Saturday, January 31, 2015

This would never happen in the USA.

February 1, 2015
By Susan Edmonds

New Zealand's first Islamic KiwiSaver fund (click here) has been launched with a promise not to invest in alcohol, Western entertainment or pornography. The Amanah KiwiSaver Plan was registered last year and, ahead of yesterday's official launch, has about 200 members.
It will invest in line with Sharia law, ruling out many investment funds, and also requiring interest "purification payments".
"It's a very back-to-basics investment style," said barrister Brian Henry of Goldman Henry(click here), which operates the fund. "We invest in companies making something people want, real estate that is debt-free, and farming."
Henry said the fund's biggest difference was that it did not deal in interest-based products.
Investors do not have to have any connection to Islam to join the Government-approved fund, but need to know it has an ethical mandate not to invest in companies that produce pork, alcohol, tobacco or pornography. It also avoids derivatives because of the Sharia prohibition on gambling....

Think about that. These are the years of investing in moral stocks, yet, a fund based in Islamic values would be viewed as a threat. There is nothing threatening about it. I suppose very dollar is going to a terrorist, right? "W"rong. That is illegal. This is an investment portfolio providing an option for moral investors. That is all this is.

Women Rock

Lydia Ko has become the youngest golfer - male or female - to be ranked No1. Photo / Getty Images

February 1, 2015

Lydia Ko (click here) has ascended to the top of world golf faster than any player in the game's history.
The 17-year-old from Auckland tied for second in the season-opening LPGA event in Florida on Saturday, which was enough to climb to No.1 in the world rankings.
Korean Na Yeon Choi won the tournament.
Ko leapfrogs Korean Inbee Park, who finished tied for 13th at the $US1.5 million ($A1.93 million) tournament to become the youngest player, male or female, to hold the top status.
The previous youngest woman was Korean Jiyai Shin, who was 22 when she rose to the top in 2008, while American great Tiger Woods set the men's record aged 21 in 1997.
Ko, who turns 18 in April, won three LPGA titles in her rookie season last year and her gutsy triumph at the Golden Ocala course is her sixth in total....

Amazing. The petroleum industry is toxic and radioactive so why is this industry tolerated at all?

January 28, 2015
By Earnest Scheyder

(Reuters) - North Dakota's oil industry (click here) is pushing to change the state's radioactive waste disposal laws as part of a broad effort to conserve cash as oil prices tumble.

The waste, which becomes slightly radioactive as part of the hydraulic fracturing process that churns up isotopes locked underground, must be trucked out of state. That's because rules prohibit North Dakota landfills from accepting anything but miniscule amounts of radiation.

The most common form of radioactive waste is a filter sock, a mesh tube resembling a sandbag through which fracking water is pumped before it's injected back into the earth. Tank and pipeline sludge are also radioactive.... 

These oil fields were never profitable in the first place. Texas dried up and the new technology of horizontal drilling opened up every inch of land in the world as the new profits of this horrible industry. The so called, 'savior of carbon fuel extraction' has proven to defeat it's own purpose and now the people of North Dakota is suppose to set a new standard for radioactive pollution.

The petroleum industry stated it would provide at least one hundred years of carbon based energy. The truth is once every ounce of natural gas and condensates is extracted from the USA natural resources the best estimate is 53 years and then it's over anyway. That came out in the Senate hearing on LNG exports.

What also came out in the Senate hearing on LNG exports is the fact the USA will be providing cheaper LNG to countries that outsource American jobs. Amazing. The assault on USA wage labor won't end for at least another 53 years. But, then the labor can go to work at cleaning up the toxic and radioactive mess left behind while the American taxpayers continue to subsidize the petroleum industry in hopes they will find a way to make a comeback.

This form of energy is not the future. In no way is it the future. It is not the future for the USA or other countries. We all need to move on and leave dead dinosaurs in the ground rather than waking them to cause earthquakes and liquefaction so we can join them. 

And get this. The best course forward for building LNG facilities will take at the very least 5 and a half years to even begin the foundation of the facility. So, that means there will be less than 4 decades for this industry to export. Why do this? 

The fact is the industry will never recoup the cost of the facility and will ultimately bankrupt. This is the petroleum industry. Profits at any cost, subsidies to insure the profits and bailout on the people of the USA whenever possible.  This is NOT an industry the USA should value as an employer because the fact of the matter is, it's finally feeling the pain of it's own research and reckless attempts at profiteering. There are people without jobs TODAY in the USA because of the politics of oil.

VOTES. The oil industry promises to deliver votes as well as money to politicians. This is a corrupt industry and it needs to end. And that is the truth. 

Cheney's energy committee was corrupt and it was the last chance attempt at continuing a source of energy that was over in 2005. 

The Kurdish Pesmerga have been warriors all their lives.

The Kurds have never had a modern day country. As a result violent extremists grew and have become known as the PKK. Turkey knows they are vicious fighters. They have been guarding the boundaries of the invisible Kurdistan all their lives.

January 31, 2015
By The Associated Press
 
Members of the Islamic State (click here) group have acknowledged for the first time that they were defeated in the Syrian town of Kobani. 
 
In a video released by the pro-ISIS Aamaq News Agency late Friday, two fighters said airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition were the main reason why they were forced to withdraw from Kobani. 

On Monday, activists and Kurdish officials said the town was cleared of ISIS fighters, who once held nearly half of the town. Jubilant Kurdish fighters raised their flag on a hill that once flew the Islamic State group's black banner. On Kobani's war-ravaged streets, gunmen fired in the air in celebration, male and female fighters embraced, and troops danced in their baggy uniforms....

The Kurds have been ready to take their lands back for decades if not centuries. They were a regular topic in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. To read about them, their ethnic roots and culture was to know them. Their own struggle for land and the right to be only brought an endemic compassion for other ethnicities in their own struggle. The Kurds under the Northern No Fly Zone in Iraq became strong and the defenders of the land.

The Peshmega Kurds and the defense of land and people is simply a natural state for them. Both men and women understand their place in protecting life and land as a great ally.

This is not the enemy. This is the PKK. The wrist watch is interesting. Prayer time no doubt.

...In recent weeks, (click here) fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who’ve waged guerrilla war in Turkey for generations and been branded terrorists by much of the world community, have overcome differences with the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq that is heavily supported by the United States, several European countries and, indeed, by Turkey. Along with the PKK’s Syrian-Kurdish offshoot, the Democratic Union Party, they have joined forces to fend off an ISIS advance threatening Kurdish territory; they have come to the rescue of thousands of Yazidi refugees, besieged by ISIS fighters in the nearby Sinjar Mountains; and they are helping defend the many Americans in the Iraqi Kurdish capital....

The PKK can no longer be considered a terrorist group. They are among the best allies The West has in the Middle East whether anyone wants to realize it or not. I can't help but believe the NYTimes kept them alive to be the victors in a land where no other authority can last.

May 1, 2013
Recent comments from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) (click here) leader Abdullah Öcalan puzzled groups that have long been allied with his party. In a letter that was read out to crowds gathered for the Kurdish New Year in Diyarbakır a few weeks ago, Öcalan emphasized the role of Islam as forming a strong bond between Kurds and Turks: “Turkish people who know ancient Anatolia as Turkey should know that their coexistence with Kurdish people dates back to a historical agreement of fraternity and solidarity under the flag of Islam.” His proclamations threw off some groups in the Turkish Left and the liberal Left, Armenians and Alevis that sympathized with the PKK and supported its progressive-secular agenda.

How did Islam rise as a way of organizing resistance around the world.  The USSR fell and no longer was a guiding belief to bring about loyalists. Not only did Islam provide a basis for common belief, it also carries with it a judicial system.
 
Originally founded as a Marxist organization in 1978, the PKK had to revise its ideology in the early 1990s. Like many other Marxist–Leninist organizations in the world, the PKK lost its main source of ideological legitimacy when the Soviet bloc disintegrated and capitalism appeared to have won an absolute victory. Furthermore, Öcalan, as well as others within the PKK leadership, gradually came to the conclusion that Islam was too important for a Kurdish party to ignore, given that many Kurds are devout Muslims....

How did IS take hold? The Ba'athists that were ostracized in Iraq became invisible in Syria, until the their strength and organization grew and they were ready. The Ba'athists were quite used to thinking as a nation and not just a group. They would also become ready with hostages for ransom.

September 11, 2014
By Reuters

Sometimes they came pretending to buy things. (click here) Sometimes they texted, sometimes they called, but the message was always the same: "Give us money."
Months before they took control of the Iraqi city of Mosul in June, Islamic State militants were already busy collecting money to finance their campaign of setting up a 7th century-style caliphate.

The owner of a Mosul grocery store recounted how, when he hesitated to pay, militants exploded a bomb outside his shop as a warning. "If a person still refused, they kidnapped him and asked his family to pay ransom," he said....

The Kurdish leadership need to find a way to recruit rebels to a purpose that will provide a greater stability to the region.

January 30, 2015

INJAR, Iraq (AP) — Kurdish forces (click here) in recent weeks have retaken parts of the strategic Iraqi town of Sinjar, whose Yazidi population was driven out in a humanitarian disaster last year that triggered U.S. intervention. But sniping among Kurdish factions makes the hold on the town seem shaky and is threatening the wider fight against Islamic state militants.

 Overlooking the strategic northern Iraq town of Sinjar, peshmerga fighters representing the recognized authorities of Iraqi Kurdistan fume against what they see as the recklessness of their supposed allies in militias drawn from neighboring Syria and Turkey....

Friday, January 30, 2015

The strategy is working, don't stop now.

January 30, 2015
By Yousuf Basil, Jomana Karadsheh and Laura Smith-Spark CNN

(CNN) —ISIS militants have attacked Kirkuk (click here) in northern Iraq, an effort that might be an earnest attempt to capture the key oil-rich city or perhaps to divert Kurdish troops fighting to capture the Islamist extremist group's stronghold of Mosul.
For months, ISIS has been facing off with the Peshmerga -- armed fighters who protect Iraqi Kurdistan -- to the west of Kirkuk. It had gone into areas on Kirkuk's outskirts, but not the central city....

One of the problems in the Iraq War was wack-o-mole. The Kurds need to continue to recruit soldiers that are left behind of the advancing front to hold the land or cities or assets. The Kurds have to hold the land they take while continuing their destruction of IS. It can't be a police officer(s), it has to be a platoon of soldiers. 

If the Kurds don't have enough soldiers to hold their land AND move their front forward, then they should not do it. They have to provide security to their sovereign lands while planning for more. Their families are very important and the economy they build. A Homeland for the Kurds has to be valued above simply advancing against the old Ba'athists.

The Ba'athists of IS are well trained soldiers. That is the problem. This is Saddam's old military. Considering the Saddam military fell in a few days during Gulf War I the Kurds should be able to deal with them.

This is gossip, not treason.

Russia has to be joking. This is the craziest and loosest intelligence I ever heard of in my life. The problem doesn't belong to Mrs. Davydova. 

Svetlana Davydova from western Russia has been detained on charges of high treason. A criminal case has been launched against the woman, who allegedly informed the Ukrainian embassy of the possibility of Russian troops being sent to Ukraine.

According to Davydova's husband, Anatoly Gorlov, who lives with her in an apartment block in the town of Vyazma in Smolensk region, she noticed in April 2014 that a military unit of Russia's Chief Intelligence Directorate, located near their house, had become quiet and presumably empty. She also allegedly overheard a phone conversation on public transport, with an unidentified man telling someone that he – together with other servicemen – were “being transferred in small groups to Moscow, strictly in plain clothes, and then are sent on a work trip somewhere further," Gorlov told Kommersant newspaper.... 

Russians have the right to tell state secrets on public transport and now Mrs. Davydova is a spy. Give me a break.

The men were gossiping on the bus. They are the ones that didn't care about the information spilling out of their mouths. Too much vodka, probably. Send her home to her children and leave her alone. She didn't know anything. If I overheard men talking about troop movements I'd be telling everyone, too.

Russia rather blame a mother with a husband and children than the MEN that are actually responsible for the mess. 

Death by auto is a lesser charge than murder.

Several witnesses say Suge Knight ran over a man with his car in L.A. while shooting a video today.

January 30, 2015 

By Patrick Lyons

It has not been a good year for Suge Knight. (click here) In the past twelve months, he's been shot and been arrested on robbery charges, and now he could very well be facing a count of vehicular manslaughter. TMZ reports that Knight ran over a man with his car in L.A. today, possibly killing him.

According to the gossip site, a video shoot featuring Knight, The Game, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube was going down when Suge got into an altercation with two cast members. After this, he got into his car and put it in reverse, at which point several witnesses say he ran over a bystander. The victim is allegedly named Terry Carter....

There is no motive involved with death by auto. Death by auto is a charge someone can receive if there was an accident and a death within that accident. It is going to be difficult to prove murder. 

Even people with affluenza can  be charged with death by auto.

Mitt Romney is a nice man. Decent, dedicated to his faith and family. But, he just isn't cut from the right of cloth.

January 30, 2015
By Catalina Camia

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney (click here) told supporters Friday that he's decided to skip a 2016 presidential race, putting an end to weeks of serious consideration about a third try for the White House.

The 2012 GOP presidential nominee informed his staff and then key supporters in separate conference calls.

"After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I've decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee," Romney said, according to remarks posted on Twitter by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt....

Government doesn't have to be kind to financial giants when those giants will put a large percentage of Americans in unemployment, home foreclosure with economic losses at least $1.7 trillion. There is just no way that friends of Wall Street are also friends of Main Street. 

We are still putting it all back together and doing a good job of it. But, some citizens suffered unmercilessly and some aren't with us anymore. I suppose when a private equity firm is looking at huge amounts of monies in pensions and warehouses full of unsold merchandise the answer appears to be a garage sale. That is not the right answer. The answer is better merchandising and expanding markets, sort of like the Former Bill Clinton carried out.

I wish Mr. Romney and his family happiness.  

Peace.
It would seem as though the FDIC sent a letter to gun dealers in the USA stating they have been running a law enforcement operation called "Operation Choke Point." 

It is understandable how the right wing media prefers to be stenographers in reporting all this, but, given the facts of the incredible work by the Holder Justice Department there is no doubt the operation was successful.

Unfortunately, drug cartels don't like to be leaned on so there was violence within these countries to intimidate government and citizens alike. We saw some of that in the recent bombing of a woman and baby's hospital. Evidently, there seems to be more that has to be done to finally alleviate Latin America of this plague.

I was never good at stenography, but, I tried like hell. (click here) Who knew I was better suited for science. Logic. And a woman no less. I tested in the 98 national percentile in mechanical ability in the fourth grade. It runs in the family. Some of my cousins took a different route and went to work for the Big Three auto manufacturers. Pretty cool, huh? Yeah. Two of them became design engineers for opposing car manufacturers. Life is a party and there was plenty of competition. "Deany," Geraldine, even got a Dodge Viper to drive all the time. Some girls are just lucky.

And if that isn't enough for you, there is teh money laundering of the Mexican drug cartels.

Justice Department Officials Announce Charges Against HSBC (click here)
 
Charts prepared by the US Department of Justice are on display during a news conference to announce money laundering charges against HSBC on December 11, 2012 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. HSBC Holdings plc and HSBC USA NA have agreed to pay $1.92 billion and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in regards to charges involving money laundering with Mexican drug cartels....


In addition to all that there is the money laundering the Obama Justice Department has been chasing down.

December 16, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio 

A federal grand jury (click here) has charged Andre W. Byrd, A.K.A. “Fat Dre”, 39, of Pickerington, with one count of the possession of a firearm, one count of the possession of heroin, one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin and cocaine, two counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in a superseding indictment returned in Columbus....
...The superseding indictment also seeks the forfeiture of two firearms and ammunition, $10,000 in currency that was seized from his residence, a 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass, and jewelry.

Possession of a firearm of a convicted felon is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Heroin and cocaine conspiracy charges can include a sentence of up to 40 years imprisonment. Money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.


Byrd was arrested on November 3, 2014 by IRS and Columbus Division of Police. He remains in custody.

There could be a real reason why Republicans have been bought to roll back banking regulations.

Add caption
It could be why all the financial executives have been chasing the Presidential rainbow.

...Overall Accomplishments (click here)
As of the end of FY 2011, the FBI was investigating 1,846 cases of securities and commodities fraud and had recorded 520 indictments/informations and 394 convictions against this criminal threat. Additional notable accomplishments in FY 2011 include: $8.8 billion in restitution orders; $36 million in recoveries; $113 million in fines; and $751 million in forfeitures. The chart below reflects securities and commodities fraud pending cases from FY 2007 through FY 2011....

We aren't doing this anymore. We aren't fighting Wall Street wars.

We aren't going to be a divided country because truth has been sacrificed for fear. 

The USA has been in combat continually since October 7, 2001 when the first troops were deployed into Afghanistan. (click here) 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
DEDE MILLER 562 500 9072
DEDE4PEACE@GMAIL.COM

Cindy Sheehan, Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox (click here) and the Soapbox People's Network announce a joint effort in Washington DC opposing the wars and spreading police state. Such diverse organizations as World Can't Wait and Military Families Speak Out have endorsed the action.

The four day action will involve components of community building, protest, education, and planning for a future of protesting wars that will be more diverse, powerful, strategic, and, most of all effective....


I hope things are going well, Harry.

You know, not to say your doctors are not worried about you, but, increased blood pressure can translate into increased interocular pressure. 

Who's second in command, Harry?

Get well and we'll see you soon. The Democrats need a spokesman. Things are getting really silly and getting sillier everyday, Harry.

Iran today is different than Iran in 1979. If Iran works to remove sanctions it may have talents and contributions we don't realize yet.

McCain and Schultz were brought in to testify to the Senate committee regarding Iran and nuclear missiles. This is outrageous. These men have absolutely no intelligence for decades and they are the ones the Republicans are calling in to testify?

A picture is worth a thousand words. End of discussion. 

This is your Americans dollars at work. I am confident there is an incredible amount of records in the archives that are even open to the public about the years of Kissinger and Iran's Shah.

This is what we have to look forward to from a group of old, white men in the Senate and House. That hearing of the Senate Committee has no standing. Kissinger and Shultz have not a clue about the Iranian government that has existed since 1979. They never met anyone from Iran since the change in government. 

You know, there is a reason Republicans like to disconnect from communication with countries that throw out the USA figure head governments, it allows them to reach back in time to reference hostile relations based on decades past. If there are no new connection with governments in power for over 35 years there is no basis for rational decisions regarding war and peace. Hello, America!

Now, to finish this dance with destiny, Netanyahu is coming to parlay the fears of Israel while FOX News is on death watch of his family.

What the Republicans are doing is 'planned drama' to increase the drum beat of war in anticipation of another Bush in 2016. None of what they are doing is based in fact or has standing as accurate. It carries no brevity. 

This is from the Brookings Institute. Following the overthrow of the Shah the poverty of the people diminished. This graph only starts in 1984. The Iranian Revolution took place in 1979. It isn't easy being in a country that has just  radically changed their government, so I really would not expect any information much before 5 years out, unless it is an Iranian scholar within the country. Maybe there was one unpublished or something. It would be interesting to hear from any Iranian scholars from that time period if they still are with us. They could be provided peer review and perhaps level some as well. 

The Shah was known to live a very extravagant lifestyle while the people starved and died. This study by Brookings at least began a reconnection with the leadership in subtle and valuable ways. 

January 29, 2009 
By: Djavad Salehi-Isfahani

...Poverty
Despite a lack of improvement in inequality, (click here) poverty has declined steadily in the last ten years. Figure 3 shows the proportion of individuals who were poor (the Headcount ratio) during 1984-2006 using separate rural and urban poverty lines. Poverty rates increased sharply during 1984-88 but, contrary to popular belief, fell during the economic reconstruction and market reforms. Poverty rose again briefly when the economy had to adjust to the balance of payments crisis of 1994-95. Since then, poverty has declined steadily to an enviable level for middle-income developing countries Despite claims to the contrary, during the eight years of the Khatami Administration, poverty fell by more than 2 percentage points each year. Significantly, in the first two years of the Ahmadinejad government, urban poverty appears to have increased by 1.5 percentage points, or about 680,000 individuals (rural poverty remained unchanged). Given the huge inflow of resources into the economy in 2006 and the Ahmadinejad government’s active redistributive efforts, the increase in urban poverty is quite striking. The data for 2007 and 2008 are not available to reach a definitive conclusion on the current administration’s efforts at redistribution and poverty reduction, but the available evidence on inequality and urban poverty does not bode well for his re-election....

Bombs are not the answer for Iran, but, this type of political theater does nothing to improve relations or hopes of the people either. It is the people that brought about a government willing to talk and work with The West. If the Iranian people lose hope then we lose everything. Maybe that is the Republican plan.

If the Israeli Prime Ministers family is under threat I would expect the White House and USA Ambassadors in Israel to know about it. FOX News shouldn't feel such a burden, especially when they don't really have all the facts.

Death by auto.

January 30, 2015
By Terrance McCoy

Rap mogul Shuge Knight (click here) has been arrested on suspicion of murder in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Office announced.
A spokeman said late Thursday that it appeared Knight had run over two men after an argument. One was killed. The other was injured. Neither have yet been named by police.  “Looks like he drove backwards and struck the victims and drove forwards and struck them again,” sheriff’s office spokesman Lt. John Corina told reporters. “The people we talked to say it looked like it was an intentional act.”...

Do society a favor. When these criminals are sentenced be sure they aren't writing songs and performing from their jail cells. America does not need a new "Jail House Rock." If anything if their connection to the public is not dismantled, they need to be put in a maximum security prison.

While on the subject of babies, this is Mexico. I think the cartels are more than out of hand.

Why wait until they can walk and have the ability to hold onto the side of a rail car?

January 30, 2015

Lizbeth Diaz and Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein

A gas truck explosion (click here) ripped through a maternity hospital on the western edge of Mexico City on Thursday, killing one woman and two children and injuring dozens, authorities said, with several babies found alive in the rubble.
A nurse and a child died after the blast, which destroyed around 70 percent of the hospital, Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said..... 

Sending unvaccinated children home is a legitimate quarantine.

January 29, 2015
By Lenny Bernstein

The 2015 measles outbreak (click here) already has spread to 84 people, more than health officials typically see in an entire year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.
Most of the cases are traceable to an outbreak at Disneyland and another theme park in Southern California that began in late December and now has spread to six other states, including Utah, Washington, Oregon and Colorado. In all, measles has reached 14 states, according to Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
The outbreak has generated sometimes fierce criticism of people who, for personal reasons or because they mistrust the vaccine, choose not to have their children immunized and prompted at least two school systems in California to ban unvaccinated students from school....

I've always wanted to ask the parents of the unvaccinated children if they were vaccinated and what led to their decision for their own children. I think they are great parents. They invest a great deal of time and thought to what their children are exposed to, but, at the same instance I don't know if they have thought this entire thing through. There is nothing preventing their children from being vaccinated as an adult. And. Where does that put them when it comes to college acceptance and/or a job. Private universities and employers do not have to accept unvaccinated students or employees, unless they accept federal monies.

The school systems sending children home because they are not vaccinated have to provide tutors while on quarantine. Right now it is my suspicions parents that work and have unvaccinated children are sorry they didn't. They probably are facing childcare problems as well.

I can understand how many parents link autoimmune diseases with vaccines. I know how a beautiful child in front of a parent can make them cringe at the thought of compromising their wellness as an adult. I do understand that, but, just few things to think about. 

To begin we have a vast infrastructure to investigate severe debilitation of any person, be it adult or child. The USA is probably one of the more caring countries in the world. We still don't have great ratings in some areas, but, with a national health insurance initiative hopefully that will change.

Then a political issue manifests about disability insurance in the USA. It is there for a reason and it's impact spans more than fraud. Fraud is a serious problem and it always should be addressed, but, we accept disease and injury as part of life in our society. 

In defense of that aspect of our society there has been a consistent number of disabled people for a very long time. It is not an exact number, but, a fairly consistent percentage regardless of the numbers of population. That is a respectable observation. Why? Because it means there are people encountering disability at about the same rate, be it genetic, injury or otherwise. That disability rate does not include veterans. Veteran disability of fairly young and healthy men and women increases and decreases with war.

But, where there is a consistent disability rate there is a clear understanding the statistics bear out as an acceptable norm that does not alarm the society unless it is found to spike. The USA addresses disease and seeks to solve problems with MS and Lupus and all those ugly diseases that rob adults of their dreams and aspirations. With genetic research there may actually be a magic pill. But, with unvaccinated children entering to at least young teens by now, the 20 year study about such adults hasn't been done yet. Will autoimmune diseases disappear because a significant number of adults were never vaccinated? I don't think so. I think we know enough about autoimmune diseases and it's etiology to state, we won't find significant differences within a population of Americans without vaccinations. 

If the statistics were there I'd be screaming along with everyone else, but, I don't think there is sound statistics to back that point of view. What might be the reality of the circumstances of those that manifest autoimmune diseases is that their genetics may be as much a trigger as any vaccine. 

The human nervous system is not mature at birth. The human nervous system is only complete at the age of one year. No different than the skeletal plates of an infants head doesn't close at birth, it takes time into the early years that complete the person. Nutrition is important and the environment is as well, healthy water and air to just name a few. 

But, I think parents that don't vaccinate have a real argument up to the age of one year old. Beyond the completion of the myelin lining the nervous system, the parents lose their argument. The fear of many parents is that the vaccines even though unable to cause disease will imbed in the myelin sheaths as the child grows that first year. They may have an argument. But, beyond that first year they lose validity.

I don't think there should be laws forcing parents to vaccinate their children, it would cause an underground we don't want to realize as a nightmare to this country. But, there is nothing wrong with educating parents about the myelin and vaccinations while doctors accept postponement of vaccination to one year.

Let's hope the vaccines will continue to be manufactured if the demand is lost as well.
It has always been a great annoyance to me Republicans carry on about the southern border and the undocumented, but, when it comes to defending our east and west borders where the land meets the sea, they don't do a darn thing to sink the lousy Drug Subs.

Thank you, Vice President Biden!

It is a national shame our neighbors to the south are so troubled and forced to place their precious children in the path of danger in order to avoid a greater and eminent danger.

January 29, 2015
Op - Ed
Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
 
...Last summer, (click here) as our countries worked together to stem the dangerous surge in migration, the leaders of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras asked for additional assistance to change the climate of endemic violence and poverty that has held them back. In June, I made it clear to these leaders that the United States was ready to support them — provided they took ownership of the problem. Mr. Obama drove home this point when the leaders visited Washington in July.

And they responded. Honduras signed an agreement with Transparency International to combat corruption. Guatemala has removed senior officials suspected of corruption and aiding human trafficking. El Salvador passed a law providing new protections for investors. Working with the Inter-American Development Bank, these three countries forged a joint plan for economic and political reforms, an alliance for prosperity.
These leaders acknowledge that an enormous effort is required. We have agreed to intensify our work together in three areas....

We are spending plenty of money to train soldiers in the Middle East that primarily run the other way when faced with a real challenge, yet dearly no funds are spent to train and equip the national militaries in Central America. At least in Central America we have a profound interest in national security.

Superbowl.

Do you know what I see when I look at:

Super Bowl
    XLIX

???????????????

Next year it will be Superbowl 50. What will the Roman Numerals look like?

Super Bowl
        L

I'd be curious how many fans knows that.

Sorry, once a scientist always a scientist.
Walter Reed would do the entire country a huge favor if the physicians would put the House and Senate Republicans on this.

Why is the committee reaching this far back into history?

Henry A. Kissinger (click here) was sworn in on September 22, 1973, as the 56th Secretary of State, a position he held until January 20, 1977. He also served as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from January 20, 1969, until November 3, 1975.

Does the country need to be reminded about the wrongful war into Vietnam? 

It is so ironic to have John McCain and Kissinger in the same room.  McCain the POW and Kissinger Secretary of State. 

Vietnam. Oh, yeah. The remnants of WWII that just won't die. The Domino Effect that never happened. The Tonkin Incident that was nothing more then radar "ghosts." The escalation under Johnson that gave the USA Treasury to spill out lots of money for a war that was a killing machine. By the time the USA left in 1975, there were over one million dead people and over 50 thousand America troops buried to be listed on a black wall in DC. America at it's greatest. All the hearing needed was the current Secretary of State John Kerry and the picture would be complete.

I can't believe the Republicans called a 91 year old man to testify to the committee just to get back that feel good feel of bloodshed. 

If Vietnam could ever resolve their fears of China there might even be a trial of war crimes. Code Pink is not very far from the truth. Defoliants and cancers and birth defects. The suffering didn't end when the USA left. Vietnam could go forward with charges against the USA if it had records to document the war and witnesses to the ravages of the country. There was so much damage done to that region of the world. It wasn't difficult for the Khmer Rouge to come to power with a more devastating war taking place across the border. They looked tame compared to the tactics of the USA.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

I think their making too much of the State based exchanges.

It is also as though the Supreme Court put a Trojan virus in the legislation with their decision to exempt states from the ACA Medicaid Extension.

March 27, 2015
By Sahil Kapur
...The case is about whether (click here) the Affordable Care Act permits the federally-run insurance exchange to provide subsidies to consumers. Crafted by Case Western law professor Jonathan Adler and Cato's Michael Cannon, it charges that the plain language of the statute confines the provision of premium tax credits to "an Exchange established by the State" -- and not the federal exchange, which serves residents whose states opted not to build one....

The decision is suppose to reach the public by June 2015. But, relying on the idea of a state exchange being the only option is not valid. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act enlists the federal government to create an exchange...

The Federal Exchange was written into the law. I started to review my entries here during the ACA legislative process. I read the law from the 2000 pages of words. I know the federal exchange is in there and I remember stating, "Then the federal exchange can take over." Something like that. The lawsuit at the Supreme Court is written by two attorneys who have nothing else to do but create mischief. They wanted to dismantle the law and found a place where words were convenient to manipulate. Now with Roberts leading the charge they decided they could get away with it.

There is also the idea that the federal government is 'hands off' once the state have set up their exchanges. That is not the case. The law has a lot of regulation that dictates the details of the health care insurances and not just the exchanges. There is no relinquishing of power by the federal government.  

The Republicans might have a winner with this law. Europe is already assigning fees to the loser of such a lawsuit.

What really surprises is me that judges don't already do this. They have the capacity to do exactly what they want to. I am sure plaintiffs ask for the refund of their costs. Odd.


By Dustin Volz

...Cornyn also took time to sketch (click here) an overall rosy prognosis for patent reform happening this term, insisting that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is "anxious to give this subject floor time once it is voted out of committee."
Cornyn's comments are no doubt music to the ears of reform backers, who for years have warned that "patent trolling"—the act of filing frivolous patent-infringement lawsuits against others in the hope of reaping settlements—is a growing menace that saps billions annually from the U.S. economy. The GOP takeover has been viewed as a promising development by the anti-troll movement, and patent reform is viewed as one of a handful of areas where Democrats, Republicans, and the White House can realistically reach broad consensus.
But wonky negotiations remain ahead for lawmakers on sticky subjects such as fee-shifting, a topic that proved especially troublesome last year. Also known as "loser pays," Sen. Cornyn and many Republicans favor strong language that would in some cases force the loser of a lawsuit to pay the winner's legal fees in some patent-infringement cases that are deemed knowingly meritless....

I don't mind the law, but, it is disheartening it actually has to occur. I rather judges make the decision. We have mandatory sentencing that have proven to be a real menace. I would like to think judges would decide fairly and safeguard inventors.

I think there needs to be more than laws passed to take process away from judges. The legislation of judicial decisions should be replaced with a "Congressional Letter of Concern." I think that would be the best way to start. I trust judges. They know the law better than legislators and they know the human dynamics within any case in their courtroom.

I am sure judges don't like to punish those called "Patent Trolls" simply because they don't want to inhibit invention, even if a bit unfair. Additionally, patent lawyers should know better when they are protecting their clients. 

I am curious if many of these lawsuits are about patents submitted by the inventor without the help of an attorney. In other words, the folks providing patent services without expertise so much as 'the kit' that is a do it yourself; is it compromising the inventors more than other methods of filing? If that is the case, the 'do it yourselfers' need an insert to protect their interests. I also wonder if the companies providing the 'do it yourself' information is also carrying out the antics of patent trolls? Probably not.

I hope there was some committee findings from judges before this is passed. Just because Europe is doing it doesn't mean it is a good fit for our judicial system.

Did I say China hacked the F-35? It did.

Meet the China J-31 Strike Fighter. It has stealth. According to speculation it will replace the USA F-35 on the military market. China's model sells for far less than the F-35. Why doesn't the USA just buy the Chinese jet?

November 13, 2014
By Jeffery Lin and P. W. Singer

...Made by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (click here) (SAC), it is highly likely that the J-31 will be China's version of the Joint Strike Fighter; its development is expected to spiral into both PLAAF and PLANAF variants. However, the J-31’s primary mission at Zhuhai has been to hunt for export customers. Beyond Chinese sales, likely customers for the J-31 include nations that have operated earlier generation Chinese export fighters like the F-7 and JF-17 (such as Pakistan and Egypt), as well as those looking for less expensive or non-U.S. alternatives....

So, let's get this right. Edward Snowden exposed the fact the USA military knew the USA F-35 was hacked by China. Mr. Snowden didn't provide information to China, he simply provided the documents the USA knew China stole documents regarding aircraft construction.

What year did the Chinese hack the F-35? 2007, when "W" was in office. 

Der Spiegel published (click here) a new tranche of documents provided to the German weekly magazine by the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden. The documents are the first public confirmation that Chinese hackers have been able to extrapolate top secret data on the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter jet. According to sources, the data breach already took place in 2007 at the prime subcontractor Lockheed Martin
The fifth generation F-35 Lightning II is the most advanced fighter jet currently in production in the world. Experts have long argued that the design of China’s newest stealth fighter, the J-31, as well as the Chengdu J-20 fighter jet, are in parts influenced by the F-35....

I think the USA needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with jets that aren't dependent on computers. The USA needs quality military without all the wiz-bang components that cost billions more than they should.

Now about the military budget. Robots are better thinkers than human beings for the US Navy and the Marines.

January 29, 2015

WASHINGTON — President Obama (click here) will propose breaching statutory spending caps in the fiscal year that begins in October, putting out a budget Monday that raises spending at Congress’s discretion by $74 billion — or 7 percent, the White House announced Thursday.
With the era of falling budget deficits coming to an end, Mr. Obama and Congress are hurtling toward a major fiscal clash over spending as the White House and Democrats press for an easing of fiscal spending austerity just as Republicans redouble efforts to balance the budget.
The president’s budget would raise military spending next year by $37 billion over caps set in the 2011 Budget Control Act, a measure reached after hard-fought negotiations with the new Republican-led House. Domestic spending would rise $38 billion over the cap for fiscal 2016....

So, I take it military spending is going up, right? Maybe not.

January 29, 2015 
The U.S. Navy announced (click here) Tuesday that it wants to use robots to make sure Marine forces are prepared for missions.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has started an experiment at the University of Central Florida that will continue for several weeks and have of a human surrogate greet and interact with people entering the lobby of the school's Institute for Simulation and Training, according to the International Business Times....

It is coercion.

When the Senate added an amendment to 'consult' with the Indian nations it is meant to intimidate their opposition to the pipeline.

Consulting means they do not have to have approval of the tribes to authorize the pipeline. The Senate today stated they intend to violate every treaty the USA has with the Indian nations. 

The Republicans want to manage the people of the USA and this is just an example of how power within government will break the will of any people. 

When TransCanada enters into mitigation with Indian nations it doesn't have to be nice. It will provide a platform for them to be heard and might make a minor change to appease them, but, ultimately with a Canadian company having absolute power over the land they can do what they want and don't have to cooperate at all.

What Senator Murkowski said, "...the Indian Nations will be consulted...to bring about cooperation." What she didn't say is "They will cooperate whether they like it or not." 

Starting with Democratic Senator Bradley the Indian American nations were finally given attention to their complaints and the abuse of centuries by the USA government. A law was passed with the help of Democratic Senator Bradley. Under President Obama he has listened to their requests and have accommodated them within the law. Does anyone actually expect President Obama to sign a bill as Un-American as this one?

Providing land rights to a foreign country, even Canada, destroys property rights in the USA and sets precedent for more abuse in the future.

Here goes US Petroleum again. It's market is not there to justify the expense of new LNG export facilities.

January 29, 2015
Senator John Barrasso (click here) has applauded the House’s recent passage of a bipartisan bill that will speed up the federal approval process for LNG exports. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 351, the LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act, by a vote of 277 to 133. Senators Barrasso and Martin Heinrich introduced the Senate companion bill (S. 33) on the first day of session. Their bill will be the focus of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s first hearing on 29 January....

Domestic natural gas will not saturate the global market.

16% of natural gas consumed in Europe flows through Ukraine. (click here)

This is what happens when voters listen to people like Barrasso who pushes the idea about jobs and profits. It is nonsense. Republicans only carry a populous message, they never speak about the truth and facts.

Sure, voters want to hear the promises carrying good news to them. But, take a good look at the quality of life of Red States. It just isn't there. Promises aren't any good if they can't deliver.

This legislation is BOOM and BUST.