Wednesday, March 23, 2016

What do these people have in common?

Tony Saunders 




Kevyn Orr (right0

Joyce A. Parker









Ed Kurtz

I think there are two other emergency managers. Emergency managers get paid very well.

May 29, 2013
Flint’s Emergency Manager (click here) submitted his letter of resignation today.
Ed Kurtz has long said he planned to step down at the close of the fiscal year at the end of June.  His letter of resignation simply makes that official.
Kurtz was appointed as Flint’s emergency financial manager last summer, after the city’s previous emergency manager had to step down because of changes in the law.
Okay, let me just get this out there. The US Republican Party is racist. The dialogues being witnessed within the Republican Party is not new. It is standard dialogue. 

The outsiders always are disgusted and nauseated at every word. That is the way it is. Amazingly, Republicans manage to be elected to the federal government. Is there something wrong with that picture? Well, racism got George H. W. Bush elected. Of course the Republicans refuse that fact. They state Willy Horton was an example that happened to be black. Was it necessary to show Willy Horton's face? Or would it have been better to display a graph about the incarceration program? 

The racism is different in tone depending on the purpose. Elections harness racism linked with fear. Willy Horton killed people. Radical Islamist Terrorists are killing people. President Obama (an African American) is intimidated by Radical Islamist Terrorists and won't even use the words. Words make the man. Candidates have to say the words otherwise they aren't worthy of the honor of the votes of those that will elect them.

The legislative tone of racism revolves around laziness and dependency. It doesn't matter the kind of dependency; unemployment, food stamps, Medicaid that is now saving lives except in states where Medicaid is not employed to save people's lives; what am I missing? Whatever, there are several types of medical insurance for children and the like, those are viewed as dependency issues. See, Republicans like Health Care Savings Accounts and everyone else should, too. 

The racism is diluted by some minority members. Those minority members are few and far between. 

Racism is real in the USA. The Supreme Court with a conservative majority devastated the Voting Rights Act.

Rachel Maddow had a segment about the hideously long lines in Arizona to vote in their primaries. That is a strategy. These are all a part of the USA reality.

Look at Flint, Michigan. It was primarily a minority community. All the emergency managers were assinged to minority communities. All the emergency managers were minority except for one. The one that wasn't a minority person was a former mayor of Flint. But, Snyder chose minority emergency managers so the communities could not complain it was racist.
Absolutely. The size of the bombs in Belgium was intended to destroy the building as well as the deaths that occurred. The size of the suitcases make that argument.

I have a theory about the murderer in the white coat. He was not tethered to the trolley in the same method as the brothers. What if he expected the bomb on the trolley to explode on it's own once the other two bombs exploded? What if there was an agreement between the three for the brothers to die together and the third murderer would return to their bomb making factory and pick up the two bombs they were forced to leave behind? Then he would use them at a destination yet unrealized.

Oddly, though, there was a bomb abandoned in Paris, too. Mistake? Or purposeful?
If the people of Alabama decide to believe their Governor that he did not have a sexual affair with a staffer, then he is definitely guilty of a hostile work environment and sexual harassment. Of that I have absolutely no doubt and neither should the people of Alabama. 

The Alabama Governor needs to resign. He should take example of South Carolina. Their naughty Governors get elected to the US House of Representatives.
In the USA a frequently heard phrase is "Criminal Justice Reform." In the USA it is a good time to reflect on the quality of life of people who have served their time and are released to resume a life as a citizen. In the USA former convicts are still penalized after they have served their debt to society. They can't necessarily vote and are barred from practicing most professions. I hope some of the Criminal Justice Reform carries with it a review of quality of life of former convicts.

I hope Europe does not have that type of punishment within their societies. I hope Europe actually practices rehabilitation and expects people who were once in prison or jail continue to live a productive and happy life when they have paid their debt to European societies.

One of the focus I frequently address is poverty. Poverty is it's own type of punishment even though there are no bars on the windows. It is important countries address their ability to move people out of poverty. That is important and one of the reasons I advocate for the resolve of the climate crisis. How are countries' leaders suppose to move their people out of poverty if there isn't even a clear and abundant water supply for them?

Every country should be responsible for their incarcerated and the poor. Their lives should never be hanging in the balance because it can result in such violence witnessed in Belgium.
The Republican candidates haven't even engaged in dialogues with foreign leaders, how would they know what they would do? Besides, unless the President of the USA is planning to invade Belgium what exactly would he do by returning to Washington?

Politics. That is all such symbolic moves illustrate. 

Jihadists don't value their own lives. They become supposedly spiritually pure to pass onto the next life. That is a very strange idea. Usually a life well lived is rewarded at the end of the road and not when a young man decides he wants his virgins. The selflessness of one's life such as a holy man earns reward by judgement of God. The idea a young man can simply learn bomb skills and take the lives of others in order to pass into a favorable after life is simply bizarre. It has no selflessness 

There are lots and lots of Muslim soldiers in this world. They defend their country. They live a life of service to their countries. They die natural deaths in hopes of owning a soul deserving of the after life. If every Muslim soldier in the world believed he or she could simply decide the day of their death and go on to their reward the world would have no Muslim soldiers.

I think Europe needs to assess it's communities of all kinds and find a productive and happy life worth living. If it was wonderful to be a Muslim in Belgium there would not be obsession with projecting control on others and deciding they were all infidels. 

There are Muslims that die a natural death. This idea of radicalization has to end. The young man's life is tragic when there is no other venue for their expression of self except becoming a suicide bomber. That is about as depraved a life that a person can live. 

She just made a great speech about counterterroirsm, didn't she?

Look where she comes from as Senator. I think she knows what she is talking about.

She uses a measured voice when making these speeches. We have seen the joyful side of Hillary Clinton, the stateswoman and we know the way she addresses issues of life and death. Measured voices are appropriate with such delicate topics.

March 23, 2016
By Jann S. Wenner

It's hard not to love Bernie (click here) Sanders. He has proved to be a gifted and eloquent politician. He has articulated the raw and deep anger about the damage the big banks did to the economy and to so many people's lives. He's spoken clearly for those who believe the system is rigged against them; he's made plain how punishing and egregious income inequality has become in this country, and he refuses to let us forget that the villains have gotten away with it.

I've been watching the debates and town halls for the past two months, and Sanders' righteousness knocks me out. My heart is with him. He has brought the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations to the ballot box.

But it is not enough to be a candidate of anger. Anger is not a plan; it is not a reason to wield power; it is not a reason for hope. Anger is too narrow to motivate a majority of voters, and it does not make a case for the ability and experience to govern. I believe that extreme economic inequality, the vast redistribution of wealth to the top one percent — indeed, to the top one percent of the one percent — is the defining issue of our times. Within that issue, almost all issues of social injustice can be seen, none more so than climate change, which can be boiled down to the rights of mankind against the oligarchy that owns oil, coal and vast holdings of dirty energy, and those who profit from their use.

Hillary Clinton has an impressive command of policy, the details, trade-offs and how it gets done. It's easy to blame billionaires for everything, but quite another to know what to do about it. During his 25 years in Congress, Sanders has stuck to uncompromising ideals, but his outsider stance has not attracted supporters among the Democrats. Paul Krugman writes that the Sanders movement has a "contempt for compromise."...


State of Michigan "fundamentally accountable." Snyder needs to resign.

March 23, 2016
Jim Lynch, Chad Livengood and Jacob Carah

Flint — Gov. Rick Snyder’s (click here) own Flint water task force issued a stinging report Wednesday, accusing his administration and others in government of “failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice” in the contamination of Flint’s water supply.
The Snyder-appointed task force focused on the failings of state government at multiple levels, particularly the handling of Flint while the city was under the control of emergency managers appointed by the Republican governor.
“Emergency managers made key decisions that contributed to the crisis, from the use of the Flint River to delays in reconnecting to DWSD (Detroit Water and Sewerage Department) once water quality problems were encountered,” a report summary reads.
“Given the demographics of Flint, the implications for environmental injustice cannot be ignored or dismissed.”...

There is a face and a name to the Flint Water Crisis.


January 27, 2016
By Colby Itkowitz
In Flint, Mich., (click here) there is a famous block of concrete that for decades has served as a community message board. Like an old-school Facebook feed, residents use it to post personal news, images, upcoming events and commentary in sprawling graffiti.
This week, several residents went to “The Block” (or “The Rock,” depending on whom you ask) with a message. In big, black capital letters they painted: “YOU WANT OUR TRUST?? WE WANT VA Tech!!!” Underneath they wrote “PSI” and circled it in red with a line through it. It stands for Professional Service Industries Inc., the independent business the city had wanted to hire to test its water for contamination, and which the residents don’t trust.
They want Marc Edwards....

He is well regarded.

Marc Edwards, (click here) a civil engineer, is playing a vital role in ensuring the safety of drinking water and in exposing deteriorating water-delivery infrastructure in America’s largest cities. An expert in the chemistry and toxicity of urban water supplies in the United States, he has made significant advancements in a broad array of areas, including arsenic removal, coagulation of natural organic material, and the causes and control of copper and lead corrosion in new and aging distribution systems. Melding rigorous science, concern public safety, and dogged investigation, Edwards’ recent work focused on the identification and analysis of lead contamination in the Washington, D.C. area’s local water supply....

A Chat with Professor Marc Edwards (click here)
May 6, 2014
...I started out in the medical school (bio-physics) and became disillusioned with the direction of the field.  This was the early 1980’s and students were going into the professional schools with high empathy and high ideals, and they often came out the other end with an attitude that patients were objects and should be treated accordingly.  This loss of empathy in med school training was later scientifically documented, we are paying a high price for it, and steps are being taken to try and counter it.
Around that time I saw a presentation on Love Canal and was inspired by the ability of environmental engineers to serve the public, and I was also enamored with the first canon of civil engineering that states your primary responsibility is to serve the public welfare.  Without ever having taken a single class in the subject, I switched fields after finishing my undergraduate, and did an MS, PhD, Post-doc and eventually became an academic in environmental engineering.  It was one of those things that probably should have been a disaster but turned out for the best....

Cultural changes matter. Europe's tourism is all based in cultural differences.

The media needs to cover Donald Trump honestly without leveraging power while weighing what his decision making will cause as problems and benefits. 

There is an aspect to the policies advocated by Donald Trump and many people take him seriously. In a recent airing of an interview one year ago before he entered the presidential race, Donald Trump stated there were cultural changes he noticed in Brussels, Belgium.

That is a serious problem. There are provisions within the United Nations regarding cultural genocide. I think it is important and needs to be discussed. For whatever reason, Donald Trump is considered with disregard by the media. His understanding of many topics should not be disregarded. They are talked about by voters. I think that is important.

Some of the assimilation laws in Europe, such as the head covering of Muslim girls, are based in cultural losses. It is not a minor issue. We see things differently in the USA and rebuff a lot of those laws as discrimination. Europe may not have that luxury.

We need to defend Europe's laws to protect cultures from disappearing.

It is important all candidates are taken seriously. They bring unique ideas and perspective. Donald Trump is no different. 

A whistleblower states there are real dangers in the skies. Exhausted pilots are a danger to everyone.

Speaking to RT in Doha, the former employee said that pilots at Flydubai are forced to work while exhausted. An Air Safety Report (ASR) from September of 2015 seen by RT reveals that many pilots reported showing up for work feeling exhausted and overworked. Some read as follows:
I called in fatigued today for a 0125 local report. Prior to this I had 10 days duty with one day off.
Called fatigued… Issue is if I am called off standby for a long duty … that’s potentially well over 24 hours no sleep operating a flight.”
The way that [Flydubai] … builds the schedules does not account for circadian rhythm … they do not allow pilots to get the right amount of rest, or the proper rest before a flight, and that is exactly what both of these pilots were, the situation that they were in, for sure,” the former pilot claimed....

Mimics

March 23, 2016
By Duffie Dixon

Atlanta — A suspicious package (click here) brought chaos to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airporton Wednesday as scores of travelers raced for the exits when authorities ordered the evacuation of a domestic terminal.

The brief evacuation was ordered after a dog trained to detect explosives was drawn to the package. The incident came one day after Mayor Kasim Reed announced security measures were "heightened" at the airport and other locations following a deadly terror attack at an airport in Belgium.

Greg Embry said he was waiting for a flight to Chicago when he saw people running down the concourse followed by Transportation Security Administration agents who ordered everyone to leave the terminal....        

When is women's rights ever going to be a right and not a roller coaster ride?

A 4-4 decision creates a states' rights issue. Democracies are about personal rights. The right wing politics wants this decision to create an impossible paradigm for men and women seeking birth control. This is nonsense. 

The plaintiffs can't fill out a piece of paper? Do they file income tax returns, there is a health care fee established there and it would be answering the ACA which states the exact provision they oppose. So, filing incomes taxes is okay, but, not a piece of paper that upholds citizens' rights outside that of religion.

It is all nonsense and a sincere attempt to control the availability of birth control to Americans. Do they oppose Viagra? My guess is not, after all an erection in necessary to inseminate a fertile woman. The entire stuff is nonsense. Since when does a piece of paper dictate pharmaceutical availability? No one worries about that? A piece of paper can dictate pharmaceutical availability? This is a political motive and NOT a moral issue.

File your taxes April 15th is a few weeks off. 

March 23, 2016
By Mark Sherman 


The Supreme Court (click here) seems deeply divided over the arrangement devised by the Obama administration to spare faith-based groups from having to pay for birth control for women covered under their health plans.
The court's conservative justices sounded supportive Wednesday of the groups' complaint that the administration's effort violates their religious rights.
The four liberal justices seem likely to vote to uphold the accommodation offered to faith-based colleges, charities and advocacy groups.
A 4-4 tie would uphold four appeals court rulings in favor of the administration. But different rules would apply in parts of the country in which another appeals court has sided with the challengers.
Wednesday was the sixth anniversary of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul; the case in front of the justices was the law's fourth Supreme Court appearance in five years....              
To Melania Trump:

I find it rather underhanded and disparaging that the entire Trump family seems to be a target and now Ted Cruz comes out with a picture of a particularly beautiful woman. I believe the Cruz campaign is capable of anything now.

Look, when life hands you lemons you make lemonade. How many women in the USA are their husband's pin up? I guarantee you there are more women naked on bear rugs in the wallets of their spouses than America would ever want to admit.

Keep supporting your husband and loving your husband through a very successful campaign to date.

Donald Trump has a perspective no one else does and it has survived scrutiny over years and years of experience. I could believe he had such interesting knowledge about Belgium and Brussels. His view of the world is more than interesting, it supports the idea our democracies have been suffering for a long time now. I appreciate his willingness to express his point of view because of his economic experience. He carries a quality of life perspective that few others do.

Go, Donald, Go.

Most Presidents look at economies by the numbers and it is effective, but, Donald Trump looks at the RESULT of those numbers. He has street knowledge and how to make it work to his advantage. He has different values. It is interesting.

Ted Cruz is another extremist Texan, the country would never survive a Cruz administration.
Staff members at Brussels national airport stand outside the terminal in remembrance following yesterday's bomb attacks in the Belgium capital

In the after math of 911, it was learned there were many Muslims killed in those attacks. Among those Muslims was a woman 7 months pregnant. I am sure there are Muslims lost in any of these attacks.

Turkish President Erdogan (click here) says Belgium ignored Turkey's warning that Brussels attacker was a militant.

It could have been ended before it started.

Turkish President Erdogan says one of the Brussels attackers was deported from Turkey in June 2015.

Belgium needs an economy and better esteem for it's citizens. Brussels was once a very beautiful city. It's luster needs to be returned.