Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Did he get his rabbis shot this year?

Please don't expect me to take him seriously. He has a borrowed heart, I don't think he's going anywhere near the White House soon.

I hope you have fun, Dick. It really is sad to realize this is the only thing he considers fun, too.

Once OCD, always OCD. It's in the genes.

And, no, I didn't read anything he wrote. If it was sincerely worthwhile and a concern for the nation it probably would have been classified. WSJ is Murdoch. What does anyone expect?

Now this Op-Ed was about the truth. I definitely read it. I am still waiting for that Perp Walk.

"What I Didn't Find in Africa (click here)

By Joseph C. Wilson, 4th
July 6, 2003

Did the Bush administration manipulate intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs to justify an invasion of Iraq?

Based on my experience with the administration in the months leading up to the war, I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.
For 23 years, from 1976 to 1998, I was a career foreign service officer and ambassador. In 1990, as chargé d'affaires in Baghdad, I was the last American diplomat to meet with Saddam Hussein. (I was also a forceful advocate for his removal from Kuwait.) After Iraq, I was President George H. W. Bush's ambassador to Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe; under President Bill Clinton, I helped direct Africa policy for the National Security Council.
It was my experience in Africa that led me to play a small role in the effort to verify information about Africa's suspected link to Iraq's nonconventional weapons programs. Those news stories about that unnamed former envoy who went to Niger? That's me.

In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney's office had questions about a particular intelligence report. While I never saw the report, I was told that it referred to a memorandum of agreement that documented the sale of uranium yellowcake -- a form of lightly processed ore -- by Niger to Iraq in the late 1990's. The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president's office....

...I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people: current government officials, former government officials, people associated with the country's uranium business. It did not take long to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place....

...(As for the actual memorandum, I never saw it. But news accounts have pointed out that the documents had glaring errors -- they were signed, for example, by officials who were no longer in government -- and were probably forged. And then there's the fact that Niger formally denied the charges.)
Before I left Niger, I briefed the ambassador on my findings, which were consistent with her own. I also shared my conclusions with members of her staff. In early March, I arrived in Washington and promptly provided a detailed briefing to the C.I.A. I later shared my conclusions with the State Department African Affairs Bureau. There was nothing secret or earth-shattering in my report, just as there was nothing secret about my trip.
Though I did not file a written report, there should be at least four documents in United States government archives confirming my mission. The documents should include the ambassador's report of my debriefing in Niamey, a separate report written by the embassy staff, a C.I.A. report summing up my trip, and a specific answer from the agency to the office of the vice president (this may have been delivered orally). While I have not seen any of these reports, I have spent enough time in government to know that this is standard operating procedure.
The USA is setting itself up for WW III. Ukraine and Russia. Vietnam and China. Questions?

Vietnam was fought for the wrong reasons.

Iraq was fought for the wrong reasons.

Now, we are going to save them from themselves. This is what Bush's "Pacific Focus" has brought us. Now, all we need is another Bush or Neacon in the White House and we'll be off to the races. McCain has already stated, "Why sure I'm going to run for president again." It is obvious now why.
200 special ops "advisors" have been sent to Saigon to protect the embassy and provide training for the South Vietnamese army.

This is how it started last time under Eisenhower. Kennedy, had he not been assassinated would have brought them all home. President Kennedy, in 1963, had a choice to make, either escalate the war in Vietnam or reduce the USA's presence all together. "In the day," the domino theory was the prevailing military culture. Today, it is a terrorist on every corner. But, President Kennedy witnessed four monks self-immolate. He was horrified by it and realized the Vietnamese people didn't want a war to separate them.

Bring the troops home! I don't care if it 'seems' like it's a different reason. The Vietnamese soldiers can train in the USA just as well if not better than sending USA soldiers there.


Soldier Jim Lundgard diplaying the Ohio flag that he requested from Governor James Rhodes while serving in Vietnam, 1969. The flag is part of the Ohio Historical Society museum collections, catalog number H 82022.


...Hoping to prevent communism (click here) from spreading to South Vietnam, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent American troops to South Vietnam to advise the South Vietnamese military in its war against the South Vietnamese revolutionaries and their North Vietnamese supporters. President John F. Kennedy continued sending advisers to South Vietnam during his administration....

A return to Vietnam, a return to Iraq. All the old ghosts have returned. General McCain just can't leave it alone, can he?

Well done, President Obama. Congratulations. What a great idea. It was there the entire time. Cool.



By Pete Williams
Ruling by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, (click here) declaring the team name of the NFL's Washington Redskins "a racial slur," has a good chance of being upheld, experts in trademark law said Wednesday.
Wednesday's 2-1 vote by the three-member appeal board marked the second time the team name was declared invalid. The board reached a similar decision in 1999, but its order was overturned on appeal.
The Redskins vowed Wednesday to appeal again....
I would be surprised if Turkey needs to worry about any PKK at this point. I am sure they are worried about their northern Iraqi towns as is the Peshmerga. The Peshmerga forces are able to conduct combat. They have resources. I am sure they would welcome any consultations and supplies Turkey might have in mind. The Peshmerga can be instrumental in assisting with any return of the PKK as trouble to Turkish citizens. At this point the circumstances make for unexpected allies and outcomes for peace in the region.

I do believe President Poroshenko has asked Russian journalists to leave Ukraine for their own safety.

I am quite sure Ukraine does not have the resources to offer a security detail for Russia journalists. Unlike Russia, Ukraine doesn't jail journalists to insure their safety.
KIEV, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s new President Petro Poroshenko (click here) has asked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to assist Kiev in the release of all journalists and activists detained in the turbulent Luhansk and Donetsk regions, according to Poroshenko’s press office.
“Russian and Ukrainian presidents discussed an array of urgent measures that are necessary for a lasting ceasefire and its effective monitoring. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called on the Russian president to lend a hand in the release of all seized journalists and activists,” the official statement read.
The announcement came after the two leaders held a phone conversation Wednesday. It didn’t expand on whose release was of concern to the new Ukrainian president.
Earlier in the day, Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov commented on the phone talk, saying the Russian leader had emphasized the necessity to ensure absolute security of reporters on assignment in Ukraine.
This came in the wake of a deadly mortar attack on a Ukrainian village on the outskirts of Luhansk that killed a Russian TV journalist and a video engineer....

Maliki has been dictating the powers of the local governments. This isn't about the federal representation, this is about the powers of a dictator.

Exclusive: Atheel al-Nujaifi, (click here) the governor of Mosul, calls for fragmentation of Iraq and establishment of an Arab Sunni army to fight ISIS

By Ruth Sherlock and Carol Malouf in Erbil
6:28PM BST 12 Jun 2014

The ousted governor of Mosul has called for the fragmentation of Iraq into sectarian cantons, after the national Iraqi army fled when extremists from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham attacked his city.
Speaking from the Kurdish city of Erbil, to where he escaped when ISIS militants attacked his office, Atheel al-Nujaifi outlined to The Telegraph a plan in which his Ninevah province, including its capital Mosul, would build an Arab Sunni army that is autonomous from Baghdad.
Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, "didn't devolve authority to us before, but now we must do it. Now we are saying his centralisation policies have failed," Mr Nujaifi said....

It would be very wise for Turkey to open a dialogue with the north Iraqi provinces to consider bolstering their ability to protect their communities, even have personnel that are armed well enough to support a resistance. Turkey would be foolish not to protect it's border with Iraq and offer whatever assistance the Kurds and northern Iraqi Sunnis need.
               

What bank is financing UralVagonZavod?

March 27, 2014

Talks are underway with UralVagonZavod, (click here) spokesman for Azerbaijan Railways Nadir Azmammadov told APA-Economics.
Azmammadov said one of the proposals made during the talks was connected with launching the enterprise in 2015.
The Russian company plans to construct a rolling stock  plant in Azerbaijan with a capacity of 2000 wagons s a year.
UralVagonZavod wants 50% share in the project, in this case investments by both sides are estimated at EUR 20-30 million euros....

I have a difficult time believing there is more than one company in the world named UralVagonZavod. They are manufacturing the tanks currently killing people in Ukraine. I think it is the Czech Export Bank. Russian leadership does not have control over their military industrial complex. The Russian oligarchs do.

The hostilities allowing movement of tanks into Ukraine isn't about gas sales. This is about killing people and destroying a sovereign nation. The intent by UralVagonZavod is fairly obvious, profits with complete disregard for human life and let Russia be the patsy for it all. And why not, if Russia can be hated for killing Ukrainians, UralVagonZavod would increase it's business a hundred fold when sincere war breaks out.

June 15, 2014
By Lawrence Norman
NATO provided satellite imagery Saturday of a Russian military staging area near Ukraine. The left image, dated May 30, shows a Russian unit on site. The middle image, dated June 6, showed most of the vehicles gone. The third image, dated June 11, shows 10 battle tanks on site, NATO said. NATO


BRUSSELS—The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (click here) provided satellite imagery Saturday that appeared to reinforce Ukrainian and U.S. claims that Russian tanks had crossed into Ukraine in recent days.
On Thursday, senior Ukrainian officials, including President Petro Poroshenko, accused Russia of allowing tanks and heavy artillery to cross into Ukraine in what could be a significant escalation of the conflict.
The U.S. and the U.K. on Friday backed up Ukraine's claim. U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said the entry of three Russian tanks into Ukraine was "completely unacceptable" and warned of further Western sanctions "if Moscow continues to provoke instability."...
June 18, 2014
By Nick Cumming Bruce
...The dead included 257 civilians (click here) and 86 Ukrainian military personnel, including the 49 who were killed last week when separatists shot down a military transport plane with a shoulder-launched missile as it approached Luhansk airport, Mr. Magazzeni said. The report did not offer additional details about the remaining 13 deaths....

How many women and children died on their way to the USA southern border?

With no official record-keeping system, the exact number of illegal border crossers who died along Arizona's stretch of U.S.-Mexican border has never been know. In the summer of 2004, the Arizona Daily Star started compiling border deaths recorded by Pima, Cochise and Yuma County medical examiners in an effort to present an accurate tally of the numbers of people who die crossing into the United States illegally through Southern Arizona. The Pima County Medical Examiner's Office handles bodies found in Santa Cruz and Pinal Counties as well....
Where are the arrests of the people responsible for transporting them? These numbers reflect ONLY three counties in Arizona.

2004: 168
2005: 198
2006: 169
2007: 211
2008: 168
2009: 186
2010: 225
2011: 182
2012: 157
2013: 167

Nebraska citizens should not vote out of habit, they have a man and a woman in the US Senate that is in the back pocket of Big Oil.


Seantor Fischer isn't any better than Johanns. She speaks rhetoric about letting market forces work on greenhouse gas regulation. That is nonsense. If market forces work there would be no regulation. It is all double talk.

She voted no on Senator Whitehouse amendment #646, to establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund to ensure that revenue from a carbon fee will be returned to the American people. What does she want to do if such as revenue existed, keep it?

Such revenue would transform the energy infrastructure anywhere in the USA including distant towns such as Pilger. The entire 'mind speak' politics of the Republican party is nothing more than rhetoric.

These Senators have no conscience. If she is a rancher and a mother that cares she should know how completely devastating global warming is on the people of Nebraska. She hasn't got a clue.

When FEMA goes into a flooded area to provide monies for reconstruction they state any further disaster aid will not be levied against now existing flood plain. When they go into tornado damaged and storm damaged cities due to the climate crisis it should be with the understanding any energy generation in the future has to be converted to alternative fuels. In areas in Nebraska loans guarantees should be made so farmers and ranchers have alternative and autonomous sources of fuel. It makes no sense to have power lines strung all the way out into agricultural lands. 

June 17, 2014
The bedrock legal authority (click here) underlying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan is broadly recognized — by our nation’s highest court, states, power companies, academic experts, and the EPA General Counsel serving during the President George H.W. Bush administration.
Our recent Climate 411 post chronicles the Supreme Court’s decisions affirming EPA’s authority to address carbon pollution from power plants under section 111 of the Clean Air Act....
Additionally, there is a division of the branches of government. What do the Republicans think they are trying to do? Elections matter.

Nebraska

At least two people are dead (click here) following several large tornadoes in eastern Nebraska. Sheriff Mike Unger confirmed a 5-year-old died in Stanton County, while a second person was killed in nearby Cuming County, about four miles east.

A third fatality occurred just east of Pilger, but officials told NBC News they were still investigating to determine whether or not the traffic death was related to the tornado. The Associated Press reports at least 19 others were hospitalized.
The storm left "total devastation" in Pilger, a village of about 380 people. Gov. Dave Heineman declared a state of emergency, allowing the National Guard to be deployed into the area, according to KMTV. Pilger was evacuated for the night, and residents were bused a local Red Cross Shelter in nearby Wisner, Omaha.com reported.
Shortly after the twister was broadcast live on The Weather Channel, damage photos began to circulate, showing the intensity of the storm....

...and the clock struck 2:00 PM...

Chairwoman Yellen is cutting the asset purchase program back by another 10% and looking forward to economic growth in the USA.


Immediately after she spoke today the lackluster markets started to show gains.



Dow Jones






S & P




Nasdaq

Reince is reaping a crop that is now been sewn yet.

I hope the Former Secretary Clinton runs for president of the USA in the 2016 elections. Who knows what will happen in the next six to eight months with a growing family. 
But, I have some friendly, girlfriend advice as a woman who once broke through the barrier of working in a man's field.

Know who you are and before you leave to go to work take that person with you. Don't 'buy in' to any image within the 'male culture' that preceded you it most likely contains a lot of sexual/gender bias. Be the person, strong and true, to carry out the job well and complete. Accept responsibility for that good work and don't let others take your accomplishments for granted or have them claim it for themselves. They could not have done it better.

You will not find a peer group that meets your standard, there won't be one that already exists. The first time I worked in a traditionally male profession I had to take papers from my work to the secretary in the front office. After about three interactions she stated to me, "Gee, you are really, really nice." I told her thank you. See, when a woman of integrity shows up and doesn't give in to office culture and focuses on her work knowing her 'best life' is at home with her family, other women like it. It elevates their esteem and before you know it you have people coming to barbecue on the Fourth of July you never expected. 

When you find that small but nice peer group, the other men will respond. They recognize their wives and girlfriends in you and will provide the respect you deserve on the job.

Hillary, it isn't just about breaking the last glass ceiling; it is about building a culture that is good, decent and long lasting. I wish you well.
June 15, 2014
Two huge political news stories (click here) collided this week on CBS’ Face the Nation — the release of Hillary Clinton’s new memoir and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s head-scratching Republican primary loss to a poorly funded novice candidate.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus was on set to answer how the GOP, still waging an internal war, would come together to defeat Clinton in 2016, assuming she runs.
Priebus, though, said Republicans have a much deeper bench of heavyweights, adding that Clinton’s star is fading....
This is the USS Batann. It arrived to a Libyan port on May 27, 2014. When I read it was in Libya I awaited news about USA military in action for some reason, but, the reason was to pick up one of those involved in the attacks in Benghazi.

Some of the turbulence in the Middle East is due to the prisoners being held in prisons. Now, there is one less to fight over.

June 17, 2014
By Paul D. Shinkman
A joint team of U.S. military troops and FBI agents (click here) operating in Libya on Sunday successfully captured a suspect in the 2012 attack on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi that resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Ahmed Abu Khatallah, considered by the U.S. government to be a “key figure in the attacks” on Benghazi, remains in U.S. custody outside Libya, according to a statement by Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby. There were no civilian casualties and all U.S. personnel have safely left the country....
No one was killed or injured in this mission. So, with that out of the way it now becomes a political football for no reason at all.

Snyder's toxic soup.

Some time ago Michigan allowed coal ash to he used an agricultural enhancement. It was spread over crops fields with farmers being told it was a form of fertizilizer and would increase their crop yields. Coal ash is toxic and radioactive. Needless to say it was eventually stopped, but, in the city of Cadillac there are now contaminated city wells because the toxins leached through the soil.

Now Snyder has come up with a real brain storm to entomb the coal ask in cement and asphalt. Now besides radon in their basements Michiganders will have to worry about the toxins in the cement poured for their basements.

This is what Snyder calls new jobs. He has some of the largest landfills full of dangerous waste from all over the country and now he is going to import coal ash from North Carolina to create jobs and in time create more jobs when Michiganders develop cancer from the first jobs he used to stimulate the economy.


Updated: Wednesday
June 18 2014, 07:56 AM EDT

LANSING, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Governor Rick Snyder (click here) has signed laws allowing for the use of coal ash and other industrial byproducts in cement and asphalt.

The ash is a byproduct of coal combustion and poses environmental threats in landfills, but it's also commonly recycled for use in roads and parking lots.

Snyder says the laws will lessen economic waste disposal costs and support the environment.


Cement is porous and will leach the toxins into the ground water. Asphalt will heat in the summer's sun, become gooey, change the chemicals dumped into it to who knows what and will adhere to tires on cars so consumers can carry the toxins home with them. The chemicals will probably also weaken the tire rubber reducing the servicibility of the tire itself. There is no research to support Snyder's 'hey, I've got a great idea.'


Coal ash – the waste material (click here) left after coal is burned – contains arsenic, mercury, lead, and over a dozen other heavy metals, many of them toxic.  And disposal of the growing mounds of coal ash is creating grave risks to human health.
Toxic constituents of coal ash are blowing, spilling and leaching (dissolving and percolating) from storage units into air, land and human drinking water, posing an acute risk of cancer and neurological effects as well as many other negative health impacts:  heart damage, lung disease, kidney disease, reproductive problems, gastrointestinal illness, birth defects, and impaired bone growth in children....

But, but, but, ONLY 10 to 20 percent of coal ash is radioactive. 
Burning coal in boilers (click here) to create steam for power generation and industrial applications produces a number of combustion residuals. Naturally radioactive materials that were in the coal mostly end up in fly ash, bottom ash and boiler slag. These residuals are called TENORM--Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials--because burning removes the coal's organic constituents, concentrating the trace amounts of naturally occurring radionuclides:
  • uranium
  • thorium
  • potassium
  • their radioactive decay products including radium. (The amount radium in coal can vary by more than two orders of magnitude depending upon the type of coal and where it was mined.)
About 80 to 90 percent of fly ash, bottom ash and boiler slag is non-radioactive minerals, typically silicon, aluminum, iron and calcium.

Be sure to ask any contractor if they use coal ash in their cement and realtors if the house you are about to build contains concrete containing coal ash. The asphalt requires the same questions, but, city and towns will have to pass ordinances outlawing coal ash in their roads and bridges and any other building in town. 

When Republicans create jobs, it usually is a deadly mix today and twenty years down the road.

No one ever stops to wonder why Republicans hate regulations? It is because the jobs they create kill people and cause disease. Hello?

Will there be winter in the southern hemisphere this year?

June 18, 2014
Peter Hannam


Sydney’s run (click here) of unseasonably mild weather is likely to extend into early next week, placing the city on course for one of its warmest Junes on record.
With the Bureau of Meteorology  forecasting Sydney will reach 20 degrees or warmer on six of the coming seven days – including Wednesday – this June is likely to rank at least the city’s fourth warmest, said Brett Dutschke, senior meteorologist with Weatherzone.
A cold front arriving next Tuesday will likely disrupt the warm spell long enough to keep the average maximum below the record 20.3 degrees set in 1957. So far this June, the average top was been 19.6 degrees....

Australia measures their temperatures in Celsius, not Fahrenheit. New Zealand has been experiencing a lot of flooding in both the north and south islands, especially last week. This week is a bit better, but, still wet.


Thursday, June 10, 2014
New Zealand Transport Agency


Heavy rain (click here) during the last 48 hours has closed three South Island roads.
State Highway 94 from Lumsden to Te Anau is closed with a bridge washout at Whitestone River (a half hour detour is in place from Hillside Road to Manapouri); State Highway 6 is closed near Makarora with washout damage to three sections of the road and at Haast Pass because of slips; and State Highway 73 is closed from Cass to Jacksons because of flooding and slips.
SH 94 Milford Road, from Cascade Creek to Milford Sound, also remains closed this morning until a road inspection is completed. There are reports of overnight flooding on the road at Mirror Lakes.

The New Zealand Transport Agency Acting Southern Region Manager Ian Duncan says the approach to the Whitestone River Bridge on SH94 between Lumsden and Te Anau has washed out in the same place as in 2010....

June 18, 2014
0332 gmt
The Weather Channel "Pacific Global Satellite"

There are huge heat transfer systems from the equator into Antarctica. That is what is keeping the temperatures high and the land wet instead of snow cover. If that trend continues much longer, both Australia and New Zealand have to consider potential severe drought if the elevations receive far less snow this year. The precipitation that is normally snow will be running off as overland flow and into rivers and streams, ultimately into the ocean circulation. The scientists are very good at finding water vapor at every turn and preserving it for water reserves. It might be something that needs to be considered now, before there is less snow fall.