mean subsidence in urban areas had reached 1.76 m by 1995. The maximum subsidence is 2.63 m. The fastest descending rate is 287 mm/a (table 22), and the coverage reached is 400 km2....

August 21, 2012 6:18 pm

By Ling Ge and Clive Cookson in London

Shanghai is the most vulnerable (click here) to serious flooding among nine big coastal cities around the world, a study suggests.

The findings are based on a new measure called the Coastal City Flood Vulnerability Index, which looks beyond the likelihood of a city’s physical exposure to a serious flood to include social, economic, political and administrative factors....

...Researchers focused on nine large coastal cities built on river deltas: Buenos Aires, Calcutta, Casablanca, Dhaka, Manila, Marseille, Osaka, Rotterdam and Shanghai. They found that the prosperous Chinese metropolis was more vulnerable than poorer cities such as Dhaka....

That livestock could be coming from anywhere along the Grand Canal. Seriously. Just because they are being noticed near Shanghai doesn't mean it is coming from Zhejiang province. The Chinese government needs to find out where the pigs are floating up the entire of the Grand Canal if the origins are not found in Zhejiang. Bloated livestock means the animals have been dead for days.

China is not immune from huge winter storms either. They need to check on their people to be sure there are not dead citizens along with the pigs.

Jeb Bush is stating David Gregory is a crack addict on politics? Really? Heroine addict on politics? Really? Cute. What is he saying to FOX? 

If a Bush wants to address addiction to politics he could make a real trend in the family ambitions by demanding reform on the propagandists at FOX. After all Ed Henry is leading the pack at the White House and real reform could do the national dialogue some good. 

I mean Bushs love to be do gooders, right? So, why not begin with FOX propagandists?

Justin Bieber Threatens to Beat Up Photographer Outside Hotel in London (click title for You Tube video - thank you)

Elvis had his day, too. Bieber needs to take his millions/billions and invest in a future for himself. His fan base is imploding. He is no longer a teeny bopper. That is where 'innocence' lives. It doesn't really work for adults. He is not well advised.

Cancel Concert Because of Empty Seats
Justin Bieber cancelled his Portugal concert Tuesday (click here) -- not because he's sick, not because he's melting down -- because ticket sales were "soft" and it felt like the right thing to do. Just tell that to the fans who are getting stood up....

Taylor Swift made a magnificent transition to being an adult by accepting advise from people who cared about her. She became a model and spokesperson for a cosmetic company. It was a transition that worked well for her.

I don't think Mr. Bieber has good advisers and we don't need another Elvis.

Since when is this an "Insider Attack?" 

Since, Hagel took control as Secretary? 

I thought the attacks on NATO troops, including Americans, was called a Green - on - Blue attack.

BY NATE JONES

JANUARY 3, 2013

According to the Pentagon's December 2012 (click here) Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan, "green on blue" attacks -- incidents in which members of the Afghan security forces attack NATO coalition soldiers -- "increased sharply" last year. At least 52 coalition soldiers died as a result of at least 37 green-on-blue attacks in 2012. A recently declassified set of slides produced by U.S. Central Command, published below and made public here for the first time, illustrates some of the steps that the U.S. military has taken to defeat "insider threats" -- and why "green on blues" are so difficult to prevent....

Secretary Hagel needs to review the information in the 2012 report for greater protections for our troops. I don't think the USA was counting on Karzai taking on Chinese citizenship.

March 11, 2013

...Monday's violence (click here) came as U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel left Afghanistan following a first visit that was marred by a contentious speech by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a series of security threats that forced the cancellation of a scheduled news conference with the president Sunday....

Insider attack could be a better verbiage, but, the dual identity provides for confusion and wedge issues politically.

Either it is an 'insider attack' different from a Green-on-Blue attack or it isn't.

Kim needs to set his binoculars down and take a good look at whom is standing next to him and not the people at the border.

They are young people. They should have a future of benevolence and not war. It is time for the young leader to reassess his country's people and what they need. He needs to love them more than his father did.

Patty Murray has been a very successful Democrat.

She has held seats in the Senate for Democrats and taken seats from Republicans. She also believes in the USA and it's people.

She will be important when the Senate comes out with their budget this year. Ryan is hoping the Senate Republicans will have enough leverage in the Senate through a filibuster that will bring about his dream come true to end the Affordable Care Act.

Senator Murray has a real opportunity to bring about sincere budget demands through her understanding of health care. She can protect the Earned Benefits such as SSI and Medicare. She has the opportunity to move it from "The Sequester" demands on Medicare to the benefits column for the elderly and disabled. 

What is going to happen here is Ryan will demand extremists dominate the House Budget to benefit their political clout in upcoming Republican primaries. The Senate, with Senator Murray's help will protect the American people. She should also seek to counter the Ryan extremism. After the Senate budget makes it past a filibuster, if it makes it past the filibuster with all the problems Senate Republicans will bring to that Senate Budget. That is the reason the Senate has been unable to settle on a budget by the way. The draconian nature of the Senate Republicans always keeps it from becoming a budget.

But, ultimately when the Senate passes their budget with a sixty vote margin it will have to go into Reconciliation with the House and then only require a 51% vote in the Senate before it goes to the President. It is that 51% the Senate Democrats should not be afraid of and seek to make the bill palatable for the Reconciliation Process. 

Why is Jeb Bush coming out of the closet now?

Because this is free research for him. He thinks he is playing all those that oppose him as fools to get a leg up on the opposition. The fact of the matter is he is so toxic to the USA, there is just no way any 'information mining' is going to save him.

He is actually doing the opposition a favor, because, the propaganda and mind think about him is so dense it may take four years to turn the ship around so the American people can actually see his agenda for what it is. After the election it may be too late.

The Student Debt Bubble scares the living daylights out of Republicans.

Why? Come on, why?

Because in order for students have have received free educations and get on with productively contributing to the USA with jobs and incomes and not volunteerism; the military budget would suffer. Now. What do we know the USA military is? Come on, what is the USA military? The one Superpower that can find a limited nuclear war into Russia result in oil profits. 

Put the pieces of the puzzle together people. This is not extremism. It is the truth and it can be found everywhere in the world. Where has #Occupy found a home other than the USA?

Europe. Why? The students there already receive free educations. As a matter of fact, the free education is so intractable in the UK based in academic performance High Schools is where a student declares their major for the rest of their lives. Why would they need #Occupy? 

By Paul McMorrow

MARCH 05, 2013

A SINGLE trader cost JP Morgan $6 billion last year. (click here) The trader, nicknamed the London Whale, had managed to lose more money on his own than some entire divisions in the bank make over the course of a year....

...The London Whale’s $6 billion gambling tab showed that the big banks wouldn’t change until someone made them change. So last week, a group of Occupy Wall Street activists launched a bid to force a change: They sued the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the US Treasury.

The lawsuit by the activist group Occupy the SEC marks a significant new shift in the battle to corral Wall Street excess. Marching in the street won’t stop Wall Street bankers from gambling away the economy. But firm regulations will. So Occupy the SEC is engaging the big banks on their own turf. It’s taking ground-up, broadly democratic activism, and training it on the opaque, insidery world of financial regulation....

As a side note, the banks are too big to manage as well as litigate for crimes. They need to be split up because they are a direct threat to sovereignty and connected in a very big way to China.

But, why would #Occupy have solid traction in Europe? You know this.

Austerity. There are no jobs at the end of a free education. Oh, my god, there goes the military budget and USA domination for Wall Street.

Wall Street is going to be so generous and so grateful when Jeb Bush shows up, the world will be their oyster. Rove has to get his act together, the elections of 2016 have to work.

So, let's complete the picture. The Cabinet of the Executive Branch does not need a Department of Education because the American people don't need one. They don't need a Department of Energy because CEOs are the only gods that need to exist. And, let's face it the worst thing that can happen for Wall Street is the USA EPA. Who cares about any of that mess? Regulation, regulation, regulation has to end at every turn. The "Heavy Wet Blanket" to domestic jobs. 

The USA can forget about domestic jobs, period. When Jeb Bush is Commander and Chief, the "Iraq Model for USA Employment" such as found in Mali is the only employment anyone in the USA will find. Is that an extremist view? "W"rong. Halliburton is all over the Middle East and so are their employees. Get over it if you think any of this is extremism.

Once the government is privatized there won't be sovereignty anymore. So much for flag wavers and the Sarah Palin Tea Party patriots. Waving the flag is far better than burning it for political ideologists, now isn't it?

To put it into a political dogma. 

"I like Ike." Right? 

"Whatever is good for Wall Street is good for Republicans." 

There ya go.

The Coal Industry in the USA has been nothing short of stupid.

They are trying to forever make coal the answer for the USA energy when they could be taking their technology global and actually do something worthwhile for the USA.

Surprising improvement (click here)

China's coal industry remains the world's largest and still arguably the most dangerous, but last year's drop in the official death count was the most dramatic in recent years.

"I have to say that I've been surprised at the speed with which things have improved," said Tim Wright, a China coal mining expert and professor of East Asian studies at Britain's University of Sheffield.

Based on previous official reports, mining deaths are down by nearly half since 2009, while production has climbed by over 23 percent. Fatalities have fallen by nearly two-thirds in five years....

China has improved it's mining environment, but, never once on a global basis has the coal miners of West Virginia looked beyond their homeland coal mines for wealth.

WHY?

It couldn't be because Georgie made them into coal warriors for the energy of the USA while he pushed China to make the WEALTH Wall Street was looking for, was it?

Basically, when the USA mining industry should have moved on to other marketable products that the USA actually needs, they were fighting carbon restrictions on smoke stakes because Wall Street hates USA labor costs.

Besides that, USA labor should only be teaching the Afghans to mine their own country. China should never be mining for their own interests in Afghanistan. The citizens of any country are always the losers to these industries. No one invests in training labor or paying the cost for OSHA standards.

THE MODEL we are witnessing with Karzai is CLASSIC. The leaders of any country worth the attention of Wall Street is given enough personal wealth in kickbacks to make it worth the while to harness the military to make it work for the wealth of Wall Street. Did I say that right?

All one has to do is realize what occurred with Iraq. Who profited and who lied? Do I actually have to write this? 

Journalists believe Karzai? Hagel doesn't.

This is not about the Taliban. It is about China.

I'll even go so far to state Secretary Hagel's confirmation has increased the urgency of shortening the time line. Hagel is no fool. He is not the 'mind set/mind think' Karzai can count on. 

Hagel throws the rule book out. He is an unknown to Karzai and he is rock solid. So, whatever went on in Afghanistan between the two was enough for Karzai to see dollar signs in front of his eyes and run; not walk; to China.

Karzai has no worries, he is in bed with China. China is economically invested in Afghanistan. It will be like the petroleum industry. The leadership will remain intact and safe to provide for Chinese economic interests. Basically, Karzai has declared war on the USA with his accusations. That is not new. It can be viewed all over the world of places where the people/tribes have been demonized to create control benefiting Wall Street or in this case The Great Wall of China.

There is gold in them thar' hills. Not gold alone, but, rare earth minerals. Rare earth minerals are a military commodity in many, many instances. This is about China. Karzai wants the USA out for his own wealth and that of China. I don't care what the propaganda says, it is about China's occupation of the wealth options of Afghanistan.

Karzai: U.S., Taliban Conspiring To Keep Troops In Afghanistan (click here)
By RAHIM FAIEZ and KIMBERLY DOZIER 
03/10/13 12:49 PM ET EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday accused the Taliban and the U.S. of working in concert to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave – an allegation the top American commander in Afghanistan rejected as "categorically false."

Karzai said two suicide bombings that killed 19 people on Saturday – one outside the Afghan Defense Ministry and the other near a police checkpoint in eastern Khost province – show the insurgent group is conducting attacks to demonstrate that international forces will still be needed to keep the peace after their current combat mission ends in 2014....

HELLO!  HELLO!  Anybody out there? This is not the first time I state that. HELLO

Oh, forget that idea it is only between $1 and $3 trillion US dollars. Who needs that?  Why not just tap the SSI Trust Fund dry it is so much easier and requires no occupation of Afghanistan. Hell, Georgie Bush tried in 2005 to pull that privatization idea AFTER he was re-elected. Let's try that again, a generation later it might work better. China couldn't wait for reapplication by Jeb. Just that simple.

Michael Kelley
Jan. 28, 2013, 1:18 PM 

China is positioning itself (click here) to tap Afghanistan's vast mineral resources as U.S.-led forces prepare to withdraw, Dennis Gray of The Associated Press reports.

U.S. and Afghan geological surveys have found unexploited mineral deposits between $1 trillion and $3 trillion across Afghanistan's rugged terrain. Chinese companies have already secured multiple multibillion dollar investment projects and have begun making moves to ensure the sites are safe enough....

Does anyone believe China wants to let the USA exploit the rare earth minerals in Afghanistan? Anyone think that China will go away if we stay? Give me a break.

Jeffrey Toobin on Sandra Day O'Connor's 'Regret' for Her Vote in Bush v.... (click title for You Tube link - thank you)

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor can deny her feelings about her decisions all she wants, but, she was a member of the Iraq Study Group. That speaks eons to the reality of her regret. In this video she says, "...ask (the question) and I'll deal with it." Dealing with it is not the same as answering it as though she had taken a oath to tell the truth.

President Bush (click here) and several senators expressed reservations Thursday about portions of the Iraq Study Group's recent report. Study group members former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and former Clinton adviser Vernon Jordan discuss the response.

SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR, Iraq Study Group: Well, it depends, of course, on what you mean by "victory." The report that the study group put out stated as the goal, using language of the president, something about the stability of the government in Iraq and making it able to defend itself, and support itself, and not be a threat to its neighbors or itself.

MARGARET WARNER: And, Mr. Jordan, your view on that. I mean, is victory a word? You didn't use it much in your report. Is that a word that applies to the prospects here?

VERNON JORDAN, Iraq Study Group: Yes, I don't think we ought to get caught up on the president's rhetoric. I think we ought to get caught up on the actions that he's going to take in response to this study group report.

And I would not get caught up, Margaret, on whether he said "victory" or "get the job done." I think we ought to just see what his reaction is going to be.

I feel very good about his reaction as he spoke with us. And yesterday, he was open; he was receptive; he congratulated us on our work. And I think he is deserving of some time to read it carefully, to think about it, to consult with his advisers, and then speak to the nation.

The sincere reason for the Iraq Study Group was to devolve the rhetoric, add moral content and limit the military engagement by the military. That should have never have been necessary in the USA. It was because of the attacks on USA infrastructure on September 11, 2001 where the country was wrenched into a war that was never to end. There needed to be a form of leverage to remove the overwhelming hold the Executive Branch had on the country. The culture of fear was embedded in the country more than journalists had a right to be embedded with the military.

As far as I am concerned, The Iraq Study Group proved beyond any words that the USA created a dictatorship it could not remove; so much for the Founding Founders.

Toobin is a consistent and a quality commentator. His legal content is sound and has integrity regardless of what any propagandist tries to get him to say at CNN. I think journalists like to call propaganda Editorial Content. Well, that is what the Bushs like to add to their politics on a right regular basis, Editorial Content. It caused a war, it is not a minor issue.

But, Toobin doesn't bother with the Editorial Content; he serves it up straight regardless of what others would like him to state. He likes the idea of having integrity at the same time he is a lawyer. That is also true for Sanjay Gupta and Soledad O'Brien. They are consistent in their ETHICAL values for their professions. It is important.

Embedding journalists in the ranks of the military in Iraq created a faux of security for journalists reporting on war. Some excellent journalists have died since then. I also believe that false sense of well being while war was transpiring provided for the venue of the successful attacks in Benghazi. Ambassador Stevens should have had a greater sense of fear than he did. That lack of fear of war has taken it's toll throughout segments of society and is a real element in the violence of the gun culture in the USA. People actually think they could be successful as a militia in 2013. That is a fantasy. If a real war was ever unleashed in the USA, the militias would never survive, they would be among the first to die.

There was a huge propaganda content with Bush and his wars. It did not serve the USA well. Not at all. It has done a great deal of damage with intent to do so.

When I state Bush created a dictatorship, he forgets Saddam was elected, too. He rolled National Guard tanks out at peace demonstrations and had sharp shooters on the roofs of buildings during marches. Don't tell me the man wasn't maniacal in his intent of control and domination. We don't need another Bush that will be worse than his brother requiring control in creating his own privatized government structure that would survive as non-profits after he left the Governorship. Promise. Jeb is worse than George.

Oh, no one bothered to figure out how privatized government is the same as a dictatorship? Really? No one had figured out? Oh, come on. What changes the CEO of a company, an election? No, no, no...money. Money is what sends a CEO out the door. When stockholders get angry enough with their lack of profit turned into shares and share value.

Hello?