Basically, nothing has changed in Florida.

Digging (click here) through six years of DCF files, The Herald found hundreds of children who died of abuse or neglect whose families had contact with the agency over the previous five years — far more than the state reported. The information is from death reviews, police reports, autopsies and interviews. 

The definition of family frequently includes children. This program in Florida is to avoid paying Foster Parents. 

Preserving families, but, losing children. (click here)

The last time Florida made the news with 94 dead was 2005 (click here). That was just one year.

Does Rep. Paul Ryan ever read information available to him?

This is what rhetoric does. It makes the circumstances of citizens worse. Rhetoric is empty, like gossip. 

Economic Research Report No. (ERR-155) 41 pp
September 2013 
by Alisha Coleman-Jensen, Mark Nord, and Anita Singh

An estimated (click here) 14.5 percent of American households were food insecure at least some time during the year in 2012, meaning they lacked access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The change from 14.9 percent in 2011 is not considered statistically significant. The prevalence of very low food security was unchanged at 5.7 percent...

 
On Saturday, October 19 from 9AM-1PM, the Janesville City Council in partnership with ECHO and the Janesville Salvation Army will hold a food drive at local grocery stores. Individuals wishing to contribute non-perishable food items are asked to visit one of the grocery stores listed below on to drop off their donation from their home or from the store:
• Woodman’s Food Market, 2819 N. Lexington Dr.
• Daniels Sentry, 2822 E. Milwaukee St.
• Daniels Sentry, 2501 W Court St.
• Pick ‘n Save, 1717 Center Ave. # 100
• Schnucks, 1501 Creston Park Dr.
• Basics, 1711 Lodge Drive 
During this event, City Councilmember and volunteers will be present at each store from 9AM-1PM to collect the food. All food items collected will be distributed to the food banks administered by ECHO and the Salvation Army. This event is also an excellent way in which to interact with your Councilmembers.
During the spring “Big Give” food drive, the Janesville community generously donated more than 3,800 pounds of non-perishable food items and over $800 in cash donations. The amount collected made approximately 7,700 meals for Janesville area families.... 

Evidently, the local food drive isn't enough to handle the hungry and homeless.

MOBILE FOOD PANTRY FINDS NEW JANESVILLE HOME (click here)

MADISON, Wis.,

August8, 2013–Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, southwestern Wisconsin’s larges thunger-relief organization, announced today that it has developed a new partnership with First Lutheran Church (612 N.Randall Ave, Janesville)to support one of its two mobile pantrylocationsin the Janesville area.... 

Homeless Children? Until 2017? Really? And Paul Ryan has been in the US House since 1999? WHY?

Nick Crow
April 4, 2013

JANESVILLE — The Janesville School Board (click here) at its meeting Tuesday will consider approving two grants, one to help homeless youth and another to bolster the district's tech program.

The district has received the Education for Homeless Children and Youth grant each school year since 2005-06. The proposal, if approved by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, would be for three more years with the district receiving a maximum of $50,000 per year, according to the written proposal.

The grant would be awarded in June 2014 and continue through July 2017.... 

Democrats need to get serious about these people. If Janesville is in bad shape, I can only imagine what the rest of the state looks like. This is Reince Priebus baby. Wisconsin. How long are the Democrats going to allow this level of poverty to build in that state. 

See. It is all statistical. Janesville is a larger city with an economy so if there are problems in Janesville, the rest of the state ain't doin' so good either.

I applaud the citizens of Wisconsin and Janesville for addressing the issues of poverty in their community, but, they are losing the battle.

July 25, 2012
By Aisha Qidwae of the Journal Sentinel

The percentages of Wisconsin children living in poverty (click here) and whose parents lacked stable employment both showed significant increases in 2010, according to a new report that compares state trends in children's well-being.


The increase translates to about 248,000 children living in poverty in 2010 compared with 2005, when 177,800 in Wisconsin were considered below the poverty line, based on the 2012 Kids Count Data Book. The report, published annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and released Wednesday, groups an index of 16 indicators into four categories including economic well-being, education, health, and family and community.

The report also finds that 402,000 children had parents who didn't have stable jobs in 2010 compared with 2008, when 287,000 parents didn't have secure employment.

"Wisconsin is still a great place to raise a family and a great place for kids, but if we want to continue to be able to say that, we need to pay attention to these trends," said Bob Jacobson, speaking for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, whose Kids Count project was financed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. "Clearly, we're losing ground to many of these states on many indicators."

Wisconsin ranked 18th in both the health and family and community categories in the study. The health category had a smaller rate of children and teen deaths in 2010, from 24 per 100,000 compared with 33 per 100,000 in 2005, the report says.

Jacobson said that while Wisconsin had held steady in some of its rankings, such as children with health insurance, other states are improving faster. In the family and community category, children living in high-poverty areas in the state tripled over a decade.

The report ranks the state 10th in education, which is largely due to having the lowest percentage nationally - 9% - of high school students not graduating on time compared with a high of 44% in Nevada for 2008 and 2009....

If Reince Priebus loses Wisconsin, he loses his job. He was given the RNC Chairmanship because of Wisconsin in 2010. The Democrats have a lot of reason to move this state back in the other direction. The poverty level is escalating year after year.
 

JANESVILLE — The Janesville School Board at its meeting Tuesday will consider approving two grants, one to help homeless youth and another to bolster the district's tech program.
The district has received the Education for Homeless Children and Youth grant each school year since 2005-06. The proposal, if approved by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, would be for three more years with the district receiving a maximum of $50,000 per year, according to the written proposal.
The grant would be awarded in June 2014 and continue through July 2017.
- See more at: http://www.gazettextra.com/article/20140404/ARTICLES/140409822/1060#sthash.x4IafYqK.dpuf

by Graham Lee Brewer 
Published: April 21, 2014 

The executions (click here) of two Oklahoma death row inmates have been stayed by the state Supreme Court. The stays will last until a case of the state’s source of lethal injection drugs is fully adjudicated.

...In March, a district judge agreed with attorneys representing Lockett, 38, and Charles Frederick Warner, 46, that a law allowing the state to keep secret its source of the drugs it will use to execute the two men was unconstitutional....

Consumers in Poughkeepsie are being riped off to pay for a Cuomo's idea of investment.

Electricity costs to rise an extra 6 to 10 percent (click here)

Central Hudson Blames Feds, State for Power Price Hike

March 1, 2014

Come May, Electricity will cost between 6 percent to 10 percent more than it would otherwise, say Central Hudson Corp. Executives. But, they say don't blame them or the new owner, Fortis, Inc.

It called the "New Capacity Zone," a plan by Federal and State Agencies to raise the cost or power supply that customers pay in order to incentivize generating companies to build more power plants in southeastern New York....

There is only ONE REASON why this change in ownership is taking place with a Canadian company; it is because Fortis, Inc. is unregulated and Central Hudson Corp. is regulated until 2015. This is exploitation of consumers that have already sustained a price increase.

This is outrageous!

What does Cuomo think he is doing to people?

Fortis isn't a public utility. It is Wall Street. 

Fortis (click here) achieved earnings to common shareholders of $353 million in 2013 up from $315 million in 2012

Cuomo is all in with private industry, isn't he? Schools and now utilities, who does he think is ultimately going to live in Poughkeepsie a community of oil sheiks?

The utilities were supposed to be fixed until 2015. Now, in a short period of time they have sustained utility increases twice. 10 percent? You've got to be joking. People will lose their homes. Where is that money coming from in this Middle Class city? What does that do to the rest of the New York State and USA economy if the electricity is more expensive and going to a Canadian company? 

Cuomo is nuts to go along with this mess. 

Whatever happened to freezing rate for another two years?

Updated Jun 13th 2013 3:25PM  ...The Acquisition (click here) provides Central Hudson customers with nearly US$50 million in financial benefits to moderate future delivery rates, enhance economic development programs in the areas serviced by Central Hudson and provide further assistance to low-income families in the service area. Delivery rates will be frozen for an additional two years, effectively holding rates constant for the three-year period from July 2012 through June 2015. All employees of Central Hudson will retain their jobs for at least four years and an additional 35 union positions will be created. Central Hudson will operate as a standalone company, its current level of community support will be guaranteed for at least 10 years and a new board of directors will have increased local representation....

118th Boston Marathon Underway

Elite Men are finishing the first 3 downhill miles and nearing the 5K.

 Watch the race online at watchlive.baa.org.

As usual, (click here) the path for the 2014 Boston Marathon will be a 26.2-mile excursion that finishes on Boylston Street in Copley Square. Over 36,000 runners have registered to participate in the Boston Marathon this year. Only the 1996 Boston Marathon had more runners. The Boston Globe reported that over 1 million people are expected to turn out to watch the event this year, twice the usual number. After last year's tragedy, security is expected to be heightened.

11:10 PM Monday Apr 21, 2014
 
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) (click here) Authorities say three people have died and 250 were evacuated after heavy rain and flooding hit southern Romania over the weekend.

Interior minister Gabriel Oprea said an 80-year-old man in the southern county of Olt died after a mudslide hit his home and another man in a village near Bucharest also died in the floods. Emergency services spokeswoman Madalina Epure said a 13-year-old boy had been found dead Monday having been swept away by floodwaters.

Oprea said three people remain unaccounted-for. Emergency services carried out some 550 rescue operations.

Eighty-six villages in southern Romania were flooded. Worst affected were three southern counties that lie along the River Vedea.

The River Vedea drains into the Danube River noted in the red line on the map. The Danube's headwaters is in Germany. The River Vedea is in a basin in Romania. There was just no place for the water to go.

12:45 AM Tuesday Apr 22, 2014

 

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) The United Auto Workers (click here) is withdrawing its appeal of the outcome of a union vote at Volkswagen's assembly plant in Tennessee.
In a Monday statement, the UAW says it will instead focus on a congressional investigation into an anti-unionization campaign by Republican politicians and outside groups.
The UAW filed its appeal with the National Labor Relations Board after Volkswagen workers rejected the union in a 712-626 vote in February, arguing that public statements from U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and other Republican officials raised fears about the plant's future if workers there organized.
Documents also show Tennessee tied a $300 million incentive package to the satisfactory outcome of the labor situation at the plant.
A hearing on the matter had been scheduled to begin Monday in Chattanooga.

The Ukrainian Crisis has escalated due to Russian policy since it's first protest.

The reason the protests occurred in the first place was due to economics. The Ukrainians wanted trade relations with Europe. That is all this was. Yanukovich refused to carry through with the European trade agreement. The Ukrainians were tired of an oppressive economy and began protests.

I have been attending protests since day one: (click here) 21 November 2012. It started with a peaceful protest of a couple hundred people. I painted a poster - “Europe Starts With You” - and stood alone near the independence monument. Then young people started to come up and talk, and, with many of those I met on those November days, we are still meeting regularly at the protests. 

The day the Ukrainian government decided to stop the agreement with the EU, I almost cried in disbelief. The government had finally shown its true face. We were so naive and optimistic that we actually believed they wouldn’t. Then the situation suddenly changed. It was not about Europe anymore, but about stopping the violence against peaceful protesters, ensuring justice and demanding the resignation of the criminal government and its president.

Yesterday I took part in a mass demonstration in Kiev to support the unity of Ukraine, the people in Crimea, and to protest against Russian military intervention on the territory of sovereign Ukraine....

The European Agreement has been passed by the Ukraine. I don't see the escalation is at all appropriate. Russia's indulgence of the politics of Yanukovich has turned an economic protest into inappropriate tensions over sovereign borders.

I remind, Russia broke a treaty that was suppose to maintain peace within Ukraine. It broke a treaty to impose the politics of a Ukraine president that fled the country. No one exiled Yanukovich. He left of his own accord because he knows what he did as a power broker in that country. 

What the world is witnessing in the Ukraine is Yanukovich's STRATEGY against the people of the Ukraine to maintain power and his plush lifestyle. Enough.

I do believe Ukrainian leadership has come forward to engage talks to return peace to the people. What else is there to understand other than divisive intentions to grow hatred and violence? The people don't want hatred and violence. The people understand that much about themselves. No one should be attempting to poison the well.

By Adrian Croft

BRUSSELS  
Fri Mar 21, 2014 6:26am EDT

(Reuters) - The European Union and Ukraine(click here) signed the core elements of a political association agreement on Friday, committing to the same deal former president Viktor Yanukovich rejected last November, a move which led to his overthrow.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, EU leaders Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso, and the leaders of the bloc's 28 nations signed the core chapters of the Association Agreement on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.

The deal commits Ukraine and the EU to closer political and economic cooperation, although more substantial parts of the agreement concerning free trade will only be signed after Ukraine has held new presidential elections in May.

Van Rompuy, the European Council president, said the agreement would bring Ukraine and its 46 million people closer to the heart of Europe and a "European way of life".

"(This) recognizes the aspirations of the people of Ukraine to live in a country governed by values, by democracy and the rule of law, where all citizens have a stake in national prosperity," he said....

Senator Corker runs away from Due Process.

Wednesday, April 16th, 2014
By Mark Pare

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (click here) today joined others in challenging United Auto Workers subpoenas for a planned hearing next week over the union’s appeal of a February employee vote at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant.

“Everyone understands that after a clear defeat, the UAW is trying to create a sideshow, so we have filed a motion to revoke these baseless subpoenas,” said Todd Womack, Corker’s chief of staff, in a statement. “Neither Sen. Corker nor his staff will attend the hearing on Monday.”

The UAW had cited the Tennessee Republican’s statement during the election that should workers reject the UAW, he had assurances VW would bring a second vehicle assembly line to Chattanooga....

It would seem no matter what wind direction Senator Corker took, he openly admits he 'had words.' Subpoenas are appropriate.
 

The Republicans play 'politics of convenience' over Keystone.

To begin with, this isn't a debate. This is about scientific findings. 

By Jim Snyder  
Apr 21, 2014 12:00 AM ET

The focus of the Keystone XL (click here) debate has shifted from a fierce lobbying war in Washington to Lincoln, Nebraska, where the state Supreme Court has been asked to weigh a legal challenge to the pipeline....

I thought Republicans valued State's Rights over anything the federal government has to say. I mean either there is a problem in Nevada or not. 

The South Korean President is overreaching in her description of the tragedy.

Tragedies have horrid outcomes and this is especially bad, but, calling it the equivalent to murder is inflammatory. The families don't need that, neither does the country of South Korea. This was not murder by the captain or anyone else.

Monday 21 April 2014 12.38

South Korean (click here) President Park Geun-hye said the actions of some crew of a ferry that sank with hundreds feared dead were tantamount to murder....

...Most of the victims are high school children.

The ferry’s captain Lee Joon-seok, 69, and two other crew members were arrested last week on negligence charges.

Prosecutors announced four further arrests today - two first mates, one second mate and a chief engineer.

Several crew members, including the captain, left the ferry as it was sinking, ahead of the passengers, witnesses have said.

Ms Park said the crew's desertion was tantamount to murder....

I am trying to understand what they were suppose to do. The ship went down very fast. I'd be more interested in understanding how this ferry became so unstable so quickly than looking for scapegoats. The captain and his crew may very well be responsible and to that end will receive punishment under the law, but, how did that ferry go down so quickly. 

When they over steered they must have hit the water movement just right to cause such a drastic reaction by the boat. What was the bang that occurred before the listing of the boat? There was a bang reported by survivors. What was the bang?

There were airstrikes today, too.

It seems to me if Assad can't stop killing his people his airfields need to be destroyed. Assad has set presidential elections for June 3rd and is expected to win that election. There is actually places for people to place their ballots? What buildings are left? There are so many refugees the election can never be considered legitimate. The entire idea of elections is ridiculous. 

April 21, 2014
AFP  

PARIS - France (click here) has ‘information’ but no firm proof that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime is still using chemical weapons, President Francois Hollande said Sunday.

‘We have a few elements of information but I do not have the proof,’ Hollande said in a radio interview after he was asked about reports that Assad was currently using chemical weapons. ‘What I do know is what we have seen from this regime is the horrific methods it is capable of using and the rejection of any political transition,’ he told the Europe 1 radio station.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the same radio station there were ‘indications, which have yet to be verified, that there have been recent chemical attacks’. He said they were ‘much less significant than those in Damascus a few months ago but very deadly’, and had taken place in the northwest of the country, near the Lebanese border. A French source close to the matter told AFP that the reports ‘had come from different sources, including the Syrian opposition’....

...Last week the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the global chemical watchdog, said Syria had surrendered almost two-thirds of its chemical weapons, including many priority chemicals. Damascus had halted exports temporarily, citing security concerns, but restarted transfers earlier in April.

Speaking on April 14 after Syria had completed its latest shipment, the OPCW chief Ahmed Uzumcu said ‘both the frequency and the volumes of deliveries have to increase....

...‘On the day of the resurrection of Christ, and from the heart of Maalula, President Assad hopes all Syrians have a happy Easter, and for the reestablishment of peace and security throughout Syria,’...

Those good wishes didn't last long. Assad is using the same Russian strategy of seeking out minority populations and purporting to be their champion. Same thing. Ethnic divisions.

...Throughout Syria's conflict, the Assad regime has sought to portray itself as the protector of the country's religious minorities against a revolt it says is led by foreign-backed extremists. The Syrian opposition dismisses such claims as part of a divide-and-rule strategy which is also aimed at deterring the West from providing greater support to the rebels....

It is interesting, Assad appeared yesterday in Maalul, Syria. It is reported to have been taken back by Syrian forces last week. Maalul is considered among the oldest Christian settlements where Aramaic is spoken. Nothing like "Mission Accomplished" in time for Easter to raise the popularity quotient.

The neighborhood being reported as the subject of the latest chemical attacks is the same as before, Kafr Zeta in Hama Province. The chemical of choice this time is chlorine. It will burn lungs.

...Exposure to extremely high levels of pure chlorine gas (click here) can cause lung collapse and death. Exposure to high levels can cause pulmonary edema, rapid breathing, wheezing, blue coloring of the skin, vomiting, anxiety, accumulation of fluid in the lungs, severe eye and skin burns, loss of vision, and lung pain.

Exposure to low levels of pure chlorine gas is irritating to the respiratory tract, eyes, and skin. Exposure can cause sore or swollen throat, coughing, choking, sneezing, pneumonia, chest tightness and pain, headache, dizziness, watery eyes, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, vomiting blood, severe abdominal pain, skin blisters and irritation, difficulty breathing, and pain or burning in the stomach, nose, eyes, ears, lips, or tongue....

04/19/2014
  
...Sources (click here) have told Revolution News that 100 people were injured and suffocated as a direct result of barrel bombs containing chlorine gas that were thrown from Syrian regime helicopters.
 
The injured were taken to field hospitals for treatment and included women and children presenting with shortness of breath, vomiting and visual disturbances.

Chlorine is a so-called dual-use chemical and was not among the chemical agents declared by Assad under the latest chemical deal....

The Ring of Fire has been very busy.

Matthew F Smith, Digital Producer, msmith@ktuu.com

POSTED: 03:06 PM AKDT Apr 18, 2014    UPDATED: 03:11 PM AKDT Apr 18, 2014 

NOME - A series of earthquakes (click here) rattled northwest Alaska about 40 miles northeast of Kotzebue Friday morning, beginning with a strong 5.6 magnitude earthquake at 10:44 a.m.

“It’s a very striking earthquake,” said state seismologist Michael West, the director of the Alaska Earthquake Center in Fairbanks. “I’m not aware of anything in the last 30 years in the area anywhere close in size.”

West says the initial quake was the one of the largest on record for the region, and was followed by a series of less-powerful quakes, including a 5.3 magnitude aftershock that struck just 12 minutes later.

“We’ve recorded at least 10 or so aftershocks in the last couple of hours; I’m quite sure there are many more that are a lot smaller,” West said.

The centers of the quakes were about 20 miles northeast of the 500-strong community of Noatak, with the Red Dog Mine also 20 miles away....