Sunday, May 10, 2015

The American people deserve a country that fills their needs and upward movement in it's economy.

I covered all the original countries to the TPP. They are Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. Vietnam is probably the one country that would benefit most. It is easy to see why Vietnam would receive the greatest change in circumstances. There is also merit for the USA to have a trade relationship with Vietnam. The USA has many Vietnamese now living in the country. But, we also did a great deal of damage to the country. 

Vietnam is a communist country so it actually fits in well with it's neighborhood. Other than the standard water rights issues of most of the countries of that region, there is no reason why Vietnam could not benefit from a stronger trade relationship with China and Russia. The smaller countries in Southeast Asia are struggling. The sooner they iron out their economic problems the populous will benefit from a better quality of life.

The USA's CDC does have a presence in Vietnam.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (click here) has partnered with the government of Vietnam (GVN) and local and international organizations since 1998 to build quality sustainable health systems, providing long-term public health impact and protecting the health of Vietnamese and Americans at home and abroad. With support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the CDC Influenza Division, CDC delivers evidence-based technical expertise that strengthens the capacity and infrastructure of the national health systems in Vietnam, providing life-saving care and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS and preventing the spread of infectious diseases, such as influenza and other potential health threats. 

There are other countries in the TPP agreement I did not cover and they include Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Mexico, Japan and the two most recent announced interests Taiwan and South Korea. But, I think most can discern their own facts from the model I used here. 

As far as the Climate Crisis, the larger industrial nations have the burden to end their carbon emissions. A country life Brunei should take example of other petroleum economies and make adjustments. There is no reason for that country to simply have a larger carbon footprint out of laziness. Then there are countries like Vietnam that could benefit from alternative energy sources as they develop their economy. It is better to make that investment early in the economic development process. 

Most of the countries of the TPP are already established as trading partners to the USA, so in a way this agreement isn't so an insult to the USA economy so much as a rewrite and renewal of relations.

New Zealand is as opposed to the TPP as the USA has become. 

This puts into perspective the reason the administration has not come forward with specifics on the TPP.

April 1, 2015

...Two weeks ago an international arbitration (click here) panel awarded a US company compensation for the way its quarry project in Canada was "unfairly" rejected on environmental and planning grounds.

This has only added to the increasingly fervid debate in the US and now Canada over aspects of the TPP which is crucial to the US pivot to Asia and also an important step towards a broad-based freer trade zone in the Asia-Pacific region.

The debate is mainly led by union-influenced Democrats in the US Congress who are reluctant to give Barack Obama the trade promotion authority to cut a TPP deal that the other 11 member countries want to see before they accept the US negotiating demands.

But the arbitration decision has drawn attention to one of the many complex aspects of the TPP – foreign investor protection – just as WikiLeaks has also sparked new fears with the leaked draft investment chapter....

In order for the President to know the actual acceptance of his negotiating demands the US Congress has to provide him the authority to conduct the agreement. So, in actuality there is no agreement and there are absolutely no specifics yet. 

But, there is one thing I am sure of though. I am tired of the USA always running a negative trade balance. I always feel as though the USA is the great economic dumping ground of the world. Americans can't compete with foreign labor so they are forced to accept inferior quality at poverty prices. That has got to stop. The USA has to return to it's most moral content where each generation does better than the one before it. 

Vietnam is a familiar country to the USA. It has been a negotiating member of the TPP since November 2008,

Vietnam needs no introduction.  It's recent history and that of the USA is well known to most Americans. It currently is a communist state. It's correct name is Socialist Republican of Vietnam. There is no north and south anymore. Some of the recent struggles of Vietnam involves international fishing borders. There is a strong disagreement with China in regard to China's impingement on it's water boundaries.

Vietnam is ranked 126 by the IMF and the World Bank. 

It's overall GDP is $171.4 billion within a population of 89.71 million citizens. The per capita GDP is $1740.00. That income is considered Lower Middle Class. That is pretty scarey considering the damage the USA did to the country for nearly two decades. There is a poverty rate of 17.2 percent.

Life expectancy in Vietnam is 76 years old. Vietnam loves it's children with a school enrollment of 105 percent. The five percent being immigrants. 

Vietnam has a carbon footprint of 1.7 metric tons per capita.



Since 2012, Vietnam’s has been reporting trade trade surpluses more frequently as exports growth have been stronger than imports. In recent years, the biggest trade deficits were recorded with China, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. Vietnam records trade surpluses with the United States, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Cambodia and United Arab Emirates. This page provides - Vietnam Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Content for - Vietnam Balance of Trade - was last refreshed on Monday, May 11, 2015.

There are probably marginal jobs created at NIKE in the USA.

May 9, 2015
By Panos Mourdoukoutas

Disclosure: I own shares of NKE

Let me be clear from the beginning. (click here) I agree, in principle, with President Obama that the new Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) he is promoting will be beneficial for the American economy, and the economies participating in it.

In theory, trade accords remove market barriers and foster economic growth and new job opportunities, as they help market participants allocate their resources efficiently and effectively.
But in practice, trade accords have winners and losers. That’s why they are so politicized.

So there is one thing hard to understand: how removing US tariffs of footwear and apparel made in Vietnam will induce producers of such products as Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) to make them here rather than there....

Canda, our neighbor to the north will have a better agreement on trade.

That is what President Obama stated. He said NAFTA would be eliminated and the new TPP would take it's place. NAFTA will be eliminated, right?

Canada's GDP per capita is $52,210. 

It's over all GDP is $1.827 within a population of 35.15 million citizens.

Canada is considered a High Income OECD member.

Canada is ranked 20th by the IMF and the World Bank.

Agricultural commodities are wheat, barley, oilseed, tobacco, fruits, vegetables; dairy products; fish; forest products.

Industrial products transportation equipment, chemicals, processed and unprocessed minerals, petroleum products and natural gas.

Canadians' life expectancy is 81 years. Primary school enrollments meets 98 percent of the population. 

It carbon footprint is 14.7 metric tons of carbon emissions.

International trade makes up a large part of the Canadian economy. Exports amount to more than 45% of its GDP. The United States is by far its largest trading partner, accounting for about 79% of exports and 54% of imports as of 2008. Canada is one of the few developed nations that are a net exporter of energy. Canada imports mostly machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, electronics, chemicals, electricity and durable consumer goods. This page provides - Canada Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Content for - Canada Balance of Trade - was last refreshed on Monday, May 11, 2015.

The housing market in Canada has been strained since the global economic collapse. It is making an uneven return to normal.

May 10, 2015
By Tamsin McMahon

...Several local real estate boards (click here) have already reported their sales numbers for April ahead of the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index due out on Wednesday and Canadian Real Estate Association’s measure of national resale prices set to be released Friday. Nationally, average prices rose 9.4 per cent in March compared to a year earlier, to $439,114. Strip out Toronto and Vancouver, however, and prices rose just 2.4 per cent, the Canadian Real Estate Association said. It’s expected to be more of the same in April, as hot markets in Toronto and Vancouver most likely drove up national home prices once again....

Brunei. Is that a new flavor ice cream?

Burnei spent most of it's existence up to the late 1800s as a royal possession. The same family has ruled Brunei for over six centuries.

In 1888, Brunei became a British protectorate. After about 100 years independence was achieved in 1984.  Brunei benefits from extensive petroleum and natural gas fields, the source of one of the highest per capita GDPs in the world.

It is ranked 4th by the IMF and 5th by the World Bank.

The per capita GDP is $31,590. It has an overall GDP of $16.11 billion within a population of 417,800 citizens.

May 11, 2015

...Poverty is not severe in the country, (click here) said Hajah Rose binti Abdullah, Senior Lecturer at the Business and Management Sciences Faculty of Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA) in her talk titled ‘Poverty in Muslim Countries with Special Reference to Brunei Darussalam’ held in conjunction with UNISSA’s 4th upcoming Mahrajan Hafl Al-Takharruj (convocation).
A total of 5,472 families consisting of 27,360 persons were living in poverty, according to statistics revealed in 2011 by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS).
Data from the Community Development Department (JAPEM) and the Brunei Darussalam Islamic Religious Council (MUIB) showed 20,790 persons living in poverty in 2012. MUIB revealed that last year, 4,692 new applicants received approval to get tithe money....

It's agricultural commodities include rice, vegetables, fruits; chickens, water buffalo, cattle, goats and eggs.

Industrial production is petroleum, petroleum refining, liquefied natural gas, construction and transportation. It claims an unemployment rate of 2.6 percent.

It is considered High Income non-OECD member.


School enrollment is 94 percent in primary education. It's citizens have a longevity of 79 years. 

Brunei has a carbon footprint of 22.9 metric tons per capita. 

As an oil producer, (click here) Brunei has been able to run consistent trade surpluses despite having to import most of what it consumes. Oil and natural gas account for over 95 percent of Brunei’s exports. Other exports include clothing. Brunei mainly imports machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, fuels and lubricants, chemical products, and beverages and tobacco. Brunei’s main trading partners are Japan, Singapore, South Korea, India, China, Australia and the United States. This page provides - Brunei Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Content for - Brunei Balance of Trade - was last refreshed on Monday, May 11, 2015.

While Brunei is a wealthy partner, it's cultural leanings may prove to be a double standard. 

April 26, 2015

The Sultan of Brunei (click here) has declared Sharia law in his tiny southeast Asian nation, all while being exposed by a former member of his harem for his extreme hypocrisy.
Imposing the law would see citizens publicly flogged, stoned to death for committing adultery, and suffer amputated limbs for theft.
"If such a theory claims that Allah's law is cruel and unjust but it is Allah Himself who proclaims His law is just," the Sultan said in recent speech....

Singapore often thought to be a city in China, but, it is considered independent republic. It was originally founded by a British trading company in the 1800s.

It is a commerce republic and a southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia

Singapore has a GDP per capita similar to the USA of $54,040. 

It's overall GDP is $297.9 billion within a population of 5.399 million citizens.

It is considered a High Income non-OECD country. 

It is ranked third in the world by the IMF and 4th by the World Bank.

It has agricultural commodities which include orchids, vegetables; poultry, eggs; fish and ornamental fish.

Industrial products include electronics, chemicals, financial services, oil drilling equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages, ship repair, offshore platform construction, life sciences, entrepot trade (re-export trade and possibly duty free).

Today it primarily exports to Malaysia 12.2%, China 11.8%, Hong Kong 11.2%, Indonesia 9.9%, US 5.8%, Japan 4.3%, South Korea 4.1% (2013).

People have a life expectancy of 82 years with a poverty rate is 28 percent as of 2013. There is no major investment for children to be educated. In 2013 there were 250,000 children enrolled in primary school.

Singapore economy (click here) relies on purchasing of intermediate goods and exporting of high-value added products. Main exports are: machinery and equipment (46 percent of the total exports), fuel (26 percent), and chemicals (13 percent). Main imports are: machinery and equipment (43 percent of the total exports), fuel (32 percent), miscellaneous manufactures (7 percent) and chemical products (7 percent). In recent years, the biggest trade deficits were recorded with China, Malaysia, the United States, Taiwan, Indonesia and the United Kingdom. Singapore records trade surpluses with Bahrain, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Brazil and India. This page provides - Singapore Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Content for - Singapore Balance of Trade - was last refreshed on Monday, May 11, 2015.

I have to wonder if education among the country's children leading to improved outcomes out of poverty is a requirement in the TPP?

May 10, 2015
By Olivia Siong 

SINGAPORE: Good education (click here) alone does not guarantee Singapore success, said Education Minister Heng Swee Keat.
Speaking during a ministerial visit to Bishan East on Sunday (May 10), Mr Heng stressed that the country should look forward and outwards in terms of how Singapore responds to societal challenges and international developments - for it to be successful in the future.
It was a special visit to Bishan East for the Education Minister on Sunday, which happens to be Mother's Day.
Handing out carnations to residents there, Mr Heng said he found a strong sense of cohesion and community spirit in the area. This togetherness, he noted, is the foundation of building a better society....

New Zeland is an original signator to the TPP.

New Zealand has an incredibly successful film industry with some of the most beautiful panoramas in the world. The epic series of "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" were filmed in New Zealand.

New Zealand is ranked 31 by the IMF and 28th by the World Bank.

New Zealand has a GPD per capita of $35,760.

It's over GDP is $185.8 billion within a population of 4.442 million citizens.

The agricultural products of New Zealand include dairy products, sheep, beef, poultry, fruit, vegetables, wine, seafood, forestry, wheat and barley.

It's industries include manufacturing, mining, construction, financial services, real estate services, and tourism.

New Zealand is considered a High Income by the OECD. It has a poverty rate of 10.3 percent.

School enrollment of primary schools is 99 percent. There is a life expectancy of 81 years. 

New Zealand has a carbon footprint of 7.3 metric tons of carbon emissions per capita.


New Zealand is greatly dependent on international trade. (click here) New Zealand's economy has traditionally been based on a foundation of exports from its very efficient agricultural system: meat, dairy products, forest products, fruit and vegetables, fish, and wool. New Zealand imports mainly machinery and equipment, vehicles and aircraft, petroleum, electronics, textiles and plastics. Its main trading partners are: Australia, European Union, The United States, China and Japan. This page provides - New Zealand Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Content for - New Zealand Balance of Trade - was last refreshed on Monday, May 11, 2015.

New Zealand similar to other small countries such as Ireland have strong educational ethics and consequently have professionals that abound. The moral content of the country is seen in such acts of international concern as is the case with the recent Nepal earthquake.

New Zealand and the Himalayan Mountains have a history they share. Besides mountains, Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to scale Mount Everest. This is a picture of Edmund Percival Hillary circa 1953 with photographer unidentified.

May 11, 2015

New Zealand engineers are on the way to Nepal (click here) to assess earthquake damage in the capital Kathmandu.
Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the Nepalese Government had requested assistance from New Zealand experts, to carry out assessments of critical public infrastructure such as hospitals.
"Four New Zealand engineers, with considerable experience in earthquake strengthening, have volunteered their time and they are en route to Nepal," Mr McCully said.
"This of group engineers will be in Kathmandu for a week, and, in addition to undertaking damage assessments, they will also help determine whether a larger contingent of 10-12 engineers is required....

Chile is an original signator of the TPP along with Singapore, New Zealand and Brunei. All other countries are negotiating for a place in the TPP.

Chile is one of the most exciting members of the TPP. They are remarkable people. The post Pinochet era has been a wildly successful economy for the citizens. The government now reflects the will of the people with amendments to their constitution with it's first free elections after 1990.

I don't know if Chile takes full advantage of it's biotic content for tourism dollars, but, it should. Chile has one of the most unique biotic content of any country in the world.

Chile is considered 53rd out of 187 country by the IMF and 51st out of 185 countries by the World Bank.

Chile's GDP is $15,732.31 per capita.

Chile's overall GDP is $277.2 billion among a population of 17.62 million citizens.

Chile has agricultural commodities of grapes, apples, pears, onions, wheat, corn, oats, peaches, garlic, asparagus, beans; beef, poultry, wool, fish and  timber. It has industries of  copper, lithium, other minerals, foodstuffs, fish processing, iron and steel, wood and wood products, transport equipment, cement and textiles.

Chile has 101 percent enrollment in primary education schools. The additional percentage is due to immigrants.

The life expectancy is 80 years old with a poverty rate of 14.4 percent. The poverty rate of Chile is similar to the USA's at 14.3 percent in 2012.

Chile has a carbon footprint of 4.2 metric tons per capita of carbon emissions.

Chile has been recording trade surpluses since 1999, (click here) mostly due to a rise in shipments of copper. Other exports include: services, processed food and chemicals. Main imports are: crude and refined oil, coal, gas and lubricants (19 percent of total imports), machinery and parts (9 percent) and cars, computers, mobile phones and house equipment (8 percent). Main trading partners are: China (24 percent of total exports and 18 percent of imports), United States (12 percent of exports and 23 percent of imports) and Brazil (5 percent of exports and 7 percent of imports). Others include: Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Colombia and Spain. This page provides - Chile Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Content for - Chile Balance of Trade - was last refreshed on Monday, May 11, 2015.

President Michelle Bachelet (click here) is ranked by Forbes as the 25th most powerful women in the world.

May 10, 2015
By Jorge Poblette

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet (click here) plans to announce a reshuffling of her Cabinet on Monday in a bid to restore her public image, which has been badly tarnished by corruption scandals, including one involving her son.
New ministers are expected to be announced even as the attorney general continues an investigation into an illegal campaign financing scheme that has touched the president’s allies. Separately, local prosecutors in southern Chile are investigating whether Bachelet's son, Sebastian Davalos, peddled influence and misused privileged information. Davolos was called to testify last month in the probe....

The United States of America is considered tenth in the world in GDP (PPP) by both the IMF and World Bank.

The USA became a negotiating partner in the TPP as of February 2008 under George W. Bush. President Obama wants to settle the negotiations under his watch due to the improvements he made since the original agreement. I can understand that, but, many people in the USA would simply like it to go away forever. The one question that comes to the surface among some is what happens in 2016 if this isn't done under Obama? 

The real question is not what happens in 2016, but, more why does the Middle Class always have to fear Republican leadership in the Oval Office? 

Why? War and poverty, that's why.

The USA (click here) is considered to have a GDP (AKA GNI - Gross National Income) of $54,597 per capita. That means a disposable income that other countries seek to covet for their products.

The USA has a GDP of $16.77 trillion among a citizen population of 316.1 million.

US agricultural commodities include wheat, corn, other grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products, fish and forest products. The USA is considered to have a diverse industries such as a technology innovator, second-largest industrial output in world of petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber and mining

It is considered a "High Income" member of the OECD. 

Life expectancy is 79 years.

98 percent of children are enrolled in school.

The USA is considered to have a carbon footprint of 17.6 metric tons per capita emissions.

The USA tends to be a donor country in most trade relationships. Trade relationships are suppose to balance. Below a graph of recent trade relations without the TPP (click here).

 
The United States has been running consistent trade deficits since 1976 due to high imports of oil and consumer products. In recent years, the biggest trade deficits were recorded with China, Japan, Germany and Mexico. United States records trade surpluses with Hong Kong, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and Australia. This page provides - United States Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Content for - United States Balance of Trade - was last refreshed on Monday, May 11, 2015.

Show me the money.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 188 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.
Created in 1945, the IMF is governed by and accountable to the 188 countries that make up its near-global membership.

Ms. Christine Lagarde is the Managing Director of the IMF. (click here)

She is considered the fifth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. (click here)

 
The USA is the largest shareholder of the World Bank. The current President is Jim Yong Kim. (click here) The primary purpose of The World Bank is to vanquish poverty in the world.

The World Bank President oversees the general management of the bank and chairs the meetings of the Board of Directors.

Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer (click here) of the World Bank. She is considered 38th most powerful women in the world by Forbes. (click here)

The World Bank Group has set two goals for the world to achieve by 2030:

- End extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than $1.25 a day to no more than 3%

- Promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% for every country
The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. We are not a bank in the ordinary sense but a unique partnership to reduce poverty and support development. The World Bank Group comprises five institutions managed by their member countries.

Established in 1944, the World Bank Group is headquartered in Washington, D.C. We have more than 10,000 employees in more than 120 offices worldwide.

The ten largest banks in the world (click here).

They count their assets in $ trillions, not $ billions or $ millions. There re three Chinese banks among the top ten.

The world may be shrinking, but the banks that are an intricate part of our global economy sure aren't. Backlash from the financial crisis hasn't put a dent in the world's largest banks, which combined have eye-popping assets of about $25.5 trillion. Most of the world's largest banks are outside of the U.S., but there is one American-based bank that made it onto this year's list from Relbanks.com. See which one it was.

Most trade agreements discuss viability of the agreement as PPP or Purchasing Power Parity

An economic theory (click here) that estimates the amount of adjustment needed on the exchange rate between countries in order for the exchange to be equivalent to each currency's purchasing power.

The relative version of PPP is calculated as:



Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

Where:
"S" represents exchange rate of currency 1 to currency 2
"P1" represents the cost of good "x" in currency 1
"P2" represents the cost of good "x" in currency 2 


No I am not going to conduct analysis on any of the TPP countries. There are currently tables that conduct that analysis. I will assume for the purpose of expediency the table is correct. Anyone can double check such facts by using real time data. 

This is the table used for the comparison:

GDP per capita (click here) based on purchasing power parity (PPP). PPP GDP is gross domestic product converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity rates. An international dollar has the same purchasing power over GDP as the U.S. dollar has in the United States. 

The concept of an international dollar: 

The International dollar (also known as the Geary-Khamis dollar)(click here) is a currency unit used by economists and international organizations to compare the values of different currencies. International dollar comparisons between countries have been adjusted to reflect currency exchange rates, but also adjusted to reflect purchasing power parity (PPP) and average commodity prices within each country. 

These standards are not so difficult the average person cannot understand them. There is no real magic here. It is simply a 'plug and chug' equation. They are not at all about Wall Street derivatives or swaps. Those exotic equations are exactly that and are not part of the understanding of what is occurring in the trade agreements. Actually, the trade agreements should prohibit those equations in the relationships between countries. I have no doubt Wall Street sees these trade agreements as a larger playground. Remember Wall Street doesn't have jobs. They earn wealth by manipulating the markets where average citizens hold jobs within the commodities and stocks traded. It can be somewhat interesting when one thinks of employment in relation to the health of the companies stock.

Then there is the WTO. It is frequently the place of mitigation between countries.

Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments go, to try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other. 

At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations. 

But the WTO is not just about liberalizing trade, and in some circumstances its rules support maintaining trade barriers — for example to protect consumers, prevent the spread of disease or protect the environment.

How many trade agreements does the USA need and which trade agreement counts when it comes to establishing tariffs and import standards? In reflection of all these treaties that are suppose to protect consumers, the little guy, the individual whom are citizens; how did China export dog food containing melamine? 

Do those trade agreements actually work?

Have unions ever found the WTO useful in maintaining their members and/or their wages and benefits? If not, why not? 

It isn't as though the USA needs an international trade agreement. The USA can not be accused of being isolationist.

The OECD has been existed since 1961 and the USA is one of the original signators. The OECD is composed of 34 countries, some involved with the TPP (Pacific) or TTiP (Atlantic). The OECD has values that represent American values including concern for chemicals found within the trade relationships.

What concerns me is the conflict of interest of the TPP or TTiP with existing trade relations. 

 Mission (click here)

The mission of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.
The OECD provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems. We work with governments to understand what drives economic, social and environmental change. We measure productivity and global flows of trade and investment. We analyse and compare data to predict future trends. We set international standards on a wide range of things, from agriculture and tax to the safety of chemicals.
We also look at issues that directly affect everyone’s daily life, like how much people pay in taxes and social security, and how much leisure time they can take. We compare how different countries’ school systems are readying their young people for modern life, and how different countries’ pension systems will look after their citizens in old age....

It's Sunday Night.

This is the second time this song has appeared on the blog. I don't like to repeat the same again, but, some things never change.

"Money" from the album "Dark side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd

Money, get away
Get a good job with good pay and you're okay
Money, it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream
Think I'll buy me a football team

Money, get back
I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack
Money, it's a hit
Don't give me that do goody good bullshit
I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a Lear jet

Money, it's a crime
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise
That they're giving none away
Away, away, way
(Away, away, away, away)

Corruption has a price. North Carolina election commission(s) are found guility of racial discrimination in it's gerrymandering.

To Democrats and any movement that seeks to be treated equitably; don't let this reality simply disappear. This is racism. It is important all these issues are part of a public agenda. Why? To prevent it from occurring again by men primarily considered moral by their church affiliation. They are not moral men. They pray, but, they do not live a moral life.

April 20, 2015




The U.S. Supreme Court (click here) threw out a North Carolina Supreme Court ruling on Monday that had upheld the state’s Republican-drawn legislative and congressional districts.

The U.S. justices said the state’s highest court must reconsider whether legislators relied too heavily on race when drawing the 2011 maps, which shape how state and federal elections will be decided until at least 2020.

The justices said the state court must reconsider its December 2014 ruling in the Dickson v. Rucho case in light of the U.S. high court’s decision last month in an Alabama redistricting case.

Margaret Dickson, a former state representative, was one of the challengers in a lawsuit contending that maps drawn by the Republican-led legislature in North Carolina were designed to weaken the black vote in violation of the U.S. and North Carolina constitutions....

Given the USA EPA involvement in the Duke Power disasters, NC is now seeking to change the laws of the state. Why do they think that actually matters when the EPA overrides the corruption?

Also, one of the complaints by North Carolina is that the state environmental laws are too strict. That is a laugh and a half. The North Carolina endangered animals is based in commerce. If the animal is important in hunting and trapping it is important enough to protect. Let's think about that.

If the only animals classified in North Carolina are those important to hunting, trapping and sportsman or sportswomen, those animals will be predisposed to be listed as endangered? 

May 9, 2015

To some Republicans, (click here) the bills are a responsible response to what they call redundant and often onerous government regulations.
To environmental advocates, they’re a further retreat from long-established policies that have helped clean up North Carolina’s air and water and made it a national leader in solar energy.
“I was sort of dumbfounded that there was even more (Republicans) could do to erode environmental protections,” said Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat. “But they found other opportunities.”
State lawmakers have introduced several measures that give environmentalists heartburn. Some, like this week’s sweeping bill on state regulations, have passed either the House or the Senate. Others are still in committee....

The legislative agenda in North Carolina is obviously corrupt. It is obvious should the bills become the law they will make their way into the court systems. While the final ruling comes down to end the obvious corruption and unsound practices and policies of the McCrory/Pope Administration; they will run game as long as they can.

The hunting and trapping laws need to be reviewed to enforce stricter use. Why? Because NC is experiencing population growth that will place the construction lobby in the middle of neighborhood safety and simply building where there is land. 



Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article20586762.html#storylink=cpy
The Triangle region, (click here) home to over 1.5 million people, is projected to grow rapidly to over 2.5 million by 2035.  We will add more people in the next 25 years than the existing population of our 10 largest municipalities.  Our growth rates have outpaced population growth for the nation and for North Carolina.  As of 2007, Wake County was the 7th fastest growing county in the U.S.   
The Raleigh-Cary metro area is now the fastest growing region of the entire country!  ...

North Carolina laws that fall into political agendas of the right wing to promote their election and re-election are antiquated. That is the case of a number of southern states. 

Why antiquated? North Carolina has laws to protect species when they are endangered and valuable to commerce. NC also refuses to list plants in any endangered status. The responsibility to protect valuable flora falls completely to the federal government. That puts NC Commerce in complete opposition to science. The NC legislature by ignoring HABITAT for their commerce animals is causing endangered status of these animals. If the animals do not have habitat they won't stay and flourish but become endangered as a default setting. 

The population issue revolves around the fact rifles carry bullets a farther distance than shot guns. North Carolina's cities will find it necessary to create a moratorium on hunting to prevent bullets coming through the walls of homes. The entire gun and population growth should be a part of any political agenda to avert deaths now and in the future. It is this type of reality that cannot be left up to developing legislation after the fact. Cities across the USA have to determine what is best for their communities to prevent hunting accidents proactively. Raleigh is one of those communities.

Mothers have been a political force since the effort to pass the Nineteenth Amendment.

Anna Jarvis was the driving force behind the first Mother's Day observances in 1908.

 ...It all started in the 1850s, (click here) when West Virginia women's organizer Ann Reeves Jarvis—Anna's mother—held Mother's Day work clubs to improve sanitary conditions and try to lower infant mortality by fighting disease and curbing milk contamination, according to historian Katharine Antolini of West Virginia Wesleyan College. The groups also tended wounded soldiers from both sides during the U.S. Civil War from 1861 to 1865.
In the postwar years Jarvis and other women organized Mother's Friendship Day picnics and other events as pacifist strategies to unite former foes. Julia Ward Howe, for one—best known as the composer of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"—issued a widely read "Mother's Day Proclamation" in 1870, calling for women to take an active political role in promoting peace....

Is there any wonder left to realize why Republicans seek to oppress the Women's Vote wherever they can. Being tied down to a domestic domain is not the place for women. The domestic domain belongs to both genders as is the birth of their children. The right for women to work with equal pay is important  to improve the circumstances of family.

When President Obama criticizes the Democrats about the Pacific and Atlantic trade policies he needs to remember who his friends are.

December 11, 2015
By Steven Mufson and Tom Hamburger 

JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon listens as President Barack Obama speaks to leading CEOs to discuss ways to promote the economy and create jobs during the president's last two years in office this month at the Business Roundtable Headquarters in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The acrimony (click here) that erupted Thursday between President Obama and members of his own party largely pivoted on a single item in a 1,600-page piece of legislation to keep the government funded: Should banks be allowed to make risky investments using taxpayer-backed money?

The very idea was abhorrent to many Democrats on Capitol Hill. And some were stunned that the White House would support the bill with that provision intact, given that it would erase a key provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation, one of Obama’s signature achievements....

HE SIGNED THE LEGISLATION WITH THE AMENDMENT. 

I was never invited to a round table discussion. 

June 9, 2013
By Dave Johnson

You think trade is complicated, (click here) technical, boring, so you tune out and don’t pay attention to the issue… And then BANG, you’re told they are moving the facility where you work out of the country and you are going to be laid off, but if you want your severance and the chance to collect unemployment you have to train your replacement. Not long after that, in other factories and offices everyone is told to accept wage and benefit cuts or they’ll move that facility out of the country, too.
Six months later you look around and your downtown locally-owned storefronts are getting boarded up one at a time because the private-equity-owned chains that circle the town carry all that cheap stuff from China and they buy at such a large scale that no small business can compete.
After a year you finally land a job! The job is you have to dress up like a duck and stand on a corner waving a sign. These are the things that all of this arguing about trade is about. Welcome to the new America....

What ever happened to the Volker Rule? Is Senator Warren constructing legislation to reinstate it? And reinstate it WITHOUT WALL STREET WELFARE in the chronic revenue loophole in the corporate tax structure.

The Volcker Rule (click here) included in the Dodd-Frank Act prohibits banks from proprietary trading and restricts investment in hedge funds and private equity by commercial banks and their affiliates.

The Baltimore City Code carries the same requirement for a knife and carries the same penalties.

Baltimore City Code, Article 19, Section 59-22 — Switch-blade knives
(a) Possession or sale, etc., prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, carry, or possess any knife with an automatic spring or other device for opening and/or closing the blade, commonly known as a switch-blade knife.

(b) Penalties. Any person violating the provisions of this section, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $500 or be imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both, in the discretion of the court.

Code of Maryland, Section 4-105 (click here)
(a) Prohibited. A person may not sell, barter, display, or offer to sell or barter:
(1) a knife or a penknife having a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife, commonly called a switchblade knife or a switchblade penknife; or
(2) a device that is designed to propel a knife from a metal sheath by means of a high-compression ejector spring, commonly called a shooting knife.

The Police Union is creating propaganda. There are several website pretending to know the facts when the knife has never been public knowledge. Is the Baltimore Sun the only media that actually does research before publishing?

"Good Faith" while claiming by defense attorneys, is not always granted by the court.

 Defenses: Qualified (Good-Faith) Immunity (click here)

The above information comes from the:

 AELE LAW LIBRARY OF CASE SUMMARIES:
Civil Liability
of Law Enforcement Agencies & Personnel


The Directors and Trustees (click here) are densely qualified with police enforcement and management experience.

You'll excuse the pun, but, the defense attorneys of the Baltimore police are shooting from the hip to attempt contamination of the jury pool. It is the "Zimmerman Defense."" The clown from Tulsa did the same thing. Sp, if people want to talk about ethical issues we can start there. Lawyers when found to have violated ethical issues such as contaminating the jury pool, can have their licenses to practice put in peril.

There is criticism of Ms. Mosby in that she is too naive and untested to carry out a legitimate prosecution. It has been stated this case charging Baltimore police with the death of Freddie Gray is atypical.

Ms. Mosby is well qualified. The Justice Department is involved in this case as well. If Ms. Mosby's ELECTED practice sets new precedent; then it is welcome and refreshing. 

A man died. He was alive when he came into police custody. Are there people actually stating that isn't important? So, according to dissenters the police are innocent. They do not bring to the discussion the fact Freddie Gray has been found innocent as well and he is dead. Their arguments are rather troubling in that a person, innocent or guilty, can be taken into police custody, lose their civil rights, robbed of due process and pronounced dead. Excuse me?