16 November 2016
By Matthew J. Belvedere

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (click here) told CNBC on Wednesday that he's being considered by the Donald Trump transition team to become secretary of state.

The Tennessee republican said on "Squawk Box" he's "in the mix" for the job, but said others closer to the campaign are also interested. "Sure we've had some conversations with them," he said.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who unsuccessfully ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, is rumored as the leading candidate for secretary of state in Trump's incoming administration....

There needs to be someone keeping an online record of all the lies Donald Trump states, so the elections can be accurate to his inaccuracies.

November 15, 2016
By Reuters

“There will be no job impact (click here) whatsoever with this move,” CEO Mark Fields says
Ford Motor F -1.08%  is moving ahead with plans to shift production of small cars to Mexico from Michigan, while “two very important products” will be built in its U.S. factories, Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields told Reuters on Tuesday.
President-elect Donald Trump has criticized Ford for the decision to shift production of Focus small cars toMexico in 2018, and said he would consider levying tariffs on Mexican-made Fords. Trump has also said he wants to scrap the North American Free Trade agreement, which also includes Canada, and to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to stop undocumented immigrants....

Ford is not correct either. The UAW needs to make the facts regarding Ford's move to Mexico blatantly clear to Donald Trump. See, there was Senator that propagandized all kinds of allogations when VW was taking a vote about the UAW. So, as long as the Republican Congress states they are in lock step with Donald Trump, it is time the unions make a visit to the White House and Congress to pass a tarrif that penalizes a company for lost USA jobs. 

The Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, builds the Ford Focus, according to CarsDirect. Beginning Focus assembly at this plant in 2012, Ford calls the Focus built at this plant the third generation of this model.

A compact car that was introduced in Europe in 1998, Ford began selling the Focus in North America during the 1999/2000 model year as a replacement for the Ford Escort. Ford manufactured the first generation of the Focus from 1998 to 2005 and the second generation from 2005 to 2010.

The Focus has received many awards. Car Magazine listed it as one of the top 50 cars of the last 50 years.

Ohio US Representative Tim Ryan is correct in the push back needed in the US House, but, I am not convinced that the Minority Speaker Nancy Pelosi can't deliver it.

Whomever the Democratic House Representatives choose as their Minority Speaker; kindly remember every House bill will have to be checked for the fine print.

I am looking forward to Foster Campbell being Senator Foster Campbell. He is a sincerely kind man with compassion in his heart and a real ear for the people of Lousiana. The people of Louisiana need a good, decent and honest man to take care of them. Senator Foster Campbell will be the exact person Louisiana needs. I am thrilled the American people found him and supported him for Senate. He is great.

Homeownership is on the chopping block again.

Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellin, needs to take all this into consideration in her remarks soon.

November 16, 2016
By Richard Leong

U.S. homeowners (click here) and potential buyers are feeling the sting from the global bond market sell-off stemming from Donald Trump's stunning U.S. presidential victory as mortgage rates posted their biggest weekly rise in 3-1/2 years.

A measure of U.S. mortgage application activity fell to a 10-month low as 30-year mortgage rates jumped to their highest levels since January, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association released on Wednesday showed.

A deceleration in mortgage activity would not only be felt in the housing market, but also banks and other home-related industries, posing a drag on the overall economy....

The Federal Reserve Board had already decided on increasing rates as of December; that might not remain the plan given the bad news about home mortgage rates.

November 17, 2006

...“A rate hike in December (click here) is a done deal, barring a significant surprise in the next jobs numbers or in financial markets,” said Jonathan Wright, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and a former Fed economist. “But the pace of firming is likely to continue to be glacial because the funds rate will then be within about a percentage point of the FOMC’s estimate of neutral,” he said, referring to the level of rates that neither spurs nor slows the economy....

The surprise has arrived.

Look to Pence to be the evangelical lobbyist of the Trump administration.

We already know Donald Trump is not transparent. Don't expect Pence to be any better at it. Pence will use his capacity of President of the Senate to leverage power.

November 17, 2016
By Kristine Guerra

For the past year and a half, (click here) Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has been mired in a legal dispute over government transparency as his lawyers fight to withhold the contents of an email that some say should be considered public record.

Critics of the vice president-elect's decision to not release the records — specifically an email attachment sent to Pence's chief of staff in 2014 — say it sets a dangerous precedent that would give the executive branch the ability to decide what's public and what's not, without much accountability....

It appears protocols of the USA will be far more casual. Know Mr. Trump is in the neighborhood when the Secret Service stops in.

And let me say this for Mr. Trump, "All gifts welcome, including stock shares." Just in case Wall Street is at a loss for gift giving.

November 18, 2016

By Lynnette Eyb

Details (click here) have emerged of the conversation between US president-elect Donald Trump and Theresa May, the British prime minister.

In an exchange that has astounded political observers in the UK, Mr Trump told Mrs May: "If you travel to the US, you should let me know," seemingly oblivious to the months of preparation that go into an official visit, not to mention the usual diplomatic protocols.

The details emerged after a transcript of the call was leaked to theTimes newspaper in the UK.

In the call, Mr Trump also asked Mrs May to pass his regards on to the queen during her next visit to Buckingham Palace.

Mr Trump told Mrs May the UK was a "very special place for me and my country". 

He spoke about his late mother, who was born in Scotland, saying that his mother had been a big fan of the queen's....             

Jarod Kushner may be taking example as to how to be a billionsire from Trump.

September 2, 2016

By Greg B. Smith

...Leibowitz, (click here) now 88, managed several Trump buildings in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Wilshire Apartments in Jamaica Estates.

Early this week he recounted for The News a disturbing incident involving the use of the vile racial epithet that took place in 1963 involving father and son Trump....

I doubt Donald Trump will want to be a puppet to Jarod Kushner. If that turns out to be the case it is a sad reality to the Executive Branch. I really believe Mr. Kushner needs to stay in New York City and do something about his decaying real estate.

Real issues are sacrificed when identity politics dominate an election.

November 17, 2016

By 10News Staff

Miami -- Three new cases of Zika transmission (click here) were announced by the Florida Department of Health on Wednesday.

Two of cases of Zika were acquired locally by Miami-Dade residents. The third case is a Broward County resident who frequently traveled to Miami-Dade.

Investigators are working to pinpoint where the Broward victim was exposed to Zika, but said that the transmission did not occur in Broward.

A fourth Zika diagnosis was found in an individual who had traveled outside of South Florida. The exact location of transmission is unknown and the case is undetermined....

Testing for Zika should apply to all donation centers and hospitals.

November 16, 2016
By Rhonda Roberts

Appleton, Wis. (WBAY) – The Community Blood Center (click here) is testing all blood donations for the Zika virus.
That means the waiting period for donors who have visited active Zika areas is no longer necessary.
Previously, people who visited Zika areas or could have been exposed to the virus were prevented from making blood donations.
“This additional test allows us to welcome back donors who had traveled to an active Zika area and were deferred,” says Kris Belanger, Vice President, Donor Services.
Wisconsin has no locally-acquired cases of Zika, a virus which is transmitted by mosquitoes. Zika can be transmitted by pregnant mothers to a fetus and cause babies to be born with small heads....

There are more complications to a Zika infection that will weaken victims response to therapy.

November 14, 2016
By Maggie Fox

Two studies out Monday (click here) show that the Zika virus may not be working alone in causing strange infections in South America. It may be getting help from dengue and chikungunya, too.
One team found that mosquitoes can be infected with Zika and chikungunya at the same time and could, in theory, infect people with both viruses in a single bite....

Zika lives on surfaces outside the body for at least eight hours. Proper disinfecting is a requirement when ending dangers to Zika.

November 15, 2016

Zika virus (click here) can be transmitted from an environmental source—underscored by a worker infected from a needle stick injury in a Pennsylvania lab earlier this year—and a study today found that it can survive several hours on nonporous surfaces but is easily killed by commonly used disinfectants.

In other developments, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) in a holiday travel warning yesterday said local spread is occurring in many of Mexico's most popular tourist destinations and in one state that borders Arizona....

Vaccinations from Yellow Fever seem to be entering the demographics of micrpcephaly. It seems as though women vaccinated from Yellow Fever do better in defending their fetus from the effects of Zika. The evidence to the Yellow Fever vaccine is not conclusive, but, early estimates point to that as a potential in ending the horrors of Zika.

There is another variant that has not been explored and that is abortions. Women are learning about the disease and as they do there can be more abortions performed to eliminate Zika effected pregnancies. That may also be the difference between Columbia and Brazil.

Columbia receives a fair amount of USA support. (click here) That has been true since the 1990s and again after September 11th. There may be a stronger Western presence in some of Columbia's structures. Anthropologists may want to record the difference in culture, including medical culture, between the three countries of Brazil, Columbia and the USA. Columbia tends to take international policy from the USA as well.

November 16, 2016
By Dina Fine Maron

...In Colombia, (click here) where the number of known Zika infections is second only to Brazil, there have been relatively few cases of related birth defects: 57 compared with more than 2,000 in Brazil, according to the World Health Organization. The U.S. has the third-highest number of Zika-related birth defects, with 31 combined cases and lost pregnancies due to miscarriage. The exact ratio of Zika infections to birth defects in each country remains difficult to determine, partly because so many Zika patients do not appear symptomatic, but what is clear is that birth defect rates are uneven.
That inexplicable geographic variability fueled speculation among scientists attending the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting in Atlanta this week about what is causing the disparate patterns of Zika-related birth defects. Some answers may come from comparing the northeastern part of Brazil, where birth defects are the most common, to the rest of Brazil and Colombia, says Pedro Fernando da Costa Vasconcelos, director of Brazil’s National Reference Laboratory for Arboviruses....

Mr. Trump has a real challenge. FIX Puerto Rico.

Besides the financial problems of Puerto Rico, the island territory is plagued with Zika and phycian shortages. Currently, in Puerto Rico it takes months for a child to see a physician. The condition of Puero Rico is very poor and the USA should be ashamed of it's condition.

November 16, 2016

by Nick Brown and Jeffrey Benkoe 

A federal judge (click here) has blocked Puerto Rico creditors from pursuing litigation to knock down the U.S. territory's moratorium on debt payments, saying the cases are frozen under a federal law designed to solve Puerto Rico's debt crisis with oversight by a federal board.

Creditors had argued their lawsuits were exempt from the so-called automatic stay provision of the Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA because they did not seek to force payments on the debt.

U.S. District Judge Francisco Besosa in San Juan disagreed on Tuesday night, in a coup for Puerto Rico. The commonwealth had argued the lawsuits would cost too much money to litigate.

Cause and effect.

The USA Congress has to stop their financial punishment of Puerto Rico. The Republican Congress has created a Third World country in Puerto Rico. The USAid provides more monies to the global economy than it does to Puerto Rico. The US Republican Congress has created an island of human rights violations.

This is what USA fiscal policy looks like in the absence of humanity and compassion. This is a USA territory and it is a disaster under Republican Congressional leadership. This is more than a blight on the USA reputation, it is a crime against humanity.

November 14, 2016
By Timothy Toussiant

As Puerto Rico (click here) continues to deal with its economic recession, professionals in the medical industry have started to become directly affected by the crisis.

Many Doctors, including pediatricians, surgeons, orthopedics, neurologists; are leaving Puerto Rico because of the economic downturns that persist. Doctors are leaving and citizens are losing their healthcare providers. Up to 700 doctors are expected to leave the island this year. The territory’s number of doctors have dropped from 14,000 to 9,000 in the past decade. They leave towards the US mainland for higher wages and lower living costs. There is a huge shortage of specialized doctors. For example, the island of 3.5 million residents has only two pediatric urologists and one pediatric cardiologist....

The financial sector can now end their doomsday prediction of Brexit.

November 16, 2016
By Ben Chu

The jobless rate (click here) edged down to 4.8 per cent in September, the lowest since 2005

The unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest rate in 11 years, but analysts warned of signs of a hiring slowdown in the wake of the 23 June Brexit vote.

The Office for National Statistics reported that the jobless rate edged down to 4.8 per cent in September, from 4.9 per cent previously, the lowest rate since the summer of 2005....

Brexit is a full financial quarter old and all the sour predictions of the financial sector are "W"rong!

More working citizens is far better than syphoning jobs to a Third World Country. From now going forward Brexit is part of the financial landscape and the Parliament is a highly inappropriate place for removing Brexit conditions. The financial sector didn't like it because they were over extended and lost at least three of their seven shirts.

If the British Parliament interfers with Brexit the people will have to put more Brexit friendly politicians in place in the future. Brexit is now a political standard to use as a measure of political choices.

Brexit = less investment monies flowing out of the United Kingdom and far less turbulence in what defines the economy of the United Kingdom.

Removing the Electoral College from elections in the USA would end the 'power' states and return the vote to the people.

It would return the value of every vote to the country. Every state - every vote. I sincerely believe the Electoral College was useful in the day it was created, but, it inhibits full participation of the electorate. The fifty state strategy would return sincere majorities to the presidential election as down ballot elections do today. The US Senate and House are determined by the popular vote and not any special circumstance.

There should be recognition of the popular vote in the proceedings of the Electoral College. There is no legal recording of the popular vote in the federal system as there is in the state systems.

Isn't it the Vice President that over sees the Electoral College? This year the Vice President should introduce the popular vote into the proceedings of the Electoral College. Vice President Biden needs to set precedent this year and record the popular vote and the fact the country has outgrown the Electoral College. Vice President Biden needs to review the history and obsolete findings of the Electoral College and record the first time this consitutional hurdle is to be discussed every time the Electoral College meets. It is important to introduce new concepts to that consitutional provision. With such dialogue it may even be challenged through the courts.

Removing the Electoral College will most likely effect gerrymandering as well. There would be less reason to create gerrymandered districts when the Electoral College is amended. The courts have acted on that in the past, too. Those court decisions could be entered into the record to reflect the unfairness of the Electoral College. The unfairness is established based in removing the importance of the people's every vote.

The Office of the Federal Register, (click here) on behalf of the Archivist of the United States, prepares Electoral College instructional materials for the Archivist to send to the governors of the 50 States and the mayor of the District of Columbia....

Removing the Electoral College would demand every aspect of oppression of the vote be lifted and Voter ID could return to simply a signature at the time of balloting.

These are the instructions (click here). The forms sent to the federal government from the states should also include the popular vote. A dialogue about this can be conducted during the Electoral College meeting this year. I am sure there is a recording secretary or a video tape or an audio tape to the proceedings. I prefer the recording secretary that generates a paper copy of the proceedings. Every member of the Electoral College should receive a copy of the proceedings as well. It is a historic moment and the objection to the Electoral College going forward in 2000 should have been the beginning of the record.

The people of the USA need real change and not simply political manipulation. Vice President Biden should determine the scope of such a change and enter a written assessment of the impacts of the Electoral College to the entire process in the USA. When I make testimony to the USA Federal Register through federal hearings of the people it is with a written record following verbal testimony. Vice President Biden needs to consider doing exactly that. There needs to be a period of public comment before the consitution is amended.

Ulimately, ending the Electoral College would also reduce costs to the people and the districts when absentee ballots no longer are necessary. A USA citizen could vote anywhere in the USA with the understanding they have sufficient identification to prove they are citizens. Such a practice will take time and practice to eliminate errors. I don't see such widespread change taking place without dual systems in place and the new method proven CORRECT.

Start the process.

November 17, 2016

By Med Anderson

Every four years, (click here) the Electoral College creeps back into the lives of American voters. In some presidential elections, the strange, indirect system used to select the next U.S. president can feel like a formality that doesn't seem to matter much.

In other elections, it matters very much indeed. This is one of those years.

On Nov. 8, Donald Trump surpassed the necessary electoral votes to become the nation's president-elect. But if you look at the popular vote, which is the direct number of votes cast, Hillary Clinton beat Trump by about 1 million votes.

He's the fifth person to win the presidency this way. The most recent was George W. Bush in 2000. The other three times all happened in the 1800s.

It's been an extremely divisive election, and a lot of people this year are having trouble accepting the outcome. Some — like California Sen. Barbara Boxer — have argued in the wake of the results that it's time to get rid of the current system altogether.

The Democrat introduced legislation Tuesday that would abolish the Electoral College and use the popular vote instead to determine the presidency. She has public opinion behind her. According to a 2013 Gallup poll, 63 percent of Americans would get rid of the electoral college....  

Bob Dylan should rethink attending the ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.

I am sure the Nobel committee can accommodate some of the expense of his travel. I am also sure Europe would like to know him better and welcome him into their world as well. This could be an entirely new audience for his work and he should welcome that.

Bob Dylan may even find inspiration for new lyrics in Europe. He should take all the factors of his trip before completely decliniing the presentation.

16 November 2016
By Hannah Ellis-Petersen

...He underlined (click here) that he feels “incredibly honoured by the Nobel prize,” they added.

The Swedish Academy said it “respects Bob Dylan’s decision” but stressed it is “unusual” for a Nobel laureate not to come to Stockholm to accept the award in person.

Dylan is not alone in not attending the ceremony. Novelist Doris Lessing was too old, playwright Harold Pinter was in hospital and writer Elfriede Jelinek had crippling social phobia. Nonetheless, the academy noted: “The prize still belongs to them, just as it belongs to Bob Dylan.”

As this year’s Nobel laureate, Dylan is required “to give a lecture on a subject connected with the work for which the prize has been awarded”. The lecture should be given before, or no later than six months after, the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm in December.

Making the award announcement in October, Danius the academy “hoped the news would be received with joy, but you never know.”

She compared Dylan’s work to that of ancient Greek writers Homer and Sappho. Asked about the comparison, Dylan said: “I suppose so, in some way. Some [of my own] songs – Blind Willie, The Ballad of Hollis Brown, Joey, A Hard Rain, Hurricane and some others – definitely are Homeric in value.”...

Maralago is easier to secure. Donald Trump should rethink his White House off property.

My understanding is that the facility is more secluded, can be reached by plane and has one road into the area.

Mr. Trump should assess his properties and decide which can be best suited for his White House away from Washington, DC. The cost for securing Trump Tower will be costly to the city and there may be significant loss of income to the area surrounding Trump Tower including his tenants on the bottom floors.

It is unwise to tie up a city for the sake of having a president on the top floors.

I have no doubt there will be protesters at any location where Donald Trump finds himself as president, but, the security will be easier to secure the estate/business in Palm Beach. There will be less impact on the local economy as well.

 “Mar-a-Lago,” which is Spanish for “Sea to Lake.” (click here)

I believe the Trump Organization also has a facility in Washington, DC. Again, it should be assessed for the ability to secure it versus being at the White House. I am sure the family can decorate the "Family Quarters" to their taste and comfort. Mr. Trump has to consider the expense of securing his facilities as well as his comfort.

Case in point:

November 16, 2016
By Sarah Maslin

All Karen Hendrickson (click here) wanted was the latest pocketbook from Gucci, the Sylvie, with a glittering gold chain down the front.

But she had to explain herself over and over to police officers who stopped and questioned her, and searched her shopping bags as she sought to cross Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. She was trying to reach the Gucci flagship store on the corner of 56th Street, but her shopping trip had an unusual impediment: Gucci is inside Trump Tower. Fifty-eight stories above is the penthouse of President-elect Donald J. Trump, who was engaged in the rocky business of selecting his administration....