Thursday, October 30, 2014

Cory Gardner has the nerve of accusing US Senator Udall of being partisan? You've got to be joking. Gardner voted nothing but the party line and extreme all the way (click here).  Isn't he Tea Party? He certainly has learned how to show off his whitened teeth and a big smile. President Obama taught him that. And instead of ferns he uses pine trees.

He voted no and against the party on HR5272, but, the question Gardner is not whether he votes with his Party 95% of the time, but, does he ever depart from rhetorical legislation that never makes it to law?

Vote Smart's Synopsis: HR 5272
Vote to pass a bill that prohibits any federal agency from using funds after July 30, 2014 to consider any application of any undocumented immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any undocumented immigrant, or to authorize any undocumented immigrant to work in the United States.

The NRA and extremist gun rights are a sincere issue in Colorado. This is an off year election and we all know what happened to gun laws and the candidates that passed them in any recall effort. 

Colorado is the abused child of gun rights in the USA. It gets pummeled from both ends. The massacres take place and while the public after Columbine wanted more protections as years have gone by the NRA and loose gun control have imposed the need for weapons, although, that is still theory. There is not one loose gun law that has stopped mass murders anywhere.
Cory says, "One of our most basic and fundamental rights is the right to protect ourselves.  I believe this right should be expanded and encouraged on every front.  As a member of Congress, I will oppose any efforts by the federal government to create a federal database of gun owners and work tirelessly to protect each and every right guaranteed to the citizens by the U.S. Constitution."

I remember after Aurora shooting of 2012 a young woman being interviewed by the media. When asked if she thought stricter gun laws would be helpful, she stated, "No, it is just the way it is." That pretty much sums up the people not in just Colorado, but, many across the country. The American people have been abused by right wing fear mongers and when it comes to whether or not they need or want guns, they are resigned to the 'state of play' of gun violence and death. It is part of the landscape as far as some are concerned. The right wing knows what it's doing in wearing down resistance for their cronies. It has made a complete disaster of the USA's gun control infrastructure. But, that disaster serves it's purposes.



Never one Republican will state, "I think Judge Scalia has it all wrong and he ought to be impeached for his gun rights opinion." See if Republicans weren't so rhetorical, they would actually have to admit any legislation passed at least at the state level is illegal according to the last Supreme Court ruling on the Second Amendment. I have yet to see a Democrat in any debate when guns may come up say, "You know Cory (or whoever) you have it all wrong and you are endorsing unlawful legislation even according to the Supreme Court's decision." Republicans are never held accountable for their advocacy for gun laws that are already illegal according to the current precedent.

"In Colorado, Gardner introduced legislation to protect our Second Amendment Rights." What is so difficult to understand? He is a salesman in any aspect of legislation at the state or federal level for the NRA. That is being a lobbyist. When a legislator is willing to be a salesperson for a crony when the current USA law or precedent states otherwise, he is a lobbyist.

It has been amazing to watch the right wing at any state level where appropriate to walk all over existing statue. The so called "States Rights" label they carry around on their sleeve is not suppose to mean ANARCHY is optional.

It doesn't matter the topic. Be it guns, babies, women's health and the list is long and undistinguished; they create anarchy and that is against the law. When people want to change existing statute, it is suppose to be written and passed at the level where statutory priority exists. In other words, Second Amendment Rights has been decided for a long time. It is a federal decision. That means the states have to abide by it UNTIL it is changed. If a state wants to write new law that changes gun rights, it has to pass the challenge of the federal law which means it should NEVER be enacted before it is decided by federal statutory authority.

The Right Wing can write state law all they want, but, they can't involve it if there are federal statues bearing it as lawful. The Supreme Court is always available for EMERGENCIES if the circumstances call for it. The Right Wing in the USA has been running anarchy through it's state legislatures since 2010. No one cares to stop them though. It is completely ridiculous.

Where states do win against a federal statute is IF the law is more stringent than federal law. If the state statue holds the federal statute at bay because it states a poison like arsenic has to be at a much lower amount than federal laws, then that supersedes until it is otherwise mitigated. Any judicial authority has the responsibility to uphold the more stringent law until it reaches appropriate statutory authority.

The gun rights laws that literally turn everyone in the country loose to do as they please, wherever they please, is held to the standard of the federal precedent to any lower court until it reaches the federal level. It has amazed me to realize the anarchy that has existed in this country with the Republicans at the state level. Then we wonder why there is a 5000 man militia ready to kill federal authorities; well if all the country does is break the law themselves who the heck is in charge around here, Governors or the President?

Wow. The NOAA Weather Radio just went off and mountains in NC are going to be receiving up to 10 inches of snow with temperatures in the 20s and 30s and winds to 20 mph. They are not ready for this, there is still color on the trees and a few friends were spending this past weekend in Asheville. 

Besides driving, which North Carolinians have absolutely no concept of driving in the snow, there most assuredly there will be power outages. Towns and cities need to consider 'warming shelters' for their families when at all possible.

October 30, 2014
10:45 PM EDT
The Weather Channel Current Temperature Map

The dangerous air is noted over North and South Dakota with temperatures in the 20s. According to UNISYS (click here for 12 hour loop) that air mass is at the southern end of Minnesota and every hour it is advancing quickly.


October 31, 2014
0230.19z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of USA

Pretty lousy trick or treat. Darn it!

October 30, 2014
11:27 pm edt 
4 minutes ago

ASHEVILLE – The weather (click here) could get a little scary in the Asheville area late Halloween night and into Saturday, with high winds, the coldest temperatures of the season and, yes, even snow possible.

Snow is in the forecast even for valley locations such as Asheville, National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Horne said Thursday. The immediate Asheville area could get about an inch of snow by Saturday afternoon, he said, while areas to the north of town such as Weaverville could get up to 3 inches.

Higher mountains along the Tennessee border, above 3,500 feet, could get 3-6 inches of snow.

It looks like Halloween is aback on. It has been cancelled with Frein still on the loose.

October 30, 2014

DUNMORE, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania State Police, (click here) ending a seven-week manhunt, have captured a man accused of ambushing two troopers, leaving one dead and seriously injuring the other. Eric Frein, 31, was taken into custody Thursday, state police said. They released no details of his capture. Frein is charged with opening fire outside the Blooming Grove barracks on Sept. 12, killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson and seriously wounding another trooper....

He was captured when he came out into the open. I realize it was an abandoned airstrip, but, it still wasn't 'the woods.' With the FBI and so many involved in the search the snow would have given him away soon. So, was it infrared that made him known?

The good people of Ferguson, Missouri must vote. Today is a new day.

October 30, 2014
By Kimberly Kind

The St. Louis prosecuting attorney (click here) said Thursday that he has investigated accusations that grand jurors have leaked information about their
investigation of Police Darren Wilson and has found no evidence to support these claims.
In a prepared statement, Robert P. McCulloch defended the integrity of this grand jury’s work and said that to suggest otherwise is “wrong, irresponsible and does a great disservice to the public.”... 

Everyone knows the Ferguson police department has been using excessive force. The only people that don't believe that are in the police department itself. Michael Brown, Jr. was murdered because of the practice of excessive force by the Ferguson police department. We have witnessed over and over again the extreme use of force with the people of Ferguson. It is known, the country is aware of the injustices and the people of that city are important.

Today is a different day for Ferguson, Missouri. Today the people of Ferguson are no longer beaten into submission and the point where their vote seems useless. Today, the votes by the people of Ferguson are more important than any demonstration can be. 

The people have to sort through the candidates and vote. The candidate may not be perfect or what they hope for, but, it will be a candidate that will recognize the change in them and their resolve to govern themselves. 

Politics can be a very powerful thing. It can change the entire leadership of a police department when the Mayor and Council are made to answer for their lack of judgement in hiring a police chief or a group of officers or a prosecutor that has been on the job too long with too much baggage to see the forest for the trees. 

This is the election of 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. It will be the first step in many to come that will change the face of government in Ferguson. It will be the first time a lower Middle Class town will find the time to cast their votes. It will the first time the 'habit' of voting will begin. It is the promise to themselves and their community to organize and run candidates that understand them and can relate to their problems. This is the election where Michael Brown, Jr. would have been so proud of all those that have call for justice.

This has to be the new beginning of a broader and better slate of candidates. I would ask each voter in Ferguson that might be concerned about voting and the process they will be joining to carry their cell phones on record. Keep the vote in the voting booth private, but, the process should and could be recorded so everything goes well and if it doesn't the truth will be recorded to hear and/or seen.

The country's hearts are with all of those in Ferguson and they don't stand alone in seeking to dissolve the militarized police departments across the USA. It's ridiculous. In the name of Michael Brown, Jr. this year, vote.

Here it comes. Look out Chicago. Twenty-three feet in Lake Michigan and up to 14 feet in the other lakes.

It will be cold in Michigan by Election Day, local candidate offices should try to help with a call in number if people are having a difficult time getting to the polling places. Don't spend all the funding on ads, if rental vans are a realistic need. Good luck.

Strong north winds are expected to make dangerous waves on Lake Michigan. The waves could build to 23 feet at the very southern end of Lake Michigan.

October 30, 2014
By Mark Torregroosa


A strengthening storm system will move straight over Michigan, while deepening at the same time. A deepening storm means the wind speeds will increase.

The winds will be straight out of the north, which really builds the wave heights, especially on Lake Michigan. The flow of air down the entire length of Lake Michigan will cause waves to increase heading south on Lake Michigan. Winds are expected to gust over 40 MPH on all of the Great Lakes shores. There is a storm warning in effect, and waves could build to 23 feet at the south end of Lake Michigan.

Stay off the piers Friday. The higher lake levels, combined with the high waves will make it too dangerous....


"It doesn't seem like the right time"

I congratulate Brittany (click here) in finding the joy in life while having control of a terrible diagnosis.

Death from disease is never a goal, but, simply a benchmark.

I wish her continued peace. Her family's love is obvious.

The country weeps with Boston.

October 30, 2014
By Bryan Marquard and Jim O'Sullivan

Thomas Michael Menino, (click here) who insisted a mayor doesn’t need a grand vision to lead, then went on to shepherd Boston’s economy and shape the skyline and the very identity of the city he loved through an unprecedented five consecutive terms in City Hall, died Thursday. He was 71 and was diagnosed with advanced cancer not long after leaving office at the beginning of this year....

This isn't fair. He was suppose to be around a lot longer than this.

Don't tell me Iraq has a burgeoning competent security force.

Iraqi security forces take up position with their weapons during an intensive security deployment against Islamic State militants on the outskirts of Diyala province, October 28, 2014 (Photo: Reuters)

...Iraqi military forces (click here) have killed about 300 Islamic State (IS) militants in Salaheddin province in Baiji city, north of Baghdad, a security source told the Iraqi Media News Agency on Thursday.
The source pointed out that army troops were backed by local citizens during the operation. He added that Iraqi airstrikes against the jihadist group will resume to regain the city.
Baiji has the largest oil refinery in Iraq which is currently controlled by IS along with other large territories in Iraq and Syria. Reuters reported last Saturday that Iraq's government troops – along with Shia militias – have recaptured the town of Jurf al-Sakhar near Baghdad from IS.

Security sources told Reuters that Kurdish fighters restored the northern town of Zumar and another nearby villages on the same day, following severe airstrikes against IS militants by the US-led coalition....

They have decided they need each other and not discriminate along the lines of religion and/or ethnicity. Iraq's DIVERSE forces are successful.

The USA Secretary of State has performed the impossible. He should be congratulated for providing the strength of a new coalition of forces for the Middle East. I am amazed. Honestly was very skeptical it could be done. And, of course, realizing each ethnicity has their own militias to come together with national military is perfect. There is no fear with each region of the country of Iraq allowing ethnic militias to exist. As the USA was afraid of the King in it's constitutional sovereignty, Iraq was the same. 

The new Prime Minister was the key. A diverse and strong Iraq actually has a chance of being sovereign. They respect each other and realize their greater enemy were those that took advantage of the insecurity created by Saddam. The Baathists of the Islamic State were the new Saddam. This is quite an accomplishment. 

The new coalition of nations have proven the strength of their religions and it's capacity to embrace their need over their difference. The Muslim faith is a great religion that provides for the well being of it's people over sectarian priorities.

The Law governing the INTERSTATE transport of disease is a function of FEDERAL authorities.

Who Is in Charge (click here)

The federal government

  • Acts to prevent the entry of communicable diseases into the United States. Quarantine and isolation may be used at U.S. ports of entry.
  • Is authorized to take measures to prevent the spread of communicable diseases between states.
  • May accept state and local assistance in enforcing federal quarantine.
  • May assist state and local authorities in preventing the spread of communicable diseases.

State, local, and tribal authorities

  • Enforce isolation and quarantine within their borders.
It is possible for federal, state, local, and tribal health authorities to have and use all at the same time separate but coexisting legal quarantine power in certain events. In the event of a conflict, federal law is supreme.

§264. Regulations to control communicable diseases (click here)

(a) Promulgation and enforcement by Surgeon General

The Surgeon General, with the approval of the Secretary (The secretary referred to is the HHS Secretary) , is authorized to make and enforce such regulations as in his judgment are necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the States or possessions, or from one State or possession into any other State or possession. For purposes of carrying out and enforcing such regulations, the Surgeon General may provide for such inspection, fumigation, disinfection, sanitation, pest extermination, destruction of animals or articles found to be so infected or contaminated as to be sources of dangerous infection to human beings, and other measures, as in his judgment may be necessary.

42 U.S.C. 
United States Code, 2011 Edition
Title 42 - THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER 6A - PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
SUBCHAPTER II - GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES
Part G - Quarantine and Inspection
From the U.S. Government Printing Office
There is going to be no living with my mother. 

The Giants!

Let's put it this way. My nephew and his wife named their first born Madison. And it's a girl. 


Madison Bumgarner embraces Buster Posey (left) after saving Game 7.

October 30, 2014
By Peter Abraham


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Carlton Fisk, (click here) Joe Carter and Kirk Gibson earned their place with a swing of a bat. The great Willie Mays made a catch with his back to the plate and the game on the line. Those were flashes of brilliance never to be forgotten.
For Madison Bumgarner, his imprint on World Series history was more of a relentless tide coming in, a performance with time to savor. Each pitch underlined his determination to stop the Kansas City Royals then and there....

...Bumgarner won three games in the Series, allowing one run on nine hits over 21 innings with one walk and 17 strikeouts. He was, of course, named Most Valuable Player.
Bumgarner’s 52 innings were a record for a postseason, surpassing the 48 innings Curt Schilling threw for Arizona in 2001....

Where is the authority of the USA Surgeon General?

The inconsistency in the USA is due to a lack of a USA authority that is a medical official. Republicans have no right. That was NO RIGHT to criticize the President because they are the ones responsible for ambivalence in the USA.

Like I said, don't politicize the Ebola virus.

Maine or any other state doesn't have the ability to pass judgement with the confidence of law.

Ebola is not the same as any other illness the USA has faced. End of discussion.

Those most responsible for inconsistent policy are those unable to governor in the face of a crisis.