Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Tell it to the Supreme Court.


WASHINGTON — As the pitchman for his landmark healthcare law, (click here) President Obama promised to make buying insurance as easy as buying a plane ticket online or a "TV on Amazon." It would be simple, he said.
If there were problems, the president predicted, they would be "glitches."
And he said, "If you like the plan you have, you can keep it."

Such claims have come back to haunt the president and his allies less than a month into the launch of the online insurance marketplaces at the heart of his healthcare legislation. With the federal website hobbled by bad design and thousands of policyholders receiving cancellation notices, Obama's promises are not being met — prompting charges of deception from some Republicans and concessions from some allies that elements of the law were oversold....

This is NOT President Obama's Landmark legislation. The legislation was written in the House long before it finally made it to the floor. As much as President Obama would like to claim his fame to historic legislation to insure every American has healthcare, but, it is not his to claim. Quite frankly.

Haunt? Very cute. Happy Halloween to you, too.

The health insurance policies stated to be cancelled should have never existed in the first place, but, leave to Wall Street to read between the lines of any national and/or state law and write Non-Health health insurance. Basically, take people's money without providing services to the subscriber. Those policies are fraudulent. Insufficient health insurance is NOT insurance at all. "The Emperor's New Clothes."

President Obama in his willingness to believe the best of every American and every company in the USA paints broad statements about the ability to keep healthcare insurance if an American has it now. It is a statement about contracts that exist that people have that are actually real health insurance contracts. That is about 85% of the nation. The other 15% will have to give up the JUNK they have now and enter into contracts that are not fraudulent to their purpose.

The national media is sickening, they ride any band wagon the Republicans dream up which confuses the people, brings forth empathy for those complaining and demand change when it is inappropriate to satisfy their readership or viewership ratings to sell advertisement. I have a suggestion, why not sell health care insurance ads and finally tell the people the truth. That might work.

Nebraska scientists need to go forward with the study.




...But the request (click here) for information sent out by the Department of Agriculture on Monday defined cyclical climate change to mean "a change in the state of climate due to natural internal processes and only natural external forcings such as volcanic eruptions and solar variations."... 

I realize the study as written by the Department of Agriculture sounds meaningless, but, I never consider any study meaningless. The map to the left is the current drought map for Nebraska.

Basically, the study as set forth is a standard study, it puts forward a PREMISE. There is either enough information to validate the study or deny it, either way the study has to contain facts. I realize the hideous nature of the politics dictating an employee of the state to write the study in the words it has in order to keep their job, but, the study is a valid statement.

There is an element within the community of men and women that believe this is a cyclical event. It is not. Any self-respecting scientist knows this is a unique event on Earth. Every extinction event on Earth is unique. The timeline of the planet and the development of life on Earth puts forward a different dynamic with every extinction event. So, we know we are entering the six extinction and it is a unique event. So, unique that there was only one other warming event causing an extinction which wiped out 96 percent of all marine life.

But, to the study dictated by the Department of Agriculture in Nebraska, it REQUIRES competent and proven competent scientists with peer reviewed material to take hold of it and find the facts to either validate the premise or deny it. 

We already know the evidence to support this as a cyclical event, as if this will go away within a reasonable period of time, doesn't exist. There is nothing that points to the climate of Earth in the condition it is today. The climate events on a daily basis have never occurred all at once, but, usually only as an occasion as a phenomena we recognize. There is nothing recognizable to this climate. We can find names and characteristics for every diagnostic method and we relate to the events as phenomena, but, the occurrence and frequency is not at all what might be called normal. 

There are high levels of greenhouse gases in the troposphere, the water vapor is moving up in altitude, the storms more intense and the droughts profound. There is a lot of information across the state of Nebraska that are pieces to a global puzzle. It is there, but, scientists have to look for it. When looking for cyclical events the facts will disprove the premise and in that the reality of Nebraska's future. When the NULL HYPOTHESIS finds the premise wrong an alarm can go out to the people as to what everyone found and how important it is to act on the facts available. 

Nebraska scientists are important people, we all want to hear from you. Nebraska is an important state and we all worry about the future of the people and economy there. Nebraska scientists should go forward bravely with their studies and fear no one in what they find. The facts will prove the truth and that is what science is based in. Science is trustworthy and it's conclusions can be damning. I suggest the study proceed and let the truth to the null hypothesis go forward. Peers will not think less of any Nebraska scientist as long as the facts are true, the methods sound and the conclusions based in scientific assessment. We all trust them to do the job asked of them and report the findings in a peer reviewed journal. The study can't go wrong, it can only reflect truthful findings and I am confident the people of Nebraska would find disdain if the study was anything less than the truth. 

I'll write to peers tomorrow and reflect the distress the Nebraska scientists face and ask to advocate for a different and more open study, but, I wouldn't worry about conducting it. It will reveal the facts and a truthful conclusion. Cherry picking the facts is not allowed. That is not truthful methodology.
David Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of the Carlyle Group, speaks at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Rubenstein recently told the Associated Press that D.C is getting in the way of economic growth.



Oct. 28, 2013 2:41 PM EDT

...Q: What was your reaction (click here) to the 16-day government shutdown and the near breach of the nation's debt ceiling?

A: I am relieved that the shutdown and debt ceiling crisis are behind us. Hopefully something like this will not occur again. But I am disappointed, saddened and embarrassed for our country that our democracy did not work as the founding fathers had hoped.

Q: What should Congress tackle first — now that the debt ceiling and shutdown is resolved?

A: They should try to reassure the country — and the world — that the last few weeks were an aberration and not likely to be repeated early next year. Once that re-assurance occurs, focus on how to spur economic growth — while reducing economic disparity — (which) would be a great plus for everyone....

These are the political 
donations from Carlyle. 
(click here) 

I would fully expect Carlyle and other large firms to curtail their donations to those that have actively participated in the government shutdown. These firms are just as responsible for the shutdown and the brinkmanship over the debt ceiling as the Congresspersons were if they are going to continue to back those responsible. It is pure foolishness. These firms know the shutdown and brinkmanship has done damage to this economy. Why would they actively continue to back members of Congress acting this foolish for political pandering to extremist constituents. The country doesn't need it.

This drug combination is not going to work.

By Kim Palmer
20 hours ago

...She said the state will turn to a combination of the drugs midazolam and hydromorphone, for the November execution....

Versed (midazolam) is very short acting.

...Florida used midazolam along with two other drugs in an execution on October 15, but not with hydromorphone, he said.

According to the Food and Drug Administration database of drugs, Midazolam injections are marketed by a number of companies including Fresenius Kabi USA, a unit of the German drugmaker, and hydromorphone and midazolam are both marketed by Hospira Inc and Akorn....

How is it that Florida is getting away with this?

Hydromorphone is a synthetic morphine. None of these drugs even closely resembles or mimics pentobarbital. One of the uses of pentobarbital is to control seizures which would be important during an execution. 
Pentobarbital is in a group of drugs called barbiturates(click here) (bar-BIT-chur-ates). Pentobarbital slows the activity of your brain and nervous system.
Pentobarbital is used short-term to treat insomnia. Pentobarbital is also used as an emergency treatment for seizures, and to cause you to fall asleep for surgery.
Pentobarbital may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.
Neither midazolam or hydromorphone even come close to pentobarbital in chemical structure or effectiveness in sedation.

It is the long chain of hydrogen-carbon bonds which make pentobarbital effective. It avails more hydrogens for interaction with the body and there for highly effective in sedation and control of seizures and breathing. The other drugs do not have this capacity.

Hydromorphone has less availability of hydrogen atoms to accommodate body chemistry. The hydromorphone molecule only has eight hydrogen bonding sites while pentobarbital has seventeen. Structurally the hydrogen bonds cause bonding in many organic compounds which these drugs are, but, the less available hydrogen bonds the less reactive the chemical is. At this point I'd have to say there is not a known effectiveness in the sedation of hydromorphone in combination with midazolam to state this is not cruel and humane.

What the state of Ohio is trying to do is to sedate with midazolam quickly knowing it will wear off quickly (within minutes of administration) while they load enough hydromorphone to cause deep sedation. The real problem with hydromorphone with folks that are on death row is it a synthetic morphine which inmates may have a high tolerance.

In my opinion this is a failed strategy and desperate strategy that will be inconsistent with varied results in any death row population.

Midazolam has only four hydrogen binding sites which it is why it is so short acting. There simply isn't enough potency to cause death in a short period of time.

Pentobarbital is not a choice drug for any addiction due to it's lack of availability in any street drug market. The chances of an inmate having been exposed to enough of pentobarbital to become resistant to it's effects is very minimal if not impossible. It is not the kind of drug prescribed for average folks. It is used in some instance of seizure disorders in children, but, rarely in adults. Primarily because drugs such as dilantin are non-narcotic for this purpose.


The Woodlands Compounding Pharmacy (TWCP) (click here) opened in September, 2008, offering compounded medications to patients in The Woodlands, Texas area.  We specialize in preparing customized medications based on your doctor's prescription to meet all patient specific needs.


This is the compounding pharmacy in Texas preparing ? a drug ? that is used for executions. I would demand knowing the process and the final chemical structure of the product used. I don't buy it that they should be operating in secrecy. If they have a special process then there is the US Patent Office protecting their rights to it. There is something odd about all this.

It appears to me there is a real efficacy issue in regard to executions using these drugs. Where is the guarantee they will work in the way intended and consistently. Besides that where is the LD50 testing and the FDA approval of these designer drugs?

No, this is not pictures from Superstorm Sandy, this is Great Britain now.

People watch as large waves crash against the walls of Brighton seafront, in southern England on October 27, 2013 as a predicted storm starts to build.
Britain was braced on October 27 for its worst storm in a decade, with heavy rain and winds of more than 80 miles (130 kilometres) an hour set to batter the south of the country.

A car bomb in China?

October 29, 2013 - 6:32PM
Philip Wen
China correspondent from Fairfax Media

Chinese police (click here) are investigating whether a fiery car crash which killed five people and injured dozens was linked with suspects from the country’s restive Xinjiang region, with mounting evidence pointing to a deliberate suicide attack.

Police issued a notice late on Monday ordering Beijing hotels to check their records for a 42-year-old and 25-year-old from Pishan and Shanshan counties in the far western province, in connection with an unspecified ‘‘major incident’’....


People watch from nearby Chang'an Avenue as smoke rises in front of the Tiananmen Gate on Monday. Photo: Reuters

An autonomous region of the Turkic people that extends into Europe.

In China there are 11,647,000 (0.8% of the total country pop.) Turkic people. Evidently, they don't identify themselves as Chinese.

There is this from the University of Michigan. (click here) In a generalized sense these people consider themselves "Turkistan." It is huge ethnic area.

The Question of Religious Fundamentalism in Asia (click here)

Really? 

These figures do not include resources devoted to overseas evangelical and missionary activities. I can't help but wonder what missionaries are involved here and why the disruption of their society in a hatred enough to spawn a car bomb attack.

 
It is a tribal area with many Muslim groups. Someone has them stirred up about something. If Christian Fundamentalists are involved they need them alone. But, there is a chance the Climate Crisis might be a challenge to them, too.

This is the danger when NGOs are based in religious fundamentalism. Rather than being a "Peace Corp" organization that upholds the culture of the people while teaching things like sanitary conditions and safe food handling and cooking, preserving, etc.; the NGOs exonerate themselves in bringing 'the word' along with the teaching. 

I would think there was an extremist Islamic influence, but, not this far east in China. I would expect the western region of this tribal area before the eastern region.

The academic writing focuses on Russian control, but, China has grown into a more military power in the region, so it makes sense. Something routed them out of their posture. It is some kind of fundamentalism, otherwise they would not be conducting suicide attacks. 

Madeline Albright is in China. That may have something to do with it, but, I'm not convinced of that.

2013-10-29
By Amy He in New York (China Daily USA)

...In her speech, (click here) Albright said that as in any other relationship, there have been and will continue to be "stress and challenges". She said that the economic imbalances between the countries and "tightening on the freedoms" of journalists and public advocates will impact the health of the two countries' relationship.

But, Albright said, "which ever way our leaders choose to respond to these concerns, their policy should be based not on emotions but reason, not on myth, but fact".

Albright stressed how important it is that the two countries overlook their differences to work together because China will need the US' help in order to grow: "I suspect that [Chinese leaders] realize that for the Chinese dream to materialize, they have no choice but to work closely with the United States," she said, "for our two societies are increasingly bound together."

Stephen Orlins, NCUSCR president and moderator of the discussion, asked Albright how Beijing can assume a role in global leadership without usurping America's role and creating any tension between the two countries....

It was multiple explosions in May.

Officials standing beside damaged cars at a government office after an explosion in Fuzhou city, in eastern China's Jiangxi province, on May 26. Three explosions including two car blasts struck government buildings, an official said, with state media reporting at least five people were injured. 

The AP reports from BEIJING: Explosions, some from car bombs, occurred within a half-hour outside three government buildings in a south China city Thursday, killing two people and wounding at least six others, officials said.

The attacks in May were first attributed to an unhappy peasant. I don't know if a peasant would have enough skill and/or monies to carry out such a plot, but, the accusations were later withdrawn.

...Extremely rare
Xinhua and several other news agencies said a local peasant unhappy about the handling of a legal dispute was thought to be responsible for the attacks, but such reports were later withdrawn by most state media. 

Local government officials were scheduled to hold a news conference but this was cancelled at the last-minute. 

Multiple bomb attacks in China are extremely rare, especially against government targets.

Analysts say the government will be alarmed by such an apparently well co-ordinated attack as it struggles with large numbers of disputes over land and living standards. 

Earlier this month, more than 40 people were injured in a petrol bomb attack on a bank, carried out by a disgruntled former employee, in north-west Gansu province....

Bomb attacks USED TO BE rare. 

The day after a Chinese man set off bombs (click here) in local government buildings and killed himself, Chinese internet users said they understand his frustration – and his actions. 


By Peter FordStaff writer / May 27, 2011 

...The flood of supportive comments online since his death is a sign of widespread public frustration at the government's disdain for ordinary citizens. Most of the comments have treated his action as righteous vengeance, rather than a terrorist attack.

“Qian was no Bin Laden, he was one of the weak,” said Li Chengpeng, one of China’s most popular and influential bloggers, in an interview. “He had no way to express himself nor defend his rights.”...

It could be a social revolution. The response to the May attacks was that of sympathy for the dead and their families along with a call for understanding of the people effected by urbanization. The "Square." The place people are finding as a place for demonstration and to demand change. 

It is my opinion the Chinese government has been mostly bureaucratic with state control of every aspect of it's economic growth. I am not convinced these bombings are related in social unrest, however, there are news reports of a growing social movement of unrest and unhappiness in China. That may or may not indicate the growth of violence so much as demand for change.

The West likes to tie the troubles into a neatly wrapped package, I don't believe it is that simple. The government structure is very loose. The national government is somewhat divorced from the local authorities. There is a law as of 1987 called, "The Organic Law on the Villagers Committees" (click here) that recognizes local authority of the people and does not assign a hierarchyy of authority answering to the national government. So, these actions by unhappy Chinese are profoundly worrisome. I believe they are. The national government sincerely doesn't have keep seated control and in fact may be more of a minority presence within the nation then they would like to admit.

One of the problems with large tribal regions within a country is the domination of that reality over a central government. It is most frequently noted in Pakistan. There is no sense of order at the local level except for the tribal councils or in the case of China, chairman. The local tribal authority views the national/central government as if another tribal authority rather than a 'federal' authority with more power than they. So, when car bombs occur it is most likely a local disagreement rather than that of an organized effort. 

That said, it doesn't mean it is a local power to be dismissed as a nuisance. A car bomb is a serious issue. That is planning with a lot of time to reflect before the incident occurs. There is something here and I am not sure China's national government has a handle on what is occurring in it's tribal areas or with the people displaced by urbanization. The one sure way of ending these hostilities before they become a larger problem both for the people and the government is to include citizens in the expansion of a civilized society. In other words, "Do people live more comfortable and healthy lives when urbanization occurs?" The citizens at the local level have to be included in the massive change occurring in China. 

China has been an established nation for millennia not just centuries. The people of China have very long 'life stories' to their ancestors rather than a history of growth and change. They lean to the side of tradition rather than newness. The young people of China can embrace a newness to the nation before the elderly. It is the young that will be the movers and shakers to the local people. They can excite the elders and their parents to a movement within China to take on new achievements. The young Chinese might be the bridge to change the national government is looking for to diminish hostilities harbored by peasants unwilling to see things differently.

I wish them all the best. I simply hate violence and this level of violence is painful to people. Mass killing is profound anger and hatred and that simply isn't good for a country attempting to become a world class government and global power. The ambitions of the national government have to be shared with the local citizens otherwise this could very well be the result, but, on a larger scale. Destruction of a country's infrastructure sets it back and causes more problems than it is worth. But, those unwilling to accept the future may want exactly that.