Sunday, March 13, 2016

Before Dick Cheney passed his energy plan for America in 2005 the country was warned this EXACT problem would exist. When is the USA going to believe their scientists again!

Oklahoma earthquakes are not 'little quakes' anymore. They have increasingly larger seismicity. Why? Because different from quakes that occur along KNOWN fissures and faults; Oklahoma's quakes started in solid rock because of drilling into the earth and extending to every direction of the compass. So, the Oklahoma rocks first crack and remain stable. Then the cracked rock cracks again and remain stable. And then those cracked rocks crack once again and again and again. The land is no longer slightly cracked by severely cracked and the seismic activity GROWS in severity because of movement toward a state of liquefaction. 

Liquefaction is a very severe condition of the land that actually generate quick sand.


5.1 magnitude quake reported Saturday. From Staff Reports | Updated: Sat, Feb 13, 2016. A 5.1 magnitude earthquake near Fairview shook much of the state Saturday morning.

5.1 and 3.9 magnitude earthquakes recorded in Oklahoma. KEN MILLER, Associated Press Updated: Sat, Feb 13, 2016.

5.1 quakes are not minor quakes.

When is the Governor going to call Oklahoma, in specific regions, a state of emergency. This is ridiculous. The well drilling has to stop. It is egregious and costs people their safety, sanity and land. Pennsylvania should take note of this reality. 

...Neil de Grasse Tyson has said this kind of situation imperils our democracy and he is absolutely right.... (click here)

Liquefaction is not a minor issue. I wish Christchurch, New Zealand would develop a plan to move the community to a stable region of the country.

The quake below is 1964 Niigata earthquake. The buildings didn't collapse because of the quake. They fell over because of the liquefaction. A slow tipping as the land disintegrated. 


The earthquake (click here) is called the Niigata earthquake because of the extensive damage caused by the shock in this town in spite of it being situated about 50 km south of the epicenter; it was one of the two great destructive earthquakes of 1964. Although the number of victims was fortunately small (36 dead or missing, 385 injured), the material damage was great: 3,534 houses destroyed, 11,000 houses damaged. Our Japanese colleagues immediately investigated the phenomenon in detail (Aki, 1966; Falconer, 1964; IISEE earthquake report, 1965; Japan Nat. Comm. on Earthquake Engineering, 1964; Kawasumi, 1965). 

Below is the quake map of Oklahoma. (click here)

Those four quakes occurred TODAY. Yesterday there was a 3.2. On March 11, 2016 there were three earthquakes. It doesn't stop, it happens everyday and it is growing worse.









The quakes in Oklahoma is disturbing the North America Craton. It is the most stable continent on Earth and it is being turned into sand.

I sincerely think Canada has a right to a lawsuit to end fracking in the USA because it effects the Craton.

Ted Cruz is from Texas; "Hang 'em high." Texas has the highest number of executions. They are immovable.

February 9, 2016
By Jordan Carney and Lydia Wheeler

Senators are searching (click here) for ways to win more Republican votes for a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill that has stalled amid growing conservative opposition, including from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Tuesday said lawmakers are negotiating changes to "key sections" of the sentencing reform legislation in an attempt to win more support....            
At Kaiser Permanente, (click here) everything we do centers around you. As a member, you can work with your primary care physician to develop a personalized plan focusing on wellness and prevention to help you achieve your health goals. You'll also have access to member programs designed to help you be healthy, stay fit, and feel your best. 

Kaiser Permanente is composed of Kaiser Foundation Health Plans (nonprofit, public-benefit corporations), Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (a nonprofit, public-benefit corporation), and the Permanente Medical Groups (for-profit professional organizations). The largest nonprofit health plan in the United States, Kaiser Permanente serves 8.7 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. 

What makes us unique is our integrated model of health care delivery.We are an integrated health delivery system, which means that we provide and coordinate the entire scope of care for our members, including:...
Capital punishment does not work. (click here) There is a wealth of mounting evidence that proves this fact.
The death penalty, both in the U.S. and around the world, is discriminatory and is used disproportionately against the poor, minorities and members of racial, ethnic and religious communities. Since humans are fallible, the risk of executing the innocent can never be eliminated.
Furthermore, the astronomical costs associated with putting a person on death row – including criminal investigations, lengthy trials and appeals – are leading many states to re-evaluate and re-consider having this flawed and unjust system on the books.
Learn more about death penalty statistics and key arguments:...

A recent study by Professor Michael Radelet and Traci Lacock (click here) of the University of Colorado found that 88% of the nation’s leading criminologists do not believe the death penalty is an effective deterrent to crime. The study, Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates? The Views of Leading Criminologists, published in theJournal of Criminal Law and Crimonology, concluded, “There is overwhelming consensus among America’s top criminologists that the empirical research conducted on the deterrence question fails to support the threat or use of the death penalty.” A previous study in 1996 had come to similar conclusions....
Joseph S. Nye Jr., (click here) University Distinguished Service Professor, and former Dean of the Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He received his bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Princeton University,won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, and earned a PhD in political science from Harvard. He has served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Chair of the National Intelligence Council, and Deputy Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology. His most recent books include The Power to Lead; The Future of Power; Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era; and Is the American Century Over. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, and the American Academy of Diplomacy. In a recent survey of internatinal relations scholars, he was ranked as the most influential scholar on American foreign policy, and in 2011, Foreign Policy named him one of the top 100 Global  Thinkers.

..."Smart power" is a term I developed in 2003 (click here) to counter the misperception that soft power alone can produce effective foreign policy. Power is one's ability to affect the behavior of others to get what one wants. There are three basic ways to do this: coercion, payment, and attraction. Hard power is the use of coercion and payment. Soft power is the ability to obtain preferred outcomes through attraction. If a state can set the agenda for others or shape their preferences, it can save a lot on carrots and sticks. But rarely can it totally replace either. Thus the need for smart strategies that combine the tools of both hard and soft power.
In an otherwise estimable new book, Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy, Leslie Gelb argues that "soft power now seems to mean almost everything" because both economic and military resources can influence other states. (Gelb's recent article in these pages, "Necessity, Choice, and Common Sense" [May/June 2009], is drawn from the book.)...

From Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association;

Steel Industry, Workers Urge Commerce Department to Stop Dumping of Foreign Steel (click here)

American steel producers and the United Steelworkers (USW) are working together to stop foreign “dumping” of seamless tubes, or oil country tubular goods (OCTG), which are used in the gas and oil industry. Dumping is the practice of exporting products at a subsidized below-market price, in many cases as much as 30 percent below. This practice has been perpetuated by countries including India, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam. International trade law is not being properly enforced and it is American manufacturers that will pay the price for the federal government’s inaction. The steel industry is correct to be concerned; 10,000 American steelmaking jobs were lost in 2008 because of a similar practice by China.
It is the responsibility of the United States Department of Commerce to enforce trade agreements by imposing antidumping duties and countervailing duties when its government subsidizes a foreign competitor’s production.
“We actually won that fight (with China), but by the time it was over we already lost the jobs at home,” said Chris Masciantonio, General Manager for Government Affairs at US Steel and co-chair of the PA Steel Alliance. “If we lose this one, it could become the model for cheating in the future.”
On the surface, the explosion in global steel capacity over the past ten years would indicate the world’s economy is growing at a staggering rate. China alone has the capacity today to produce one billion tons of steel a year. Ten years ago, it could produce a tenth of that. But it’s more than a supply and demand policy driving the growth; it’s what trade experts call a beggar-thy-neighbor policy. One country attempts to remedy its economic problems by worsening the economies of other countries. In short, some countries dump their products overseas by selling below production costs or below market prices in their home countries....

There are others that see Donald Trump as an important political candidate.

It is a mistake to classify Donald Trump and cast him to the curb. He has been a most unexpected candidate. He is not running for the jazz.

12 March 2016
By Steve Hilton, former adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron

...Until Trump, no mainstream (click here) US politician had spoken up for working people in these terms. No one had challenged the technocratic agenda of the bankers, the bureaucrats and the accountants. That’s why so many people support Trump; and why he is politically important.
Of course, I understand that Trump’s rhetoric sometimes causes real offence. But he’s not a bigot or a racist or a madman: he’s just a political amateur who says the first thing that comes into his head. After years of slick, calculating, machine politicians, Trump’s rough and ready authenticity has real appeal.
This is not to say that I think he would make a good President, or that I’m supporting him – I’m not. But he has shone a spotlight on some of the biggest defects of American democracy, and his role in bringing about much-needed change could be more significant than that of his patronising and increasingly hysterical critics. That includes the most pernicious issue: money in politics. Britain has no reason to be complacent about corruption, whether it’s the revolving door between Westminster and Whitehall and the boardrooms of big businesses and their shadowy advisory firms; or the way trade union money on the Left or the financial sector on the Right dominate party fundraising.
But what goes on in America makes British corruption look like a picnic. In the US, wealthy individuals and corporations literally buy the political outcomes they want. A recent analysis showed that in a new law designed to regulate the banks, 70 lines out of 85 were actually written by banking giant Citigroup....

Government health insurance will result in more successful small businesses. There won't be any more increases annually in premiums.


By PNHP (Physicians for a National Health Program

Single-payer national health insurance, (click here) also known as “Medicare for all,” is a system in which a single public or quasi-public agency organizes health care financing, but the delivery of care remains largely in private hands. Under a single-payer system, all residents of the U.S. would be covered for all medically necessary services, including doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs.

The program would be funded by the savings obtained from replacing today’s inefficient, profit-oriented, multiple insurance payers with a single streamlined, nonprofit, public payer, and by modest new taxes based on ability to pay. Premiums would disappear; 95 percent of all households would save money. Patients would no longer face financial barriers to care such as co-pays and deductibles, and would regain free choice of doctor and hospital. Doctors would regain autonomy over patient care....

Donald Trump is not the only one with a Birther past.

January 15, 2016
By Tal Kopan


Washington (CNN) It's not just Sen. Ted Cruz (click here) facing birther challenges. Despite Donald Trump's silence on the issue, Sen. Marco Rubio has his own legal challengers.
And, Cruz would suggest, Trump himself should be prepared to make his case in court.
    A federal lawsuit challenging Cruz's eligibility to run for president was filed Thursday, based on the theory espoused by Trump that he may not be a natural-born citizen....
    ...The Cruz lawsuit, filed in Texas on Thursday by Newton Boris Schwartz Sr., raises legal uncertainty about whether Cruz qualifies for the constitutional requirement that a president be a "a natural-born citizen" because he was born in Canada....
    Tax policy - middle income homeowner can rise by $4800 per year. Senator Sander's disputes that amount.

    September 30, 2016
    By Erik Sherman

    The world is awash (click here) in personal wealth: $153.2 trillion in total, according to Allianz’s new Global Wealth Report 2015. That’s enough to pay three times the world’s sovereign debt, the debts of each nation. The report, which measured 2014 wealth, found 2014 was the third consecutive year in which global wealth grew more than 7%.
    The jump was largely the result of households pumping up their personal savings efforts. The U.S. — with $63.5 trillion in total private wealth — holds the largest amount of any country in the world. But that wealth is unevenly distributed, and nowhere is that more evident than in the U.S., which also has the largest wealth inequality gap of 55 countries studied, according to the report.
    While America’s growing income inequality has been the source of much debate, this report examined the wealth — which includes not just salary, but also property and investments held by a familyThe report found that America’s wealth inequality is even more gaping its income inequality. In fact, the report dubbed the U.S. the “Unequal States of America” due to the size of the gap....

    ...For the first time in this report series, Allianz calculated each country’s wealth Gini coefficient — a measure of inequality in which 0 is perfect equality and 100 would mean perfect inequality, or one person owning all the wealth. It found that the U.S. had the most wealth inequality, with a score of 80.56, showing the most concentration of overall wealth in the hands of the proportionately fewest people....
    $70 billion per year for debt free educations. Wall Street transaction tax. Fine.

    HBCU 

    These historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were compared only with one another for these rankings. In order to be on the list, a school must be currently designated by the U.S. Department of Education as an HBCU. To qualify for the U.S. News rankings, an HBCU also must be an undergraduate baccalaureate-granting institution that enrolls primarily first-year, first-time students and must be a school that is part of the 2016 Best Colleges rankings.

    In 2016 
    Number 1 Spelman College (click here

    Minority colleges would do better with debt free education.

    July 22, 2015
    By Jared Bernstein

    ...Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, (click here) who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, has done just that, by proposing a financial transaction tax: a small excise tax, typically a few hundredths of a percent, on trades of stocks, bonds, derivatives and other securities. An itty-bitty, one-basis-point transaction tax (a basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point, or 0.01 percent) would raise $185 billion over 10 years, according to new estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. That would be enough to finance an ambitious expansion of prekindergarten programs for 3- and 4-year-olds and restore funding of college assistance for low-income students.

    What’s more, a financial transaction tax could significantly reduce the amount of high-frequency trading. This trading, most of it automated, is used to make windfall profits through arbitrage (taking advantage of small differences in price) in milliseconds. It does nothing to help ordinary investors and can destabilize financial markets....
    President Obama skillfully guided this country out of the worst economic calamity in recent history.

    What was everyone else's excuse?

    July 30, 2015
    ...A reader asked (click here) us to check whether Sanders was correct, so we took a closer look. (Sanders seems to have made this a go-to talking point in his campaign; he offered a similar claim in an interview with The Nation.)
    We’ll start by noting that the most commonly used unemployment-rate statistic is not as high for each group as Sanders indicated. The most readily available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics covers the age range from 16 to 19, which isn’t identical but gives a quick approximation.
    For whites in that age range, the official unemployment rate was 15.7 percent, for Hispanics it was 20.8 percent and for African-Americans it was 31.8 percent.
    In other words, the official unemployment rate shows the same general pattern -- that African-American youth unemployment is significantly higher than white youth unemployment and, to a lesser extent, higher than Hispanic youth unemployment. Still, the levels for each group are lower than what Sanders said....

    I think Donald Trump is more calculating than pathological.

    Is your husband or wife, (click here) boyfriend or girlfriend a compulsive/pathological liar or a sociopath?
    To begin with, it may help to understand the difference between a pathological or compulsive liar and a sociopath.
    Ultimately, making this type of distinction may not be that useful. Because in either case, the outcome is typically the same: dealing with a compulsive or pathological liar is very difficult to do. And unfortunately, sociopaths cannot be changed.
    A compulsive liar will resort to telling lies, regardless of the situation. Again, everyone lies from time to time (see when lovers lie), but for a compulsive liar, telling lies is routine. It becomes a habit—a way of life....
    This is the last debate I will blog on a Sunday night. I have other priorities that need to be read.

    Over 126 million Americans voted in 2012. I would expect the same if not more in 2016.


    2012 Democratic votes 65,915,796 - 51.1 percent

    2012 Republican votes 60,933,500 - 47.2 percent

    March 11, 2016
    By Rick Kissell

    Ratings Drop Off for Civilized GOP Debate on CNN (click here)

    One week after ratings soared to a 2016 high with an insult-ridden Republican debate on Fox News Channel, viewership fell off about 30% for CNN’s rather civil get-together last night.

    According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, an average audience of 11.85 million (including 3.67 million in the news demo of adults 25-54) watched the CNN Republican Debate from 9-11 p.m. ET. CNN figures to stand as Thursday’s most-watched network (cable or broadcast), but last night’s debate from Miami ranks as the second smallest of seven GOP gatherings in 2016. (It fares better on the rankings list among adults 25-54, with last night’s total third best of the year)....

    I question the wisdom of the frequent debates. It seems to be reaching the same audience. Volunteers for the campaigns canvasing their districts to bring voters to the polls is a better use of time.

    The frequent debates are a ratings boost for the cable networks. Assuming the viewers of the debates are all separate individuals (which is not realistic - some tune in for both parties) that would provide about 10 - 15 percent of the electorate interested in the debates. I think the parties are looking at voter decision within the two weeks before the election date. That is what usually happens with presidential elections. The polls tighten and a clear picture of the electorate is more predictable.

    If I thought the candidates were receiving a benefit from the debates I'd say so, but, I don't think that is it. I think the reason Michigan chose Bernie was because he opposes the trade agreements. Also, right in the middle of the lead up to Michigan's primary the announcement came about the amnesty for Bryan Pagliano.

    Senator Sander's campaign has always done well with a strong human response and small donations. After the last Democratic debate he raised millions though. So, I think the candidates need to assess their plans and decide about the debates.

    Here we go again.

    March 12, 2016

    In 2015, Miami-Dade (click here) recorded the highest number of complaints of irregularities and fraud in the administration of condos of any county in Florida


    Highest number of complaints doesn't mean they are valid. Condos in Florida frequently have many owners if they are a time share. The campaigns need to look into this mess.


    El Nuevo Herald and Univision 23 launched its own investigation after allegations of fraudulent ballots at several South Florida condominiums

    Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article65650587.html#storylink=cpy

    Fraud in Condo Owners Association is not an election issue.


    Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article65650587.html#storylink=cpy

    Protesting and demonstrating is not a riot.

    Under federal law, a riot is a public disturbance involving an act of violence by one or more persons assembled in a group of at least three people. Inciting a riot applies to a person who organizes, encourages, or participates in a riot. It can apply to one who urges or instigates others to riot. According to 18 USCS § 2102 "to incite a riot", or "to organize, promote, encourage, participate in, or carry on a riot", includes, but is not limited to, urging or instigating other persons to riot, but shall not be deemed to mean the mere oral or written (1) advocacy of ideas or (2) expression of belief, not involving advocacy of any act or acts of violence or assertion of the rightness of, or the right to commit, any such act or acts.”

    Booing is not a riot.

    Those that support candidates need to discern the different between protesting and rioting. It is not the same thing.

    1990: United States v. Eichman (496 U.S. 310) (click here) — Passage of the Flag Protection Act resulted in a number of flag burning incidents protesting the new law. The Supreme Court overturned several flag burning convictions brought under the Flag Protection Act of 1989. The Court held that notwithstanding Congress' effort to adopt a more content neutral law, the federal law continued to be principally aimed at limiting symbolic speech.

    A person can legally burn the US flag, but, they might be susceptible to a misdemeanor of starting a fire.

    Then there is the 'maintenance flag burning.' 

    If one is worried about being charged with a misdemeanor of flag burning while protesting; perhaps it would prove less peril if burning an old flag.
    March 12, 2016
    By Corey Jones
    A motion to dismiss (click here) one of two criminal misdemeanors lodged by grand jurors against former Sheriff Stanley Glanz was denied Friday afternoon in a decision that favors open records and transparency.
    The court ruled in favor of prosecutors regarding a charge of refusal to perform official duty, which accuses Glanz of ignoring lawful requests to turn over a 2009 internal investigation involving friend and former Reserve Deputy Robert Bates....

    The last anyone has heard from Robert Bates was August last year when he tried to intimidate prosecutors and the US Attorney. Evidently, Mr. Bates wants company in prison along side the prosecutor and/or the US Attorney if it is learned he can leverage corruption in legal proceedings.

    Mr. Bates is a very powerful man. He knows how to get things done, including murdering a man he decided was worthy of dying.

    April 29, 2015
    By AP
    Oklahoma City — Embroiled in a legal battle (click here) over the sale of his insurance company, Robert Bates met a former colleague at a restaurant to discuss the court case over drinks.
    But Bates, the volunteer Tulsa County deputy now facing a manslaughter charge for shooting an unarmed suspect, did not know the 2012 conversation was being secretly recorded by his companion, Bryan Berman, the company’s new president.
    During the exchange, Bates boasted of his connections in the sheriff’s department and the U.S. attorney’s office, and suggested he could make life miserable for the plaintiffs.

    The audio recording, obtained by The Associated Press from the court file of a federal case that was later dismissed, reveals the corporate executive as a man who bragged about using his position in the Sheriff’s Office to help powerful friends and whose work as a reserve deputy added a spark to his life....


    It begins. Occupied territories, regardless of country, should be avoided by any business. There is too much fluidity in authority.

    March 11, 2016
    By Sarah Apps

    The Foreign Office (click here) and the Business Department have issued guidance to UK businesses warning them of the reputational risk of operating in illegal settlements


    G4S has finally announced that it will be selling its subsidiary, G4S Israel, “in the next 12 to 24 months”. The news has been greeted with jubilation from campaigners who have led a sustained boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against the organisation over the last four years....'


    ...Not only have many student campaigns convinced their universities to drop G4S, but globally many organisations – public and private – have dropped G4S. At the end of last year Labour’s National Executive Committee decided to end their conference security contract with G4S following a discussion about their complicity with human rights abuses....