Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Illinois, too.

I thought this was a really cute picture. Transgender folks always catch hell when they use public bathrooms.

But, Illinois is looking like the 15th state to allow same - sex marriages.


CHICAGO 
Tue Nov 5, 2013 7:21pm EST

(Reuters) - Illinois (click here) is poised to become the 15th U.S. state to allow same-sex unions after lawmakers in President Barack Obama's home state gave final approval to a bill on Tuesday.
The state Senate approved gay marriage on Valentine's Day in February, but there was a delay in bringing the vote to the House, even though Democrats have a strong majority.

Following a 61-54 House vote on Tuesday - just one vote more than what was needed - the bill was given final approval by the Senate, and will go to Democratic Governor Pat Quinn, who has pledged his support. The final Senate vote was 32-21.

The votes were followed by cheers and applause in both chambers....

The GOP's unmitigated power brokering. Is that what the USA wants? Power brokers? I didn't know Americans needed a federal legislature that leverages power over people.

Guilty as sin. But, sin attached to money isn't really sin now is it? At least by some that define it.

Harry Reid: ENDA Would Pass House if Not For Boehner (click here)

by Jason St. Amand
National News Editor
Tuesday Nov 5, 2013

..."I was also stunned when the speaker said today he wasn’t even going to bring it up for a vote," Reid said on Tuesday. "Yesterday he said he just didn’t like it. Today he said he’s not even going to bring it up for a vote. If it came up for a vote in the House, it would pass."...
"If you like your healthcare insurance, you can keep that insurance." or whatever he said.

The innocence in that statement is all too obvious. It is not a lie, it is taken out of context by those seeking attention to their changes in insurance.

Those believing the President actually lied are stupid. Just that simple. 

And this crosscheck law is not just a waste of money, it is idiotic. Does anyone actually believe a person is going to drive, especially with the cost of gas being what it is, to two different states to vote in one election? It's ridiculous. No American is going to go through that much trouble to vote in a state where they don't live.

The crosscheck laws are among the most moronic ideas I have ever heard of. The country can't even get a consistent turnout of over 50% of eligible voters in any Presidential election. That legislation is completely moronic.

These laws are written to discourage voter turnout, not encourage it. That is why they are in Red States. 

Voter turnout rates (click here) presented here show that the much-lamented decline in voter participation is an artifact of poor measurement. Previously, turnout rates were calculated by dividing the number of votes by what is called the "voting-age population" which consists of everyone age 18 and older residing in the United States (the yellow line to the right). This includes persons ineligible to vote, mainly non-citizens and ineligible felons, and excludes overseas eligible voters. When turnout rates are calculated for those eligible to vote, a new picture of turnout emerges, which exhibits no decline since 1972 (the green line to the right). Indeed, turnout rates appear to have been restored to their earlier high levels as of 2008.

Democrats talk about making it a law that election days are official holidays and mandating voting. That is a focus to increase participation in the country and connect people to their government so they aren't used by wealthy power brokers. This mess the GOP wants is to stop voter participation so they can control their bankrolls not their voter rolls.

The Attorney General of Virginia currently running for Governor purged 38,000 voters from the rolls. That is 0.7% of all voters in Virginia. In a close race as Florida in 2000 was, it makes or brakes the election. When is this practice going to be outlawed. The trends are more than obvious. Democrats include all eligible voters and Republicans seek to discourage them and even remove them from the opportunity. This method of discouraging voters by purging them from their registrations is just as bad as Voter ID Or Gerrymandering. It is dishonest and is carried out to effect the outcomes of elections important to citizens. 

I don't see the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program was tested or is viable.

The idea is to remove names from voter registrations under the guise they have moved to a neighboring state. 

To begin with, Alaska? It has no neighboring states. That is true of Hawaii. The states currently enrolled are primarily Red States. This is an excuse to purge voters.


There are 316,945,201 people in the United States of America. (click here) If everyone in the U.S. lined up single file, the line would stretch around the Earth almost 7 times. That's a lot of people.

The U.S. Census Bureau statistics tell us that there are at least 151,671 different last names and 5,163 different first names in common use in the United States. Some names are more common than others.

There are 45,828 people named John Smith in the United States. There are 997 people named James Bond, 105 people named Harry Potter , 446 people named George Bush, and 32 people named Emily Dickinson. However, Johnny Cash (33 people) songs aside there are, statistically speaking, very few boys named Sue.

What about you? How many people share your name? Enter it and find out how many of you there are.

2012 Crosscheck Program — Number of Records Compared (click here)

These laws assume voters are untrustworthy and there is a problem. There is no problem in the USA. We know that. This law is another scheme as far as I am concerned. Voters are trustworthy and should be not burdened  with bureaucrats with ill intentions.

This is wasted money.

Sep 25 / Erin Ferns Lee

Virginia is one of two states (click here) to pass a law that allows it to compare voter rolls with neighboring states in an effort to maintain voter rolls. Cross-checking voter rolls, a potentially unreliable method of list maintenance, has already begun in Loudoun County where the registrar reportedly plans to hold off on purging voters before the election to avoid unintended disenfranchisement of eligible citizens.

According to a Leesburg Today report, “[t]he Loudoun County Registrar’s Office will wait until after Election Day Nov. 5 to investigate the status of each of the [2,176] voters flagged as duplicates. Loudoun General Registrar Judy Brown said she doesn’t want to move too quickly and strike legitimate voters from the rolls.

“‘The state board cross checks the voter registration and sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don’t,’ she said. ‘We want to do our due diligence and our research to verify we’re not removing someone for no reason.’”

Virginia is one of 21 states to join the interstate matching agreement, most of which are “Republican-led states that have focused on voter and election laws in recent years. Supporters say the steps are needed to protect the integrity of the voting process, but many Democratic leaders say there is little evidence of voter fraud and such measures are a burden on elderly, poor and minority voters,” Leesburg Today reports....

Wall Street Outsourcing without conscience.






An 8-year-girl has become China’s youngest lung cancer patient, (click here) according to an official news report, with her illness directly blamed on air pollution. The girl had been living near busy streets in Jiangsu Province, which the New York Times reports is one of the most polluted areas outside of northern China.
The report claims that lung cancer is the leading form of cancer in China, echoing the World Health Organization’s recent declaration that air pollution is a leading cause of cancer worldwide. PM 2.5, the fine particulate matter most harmful to human health, is particularly dense in the rapidly industrializing nation. According to the South China Morning Post, deaths from lung cancer in Beijing — where PM 2.5 levels in January were so high as to warrant a so-called “airpocalypse” — rose by 56 percent from 2001 to 2010. Many lung cancer patients in Jiansu, where the girl lives, are in their 30s and 40s, the report said.
Worldwide, lung cancer is the most common cancer, accounting for 1.3 million deaths per year. But in China, the Times reports, it’s taking a particularly brutal toll:...

Welcome to Wall Street Outsourcing. Lack of regulation of environmental standards is a prime reason, the other labor costs, for outsourcing by Wall Street.

This is a moral business model? Really?


Jiangsu Province pollution

15.01.2013 - 05:00
The Ministry of Environmental Protection (click here) says China will intensify supervision over the production, use and elimination of motor vehicles, while at the same time promoting the use of clean energy.
The Ministry has also urged regional cooperation in handling air pollution in key areas.
The Chinese capital continued to suffer from a dense fog this Monday after the city saw probably the "worst on record" air quality over the weekend.
"I have difficulty breathing. Today has actually been better than the weekend. We live on the east side of the city, the smog is worse there. When I opened the window this morning, I couldn't see clearly. The visibility was very low. I am worried about my family, especially those who drive."
"There are so many cars that discharge so much exhaust. Industrial pollution is bad too. The air quality would be better if the government could take measures to control the pollution."
Though weather forecasters say air quality will return to normal this Wednesday following forecasted strong wind, the high pollution in recent days has inevitably prompted further debate on the issue....

China is a country of 1.3 billion people. That is a lot of cheap labor. The growth of China was never done with human rights in mind, it was all profit driven and sold to the leadership as the best thing that could happen in China. The wealthy of China would say that is the case, but, the majority of the population now knows modernization without a conscience has a price.

October 26, 2013

After Goldman Sachs (click here) set aside $23 billion in a bonus pool for its executives at the height of the recession, the firm set about creating a “counter-narrative.” Only a year before, Goldman had repaid a $10 billion TARP loan from the federal government, though taxpayers lost $1.4 billion in the transaction according to Forbes. But that allowed Goldman Sachs to continue making money and raking in profits from investment banking, characterized by Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein as “doing God’s work.”

A piece of the Goldman counter-narrative involved major charitable donations. This week’s New York Times has a long “Dealbook” review of Goldman’s plan for “buying redemption.” Dealbook writer Suzanne Craig’s opening paragraph lays out the success of its counter-narrative:

“Goldman Sachs is a master at making money. Lately it has become a master at giving it away. Goldman—for many a symbol of Wall Street greed and excess—wants the world to know it has a charitable side. With the same calculation that earned it a reputation as the savviest trading house on Wall Street, it has staked out a position as one of the nation’s leading corporate philanthropists, giving away more than $1.6 billion since 2008.”

Craig reports that the Goldman Sachs Foundation pays its CEO, Dina Powell, a former advisor to President George H.W. Bush, $2 million, which puts her in the ranks of America’s best-paid charity executives, and “has been given more resources at a time when the bank itself has been cutting back sharply on expenses—and people—on big trading desks,” creating what she says is “bitterness among some employees.” In addition, Craig adds that Warren Buffett likes Goldman’s charitable programs—“the best that I have seen,” Buffett says—but doesn’t like the notion of corporate philanthropy, because it takes money out of corporate profits and shareholders’ returns....

Image. 

Goldman - Sachs is suppose to appear to be saintlike in generosity. But, they fall short. The investment in China never insured the Chinese people their health to old age or a middle class quality of life.

Investment Banks are removed from the reality of the populous in many instances. They only play with numbers, company profiles and viability. They never ask the tough questions, like, "Will this decision hurt people?" 

That was the genius of "#Occupy Wall Street." They camped at Wall Street's front door and said we aren't moving until you bozos get this right. 
In the races in Virginia and New Jersey, both with Republican Governors aren't comparable. 

Chris Christie is a Governor with a Democratic Legislature.

McDonnell Governor with a Republican Legislature.

Christie is a reasonable guy, whereby McDonnell was an extremist. That's the difference between them. The question is will McDonnell be re-elected in future elections for Governor. 

Virginia is fairly cleaver when it comes to electing Governors. The candidates can serve two four year terms, but, not back to back. It creates an interesting dynamic and different from most other states. 

What is going on in New Jersey?

Posted: Nov 1, 2013 4:49 PM
Updated: Nov 1, 2013 5:00 PM


...A law enforcement official I(click here) said the suspect, Paul Ciancia, 23, from Pennsville, N.J., was wearing fatigues and carrying a bag containing the hand-written note. The official was briefed at LAX on the investigation and requested anonymity because was he was not authorized to speak publicly.......

Who are these men and how do two men from New Jersey end up shooting up the country? I know New Jersey is a small state, but, they lived about 55 miles apart in the southern end of the state. That agriculture country. Well along the river it's industrial though.

Updated 5:25 a.m. ET
PARAMUS, N.J. A gunman (click here) fired at least fix rounds into an escalator near closing time in a popular northern New Jersey mall Monday evening before taking his own life, authorities said.
Bergen County, N.J. prosecutor John Molinelli told reporters early Tuesday the body of Richard Shoop, 20, of Washington Township, N.J., was found behind a construction storage area of the Westfield Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus....

Thirteen months after Hurricane Irene (click here) struck New Jersey in August, 2011, Hurricane Sandy brought even greater and more widespread destruction to the Garden State than its predecessor....
... While the designation of a major disaster area was eventually extended to the entire state, the counties highlighted in this edition, Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset and Union were the hardest hit areas. These ten counties were the first in New Jersey to be designated as major disaster areas....

Neither men were from the impacted counties. Doesn't really mean anything, they could have worked anywhere and even in Pennsylvania.

...ten New Jersey counties highlighted here, seven are among the top ten counties statewide in terms of labor 
force density. All of these counties ranked among the top ten percent nationally in labor force density....

Facts About the Federal EUC Reduction (click here)

What will happen to my weekly payments?Weekly benefit amounts will be reduced by 7.2%.I am already on EUC and previously had my benefits reduced by 22.2%.  Will they be reduced an additional 7.2% on top of that?

No.  The 7.2% reduction is based on your original Weekly Benefit Rate (WBR).   For example: if you were originally receiving $100 a week and were previously reduced 22.2% to $77, under the current Sequester your payment would be $93.

Why are my unemployment benefits being reduced?An automatic federal spending cut known as a sequestration has taken effect. Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits are federally funded and subject to this reduction.

Who is affected by the sequestration?Those who claim EUC benefits (extended unemployment) for the week ending October 5, 2013 and after will have their benefits reduced. 


The 8.5 percent doesn't help, but, it is in line with NYC. I would think construction would create more jobs and relieve that rate.

Pennsylvania's rate is 7.7 percent. The storm had something to do with the rates in NY and NJ. Don't know why it would be this stubborn, unless, the jobs went to companies outside the state. 

LAX
Ciancia, a 23-year-old unemployed motorcycle mechanic, got a ride to LAX on Friday morning with a roommate, walked into the airport and began targeting Transportation Security Administration officers, according to authorities. By the time LAX police officers subdued him with several gunshots, one TSA officer had been killed and two others injured.

Not so strange really. The unemployed turn to a drug economy when nothing else is within reach.They were both in their 20s and the nation already knows how abandoned that generation has become.

Paramas Mall
The reasons for the shooting remain unclear. Shoop used narcotic drugs and sold drugs as well, Molinelli said.
And he left behind a note referring to the idea that the "end was coming," Molinelli said. "That could mean going to jail, getting arrested, or it could mean suicide." Authorities don't know whether Shoop left the note immediately before going to the mall.
A family member called the authorities after hearing about the shooting, and said they thought Shoop might be the gunman,