Saturday, March 15, 2014

So, where is the truth? Russia, The West or neither?






Giant billboards (click here) line Crimea's highways inviting citizens to choose between Russia and fascism, others simply declare: ''Crimea is Russia.''


There is little room for a ''no'' campaign in Sunday's referendum and no chance to vote for life to remain as it is - the Russian occupation of Crimea that began on February 28 is now all but complete.

Russia's soldiers control the borders and the entrance to the Black Sea while armed ''self-defence'' units are roaming the streets.

They have created such a climate of fear that many locals say they do not feel safe to walk around at night, amid reports of brutal assaults on Ukrainian soldiers....

Personally. Neither. They each hide the truth about the region into their own ideas of importance.

Published time: March 15, 2014 15:45
Edited time: March 15, 2014 18:06


No tensions in Ukraine’s autonomous republic of Crimea (click here) were reported by the team of international observers Saturday, as they started monitoring polling stations and readying for the crucial vote on the peninsula’s independence.
Thirty observers, who come from 10 European nations, have arrived in Crimea at the invitation of the republic's election commission and have already started their work, Mateusz Piskorski, the director of the European Geopolitical Analysis Centre and the mission coordinator, said.
“At the moment we are starting to monitor the preparation of polling stations. In general, the situation is very calm, there is no tension,” he told Interfax news agency. “Everyone hopes there will be no provocations."
Members of the mission come from Poland, Austria, France, Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Italy and Latvia. Representing the European Democracy and Election Monitoring Institute (Brussels), they are deputies from the European parliament, members of national parliaments of their native countries, as well as leading European international law experts and famous human rights activists.... 

Are Russian Jews in trouble, oppressed or simply like the leadership in Moscow? It would seem there is no particular place in the Ukraine without the influence of the Neo-nazies.

Anti-Semitism, though a real threat, is being used by the Kremlin as a political football. (click here)
By Anshel Pfeffer
 Feb. 25, 2014
6:41 PM
...That is currently the biggest dilemma for Jews in Ukraine - how best to speak out now against anti-Semitism when they are fully aware that whatever they say could be used by either side to further political agendas....

Updated Saturday, March 15th 2014 at 15:01 GMT +3

A court in Pakistan on Saturday (click here) reduced by 10 years the jail term handed down to a Pakistani doctor who helped the United States track down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a blow to his supporters who have been fighting for his release. 

Shakil Afridi, hailed as a hero by U.S. officials, was arrested after U.S. soldiers killed bin Laden in May 2011 in a raid in a northern Pakistani town that outraged Pakistan and plunged relations between the strategic partners to a new low.

Pakistan arrested Afridi and sentenced him to 33 years in jail for being a member of a militant group, a charge he denies. 


On Saturday, a court in the city of Peshawar reduced his sentence to 23 years following repeated calls by the United States and his legal team for his release. 

 "We will receive a complete court order on Monday and will then challenge it at the FATA Tribunal," said Afridi's lawyer, Qamar Nadeem, referring to a higher tribal court....
A court in Pakistan on Saturday reduced by 10 years the jail term handed down to a Pakistani doctor who helped the United States track down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a blow to his supporters who have been fighting for his release. Shakil Afridi, hailed as a hero by U.S. officials, was arrested after U.S. soldiers killed bin Laden in May 2011 in a raid in a northern Pakistani town that outraged Pakistan and plunged relations between the strategic partners to a new low.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000106950&story_title=court-cuts-jail-term-of-pakistan-doctor-who-helped-us-find-osama-bin-laden

Recent shipments of their corn to China were rejected. Now, it's France.

Int J Biol Sci 2009; 5(7):706-726. doi:10.7150/ijbs.5.706

Research Paper

A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health 
Joël Spiroux de Vendômois, François Roullier, Dominique Cellier, Gilles-Eric Séralini

...Our analysis clearly (click here) reveals for the 3 GMOs new side effects linked with GM maize consumption, which were sex- and often dose-dependent. Effects were mostly associated with the kidney and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs, although different between the 3 GMOs. Other effects were also noticed in the heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system. We conclude that these data highlight signs of hepatorenal toxicity, possibly due to the new pesticides specific to each GM corn. In addition, unintended direct or indirect metabolic consequences of the genetic modification cannot be excluded....

France took it one step further. It is refusing to allow this seed into France's agricultural production.

Updated Saturday, March 15th 2014 at 17:00 GMT +3

France's agriculture ministry (click here) on Saturday banned the sale, use and cultivation of Monsanto's MON 810 genetically modified maize, the only variety currently authorised in the European Union. The French government, which maintains that GM crops present environmental risks, has been trying to institute a new ban on GM maize (corn) after its highest court has twice previously struck down similar measures....
France's agriculture ministry on Saturday banned the sale, use and cultivation of Monsanto's MON 810 genetically modified maize, the only variety currently authorised in the European Union. The French government, which maintains that GM crops present environmental risks, has been trying to institute a new ban on GM maize (corn) after its highest court has twice previously struck down similar measures.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000106960&story_title=france-bans-monsanto-gm-maize-ahead-of-sowing-season

I tend to agree with the USA's perspective. Someone has to stop, otherwise, there will be no end.

Don't give angry young men a reason to be angry. That is not a new point of view for me.

Oops, there goes another police motorcycle. Hugo. Call on the spirit of Hugo. What is wrong with this president?

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, March 14, 2014, 12:25 AM

...Also killed Wednesday (click here) in another part of Valencia was National Guard Capt. Ramzor Ernesto Bracho.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told a congressional committee Thursday, "We are trying to find a way to get the Maduro government to engage with their citizens, to treat them respectfully, to end this terror campaign against his own people and to begin to, hopefully, respect human rights in an appropriate way."

But U.S. Marine Gen. John Kelly, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, offered a dimmer view to a Senate committee.

"It is a situation that is obviously just coming apart in front us, and unless there is some type of a miracle that either the opposition or the Maduro government pulls out, they are going down catastrophically in terms of economy, in terms of democracy," he said....

Here ya go, how about a national free showing of the film about the Late Hugo Chavez. Offer free popcorn, it'll bring them in and they'll love the film. I could not be more serious.

American filmmaker Oliver Stone, (click here) who became a close confidante of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is marking the one-year anniversary of the former leader’s death with the premiere of his latest documentary.
The film, “Mi Amigo Hugo” (“My Friend Hugo”), will be aired at 9 p.m. Wednesday on Venezuela's government-owned Telesur network.
“The movie… provides a human portrait of the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution,” the Venezuelan News Agency said Tuesday.
Stone, the controversial leftist director known for films such as “Platoon” and “Wall Street,” described his new Chavez film on Twitter as “a documentary commemorating the first anniversary of Chavez’s death.”...

You thought I was joking, huh? Not. Valencia's first ever film festival. I mean it. It is guaranteed to be the most popular film festival in South America. Does everyone realize the love so many in South America had for Hugo Chavez? A lot. The people of South America would come from all over to Valencia to see this film. No lie. That is how much he was loved.

Here is some more good news. It is a pilot program destined to increase the economic growth in South America.

Eighty percent of Venezuela's economy revolves around petroleum. With a large amount going to China to pay debt, the country needs new exports and new markets. There is no reason why Venezuela can't emphasize the idea of growing more produce for its domestic and export markets. 

The Late President Chavez participated heavily in the Millennium Development Goals. This is from the September 2010 meeting/assessment. There is also a 2013 assessment. Now, the assessment recognized the turbulence created by the 'exclusion of concern' on a social level. If the country is in turbulence it cannot succeed. If one recalls the presidency of Hugo Chavez, he was at the center of the concern of his people. The new president needs to take a lesson.

IV. COOPERATION, COMPLETENESS, AND UNION SOLIDARITY AS ELEMENTS TO MEET ODM (click here)
 
The phenomenon of integration is not new, however, has traditionally been characterized by an emphasis commercial, trying to satisfy the interests of small privileged groups and accentuating every day levels of poverty and exclusion in our society. integration that came amid a world first bipolar, and then unipolar, leading to scenarios where organizations and leaders guided by this, subsumed to Latin America and the Caribbean integrationist a sphere of failed attempts, according to geographical, institutional, customs criteria commercial and physical, but leaving relegated the human side of integration and true union of our peoples....


BY JOHN BUCHANAN

Published:

Federal and state agricultural officials (click here) will soon begin a policy assessment that could allow more imports into Florida of fresh produce from South American countries. Such shipments from certain countries have previously been banned because of pest and disease risks.

The decision to be made by Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will be based on the results of a six-month pilot program launched last October 1 that has allowed small shipments of blueberries and grapes from Peru and Uruguay to enter the U.S. via the Port of Miami and Port Everglades in Broward County.

The pilot program resulted from an initiative by the Florida Perishables Trade Coalition, (click here) founded in January 2012 to increase trade in perishable products through Florida’s seaports and airports. Although FPTC has support from some domestic shippers and wholesalers, it primarily represents the interests of South American growers and distributors....

Published:
Federal and state agricultural officials will soon begin a policy assessment that could allow more imports into Florida of fresh produce from South American countries. Such shipments from certain countries have previously been banned because of pest and disease risks.
The decision to be made by Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will be based on the results of a six-month pilot program launched last October 1 that has allowed small shipments of blueberries and grapes from Peru and Uruguay to enter the U.S. via the Port of Miami and Port Everglades in Broward County.
The pilot program resulted from an initiative by the Florida Perishables Trade Coalition, founded in January 2012 to increase trade in perishable products through Florida’s seaports and airports. Although FPTC has support from some domestic shippers and wholesalers, it primarily represents the interests of South American growers and distributors.
- See more at: http://suncoastnews.com/su/list/pasco-press/ag-officials-to-review-policy-on-south-american-fresh-fruit-imports-20140314/#sthash.WxYynrI8.dpuf

When it came to defending a nation, France never asked the ethnicity of their hero.

I just think it is wrong for a country to be divided into ethnic factions. It increases intolerance and hatred. Russia is wrong in it's intentions with the Crimean peninsula. There is no reason for it except strategic purposes as a gate way to increased tensions in the region and a further threat to independent nations.

It is unfortunate Russia is causing it's own problems. See, the problem is the independent nations want to pursue their own path and aren't being allowed to do so by oppressive powers in Russia. These countries are going to have to be allowed to develop their own national defense forces as neutrality is obviously not working. The post soviet states that do not want alignment with Russia are going to have to engage the idea of a joint military force. I don't see that they have a choice. Ultimately, they will have to become a part of NATO and that is what Russia was dreading. But, in fact has caused their own dread to become reality.

There needs to be regional summits to resolve ethnic tensions still existing within these countries. The summits have to include a special diplomatic focus to bring Abkhazia and South Ossetia to peace with Poland, otherwise, it is a breeding ground for escalation of tensions. I don't see the chronic violence and splitting of borders as a reasonable solution. It will only get worse from here. The tensions, besides the violence, will effect their economies, too. They have to provide a defense of diversity and find strength in their differences rather than a point for leveraging power.

Whatever happened to The World's Fair? Maybe we need a Eastern Europe Annual Fair and Marketplace. 

August 16, 1964
By ISAAC ASIMOV
The New York World's Fair of 1964 (click here)  is dedicated to "Peace Through Understanding." Its glimpses of the world of tomorrow rule out thermonuclear warfare. And why not? If a thermonuclear war takes place, the future will not be worth discussing. So let the missiles slumber eternally on their pads and let us observe what may come in the nonatomized world of the future. 

What is to come, through the fair's eyes at least, is wonderful. The direction in which man is traveling is viewed with buoyant hope, nowhere more so than at the General Electric pavilion. There the audience whirls through four scenes, each populated by cheerful, lifelike dummies that move and talk with a facility that, inside of a minute and a half, convinces you they are alive.... 

Now it is the Expo. Ooow, Milan. Nice. It is interesting to watch the video. These international venues are finding waterways as a method of security.

Expo 2015 is the next world's fair.(click here)
To be held in Milan, Italy, it will explore the theme "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life" for six months just northwest of the center of town. The exposition site covers 110 hectares (272 acres) and is expected to attract 29 million visitors from 01 May 2015 to 31 October 2015.

Does the Middle Class ever get a break from the right wing?

by: PAI
March 14 2014
WASHINGTON (PAI) -- Legal schemes, hatched by the anti-worker right wing, may enmesh and delay the United Auto Workers' case for demanding a rerun union authorization election at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Aided, abetted and sponsored by the so-called National Right to Work Committee and its legal foundation, a handful of allegedly anti-union workers at the 1,500-person plant are suing VW in federal court in Memphis. They argue VW illegally gave UAW "a thing of value" - access to the plant - before the February vote....

This is amazing. I can't find any record of an establishment in 1955 named the National Right to Work Committee except at their website.

The National Right to Work Committee, (click here) established in 1955, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, single-purpose citizens’ organization dedicated to the principle that all Americans must have the right to join a union if they choose to, but none should ever be forced to affiliate with a union in order to get or keep a job. 

It is dated 1955, (click here) but, I only found it on the organization's website as well. 

Supposedly, there is another organization called, "Southern Momentum." (click here) The only organization I found with that name is a women's website of advise from Barbie and recipes. 

I don't care if there are a few employees that want to give testimony, just get it over with than risking another appeal, but, who are these organizations the NLRB is allowing to support the employees request? 

Ah, but, not all is lost. 

FRANKFORT — The sponsor of a right-to-work law (click here) in Kentucky knew it had no chance of passing a House committee Thursday.

But that didn’t stop Rep. Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, the House Minority Leader, and several others from making their case before the House Labor and Industry Committee in a room filled to overflowing, mostly with union members who oppose the measure....


This is pretty amazing. A company actually enacted a policy whereby employees could not discuss their rate of pay. What do unions do? They work together to enhance pay rates, so therefore, no unions because they would cause loss of employment.

It is a North Carolina firm that should definitely know better. Why does any legal firm even allow this kind of language in their clients documents?

This was not a difficult case. Why didn't the litigators simply let the employer-client know they were acting inappropriately with their employees? This seems like a no brainer to me. If a legal firm provides excellent service, it doesn't mean an indulgence of every client objection to succumb to established laws and principles. The average person has to surmount this mess in order to achieve justice in the USA and it is nearly impossible. Where are the ethics that actually treat human beings with a sincere priority over profits?

August 15, 2013
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.)—Seventy-three (click here) Parker Poe attorneys were selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2014 (Copyright 2013 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, SC). Attorneys from each of the Firm’s five offices are represented in the publication’s just-released 20th edition....

There seems to be a low bar on those standards. Anything to make a buck should not be a high priority in the rating system.

USA 
February 28, 2014

Earlier this month, (click here) the National Labor Relations Board determined that an employer’s confidential information policy contained in the employee handbook violated federal labor law because it applies to employees’ discussion of financial matters, including their pay. MCPc, Inc. (click here) involved claims by an employee relating to his termination from employment. In addition to the facts surrounding the termination, the employee complained that the company’s confidentiality policy violated the NLRA because it could be interpreted to prohibit employees’ discussion of salary and other workplace issues.
The policy in question contained the usual language restricting disclosure of proprietary business information, such as customer pricing. However, the policy also defined confidential information as including “personal or financial information.” In a 3-2 decision, the NLRB affirmed the administrative law judge’s determination that this language violated Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA, because it could have the effect of deterring employees from discussing terms and conditions of employment due to concerns over disciplinary action....

In the absence of any union, companies should be required to prove an independent grievance process for employees. The employer would have to bear the cost. 

It is no different than Corker's insulting behavior to effect the outcomes of a union vote. Where are the courts with gag orders for these bozos? The litigation will only slow down the best outcomes for the employees. This should not be a problem. 

If Corker can't live with a gag order, throw him in jail until the vote is finished and in solitary if he still assails the court and the law. This is ridiculous. He is using the status of congress to leverage power to disenfranchise citizens from the law. That can't stand. Little tin gods.

Can we please put an end to this bigoted GOP narrative?

There is a study, by the way, I'll get to in a minute. It is fascinating how politicians spin facts to serve their own politics and get away with it.

March 14, 2014 
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)(click here) has become the latest right-winger to blame black poverty on “culture” and character. Just as he got it backwards on families and poverty, Paul Ryan gets it twisted on poverty and black men.

Ryan went on William Bennett’s “Morning in America” radio show to promote his recent “survey” of anti-poverty programs, and to preview his legislative agenda to cutting funding and case loads for anti-poverty programs. Ryan cited the work of Charles Murray, a conservative social scientist and co-author of The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, who believes genetic differences make African-Americans less intelligent than whites and that, “a lot of poor people are born lazy.”

Ryan then launched into a dog-whistle politics take on poverty, using coded language about “inner-city culture” to blame poverty on lazy, immoral black people, without coming right out and saying so....

On August 30, 2013 there was an article in "Think Progress:"

Poverty Has Same Effect On The Brain As Constantly Pulling All Nighters (click here)

The article states:

One of the study’s authors, Harvard economist Sandhil Mullainathan, told the Washington Post, “Poverty is the equivalent of pulling an all-nighter. Picture yourself after an all-nighter. Being poor is like that every day.”

The day before, in August 29, 2013 this was stated in "The Washington Post:"

Poverty consumes (click here) so much mental energy that people struggling to make ends meet often have little brainpower left for anything else, leaving them more susceptible to bad decisions that can perpetuate their situation, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

“Past research has often blamed [poverty] on the personal failings of the poor. They don’t work hard enough; they’re not focused enough,” said University of British Columbia professor Jiaying Zhao, who co-authored the study as a Princeton University graduate student.

This is the full citation from "Science."

NLM Director’s Comments (click here) Transcript Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function: 11/12/2013

A pioneering set of studies, recently published in Science, are the first to suggest a strong association between income and cognitive capabilities.
Published together (and designed to be complimentary) the experimental and field-observation studies suggest for the first time that poverty (or low income) impedes the levels of cognitive function among adults. Cognitive function refers to memory, learning, and comprehension abilities.
In the authors’ U.S.-based experimental study, wealthier and lower income adults were asked to think about four scenarios which presented common financial challenges. In one scenario, participants were asked if they would get a loan, pay in full, or forego service when their automobile had continuing breakdowns. After thinking about how they might resolve the problems presented within the scenarios (that differed in their degree of complexity and consideration), participants took two unrelated, well-established cognitive assessment tests.
Overall, lower income persons scored significantly lower than higher income participants on all cognitive tests after exposure to the more complex scenarios. The two groups scored similarly after completing a financially less complicated challenge. 
In a second series of financial scenarios and challenges, the authors removed most mathematical calculations to offset math anxiety among the participants. However even in the second experimental condition, the authors found higher income persons scored significantly higher overall than lower income participants on the cognitive tests....

Recently I stated, has anyone completed a study on the propensity of poverty among pregnant teenage women. This study proves there is diminished POTENTIAL in poverty. What does that do to the children in impoverished households? The natural parents are the best people to raise their children. If the outcomes for these children can change we must change the circumstances of their parents. It is not an option. This is enforced inequality and an assault against our democracy and it's potential.

I don't want to hear anyone state there are Americans that simply cannot achieve and it is impossible to move them out of poverty to the Middle Class and beyond. I don't want to hear how a child's education is not worth it and a waste of money or resources of the nation. I don't want to hear how entire electorates languish in poverty, including those that are independent contractors in Louisiana to the petroleum industry. I don't want to hear how taxes inhibit the growth of our nation. 

How does the electorate of the USA define growth? By GDP alone? Education has it's own GDP and improvements to the impoverished a dividend necessary to actually create the opportunity to increase their financial status.

It is impossible to recover from an economic decline that enforces poverty in any country unless the investments are made. 

I want to hear politicians to take ownership of the problems of this country and how they are going to resolve them. 

We need to do better as a nation. (click here)

As with health care, the less worries those in poverty face, the more potential this country has for their best outcomes.  

Years of research on how to best issues payment in Medicare was destroyed by the GOP House.
by Julie Rovner
Bipartisan support (click here) dissolved this week for compromise legislation that would have fixed a longstanding problem with the way Medicare pays physicians. Though the bill passed the House of Representatives Friday, it now contains a provision almost certain to invite veto unless a Senate version can quickly nudge the ultimate bill back toward compromise....

...The bill is meant to with the payment formula. As is, that formula calls for deep cuts in Medicare payments to doctors, and has required regular intervention by Congress over the years to avert those cuts....

Once again the GOP is playing with the lives of our Seniors to serve their political ambitions.

...GOP leaders in the House decided to do that in a most controversial way: by inserting language that delays implementation of the penalties for the so-called of the Affordable Care Act....

So, the narrative to play with the AFA has changed again. Now, it is the delay of the fees rather than the delay of the insurance. You'll excuse me, but, how does that help reduce the federal responsibility in Medicare payments? It doesn't. It is just another spin for the state of play of the GOP. It is shameful.

The position of the USA has been consistent.

The reason the global community cannot honor the referendum in the Crimea is because it is taking place while citizens are being threatened with violence. It is not a free and open vote. It is harassed and enforced by threat of death. It is the structure created by the former and fugitive President Yanukovych. He set up the country to fail in it's democratic processes by establishing militias to threaten citizens with violence and death. That is not the practice of a free and open election process, that is a dictatorship.

Pavel Gubarev in Donetsk, Ukraine, the founder of a local militia, stated the gunmen would remain in place until after the vote. He stated that openly when the militia first appeared there. So, there is no misunderstanding as to the purpose of these gunmen no matter where they show up in the Ukraine, including the Crimea. A vote under these circumstances cannot be honored.

"Self-proclaimed governor" of Donetsk region, Pavel Gubarev.© lenta.ru

March 7, 2014, 6:31 p.m
...Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv (click here) has decided to arrest the "self-proclaimed governor" of Donetsk region, Pavel Gubarev.  

As the press center of Security Service of Ukraine reported (SBU), the court on Friday took a decision to choose a preventive measure for Gubarev in the form of detention for two-months under a motion of the SBU Main Investigatory Department.

As reported, Gubarev was detained in Donetsk on Thursday. According to the SBU, he was charged with committing crimes under Part 2, Article 110 (encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine), Part 1, Article 109 (actions aimed at the forcible change or overthrow of the constitutional order, or the seizure of state power) and Article 341 (seizure of state or public buildings or structures) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.... 

I don't think arrests to insure a change in government is the best idea, but, when the radicals are brandishing weapons to insure voting under the threat of death, it has merit.


...In his first public remarks, (click here) Sergey A. Taruta, a metals magnate who was appointed governor of the Donetsk region on Sunday, condemned a series of recent pro-Russian demonstrations led by Pavel Gubarev, the founder of a local militia who had declared himself “the people’s governor,” and called for unity between eastern and western Ukraine.

“We are for peace,” Mr. Taruta, the chairman of the Industrial Union of Donbass, said at a meeting of the Donetsk public council in a university lecture hall on Friday. “We are now working so that the radical elements that are calling for divisive actions will be stopped decisively.”


Mr. Taruta’s remarks seemed to signify the end of a period of protracted political inertia here, during which local politicians and police officers seemed unable or unwilling to stop crowds in the thousands led by Mr. Gubarev from seizing regional government buildings....

Democracy lost a great champion. His words live on.

His statements are far more interesting about modern day democracy. He believes in democracy. He believes it is the great equalizer where monetary wealth leaves off. A really interesting statement, "Democracy is still controversial."

His reality about democracy is that it is the best moral government any country could practice. To Tony Benn, democracy wasn't an ideology or campaign rhetoric, it was a morality every person could live with. To him it was a practice of life's promise. A birth right if you will. To him, insurances to democratic practices were insurances to life itself.

Tony Been would see any interpretation of a democratic constitution lies in the embodiment of it's conception and not it's parsed words. In other words, the ideological deciphered interpretation of the USA Constitution by the Robert's Court in regard to Citizen's United is a coup upon democracy itself and it's embodied reality of an equalizer.

The idea money has equality of citizenship is a violation of the definition of democracy itself. 

Citizen's United resulted out of a belief system not a democratic process.Those that believe the Supreme Court should stand unquestioned by legislation to return democracy are not interested in equality.

Equality is ensuring individuals or groups of individuals are treated fairly and equally and no less favourably, specific to their needs, including areas of race, gender, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation and age.

Promoting equality should remove discrimination in all of the aforementioned areas. Bullying, harassment or victimization are also considered as equality and diversity issues.

What is lack of equality and how is it enforced?

Diversity aims to recognise, respect and value people’s differences to contribute and realise their full potential by promoting an inclusive culture for all.

Diversity is a tool to instill and maintain democracy to dissolve discrimination.

We can promote equality and diversity by treating all fairly, create an inclusive culture, ensure equal access to opportunities to fully participate in the learning process, enabling all to develop to their full potential equipped with the skills to challenge inequality and discrimination and ensure policies, procedures and processes don't discriminate.

Voting to place legislators into the power of our democracy protects it and upholds it's morality. Honor the Middle Class when voting.

45,000 feet?

I don't know the about the structural integrity of the 777 at that elevation. The atmospheric pressure outside the jet is nearly half compared to 34,000 feet.

The University of Dayton Research Institute (click here) supports the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by conducting research on the structural integrity requirements for the U.S. commercial transport airplane fleet. The primary objective of this task was to support the FAA’s Airborne Data Monitoring Systems Research by developing new and improved methods and criteria for processing and presenting large commercial transport airplane flight and ground loads usage data.... 

According to this document, there is no equation for structural integrity over 36,089 feet.

A few things happen when jets climb to 45,000 feet. It isn't as though it hasn't happened before, but, those jets are primarily military with NASA for investigation to their capacity. That doesn't mean the jets performed well either. The air density becomes less at those levels of the atmosphere. Turbine engines need air density to turn. Now, even if the engines stalled at that altitude isn't as though they can't reverse thrust and restart them in a decent to a lower altitude. Jet turbines that stall can be restarted.  

The temperature at that altitude isn't very good either. It is something like minus forty degrees celcius. 

This is interesting, page 21 on the pdf counter and page 14 of the document cites 45,000 feet as a maximum.


Under 4.4.2 it begins discussion of the thrust reverser deployment. So it isn't as though it isn't considered important at all altitudes investigated. Reverse thrusters are used on most landings if not all of these aircraft. They have to be in good repair.

The parameter editing values table above also does not indicate those numbers were used. It shows the parameters available for this report. The equations for this aircraft is still only to 36,089 feet. That is relevant to realize the pilots were flying outside known statistics for the aircraft.
However, it also shows the pilots may be knowledgeable to the potential capacity of 45,000 feet.


5. DATA PRESENTATION

The statistical data presented in this section provide the FAA, aircraft manufacturers, and the operating airline with the information that is needed to assess how the B-777-200ER aircraft is actually being used in operational service versus its original design or intended usage. 

What that means is there are difference between engineering design and the actual performance of the real time design. 

Here it is, C-9 scatter plot shows the potential structural integrity is maximized at 41,000 feet for over 10 hours if needed. The scatter plot shows some sketchy potential into 42,000 and 43,000; but completely disappears in potential at 44,000 feet. 

That doesn't mean it didn't hold together either. It means that it is unknown information. The pilots were pushing their limits. They wanted to disappear.