Friday, January 31, 2014

You've got to admire the manipulation of the truth.

ES.1.2
Background
Keystone’s first application for the Keystone XL pipeline was submitted on September 19, 2008, and a Final EIS was published on August 26, 2011. The route proposed included the same U.S.- Canada border crossing as the  currently proposed Project but a different pipeline route in the United States. The 2011 Final EIS route traversed a substantial portion of the Sand Hills Region of Nebraska, as identified by the NDEQ. Moreover, the 2011 Final EIS route went from Montana to Steele City, Nebraska, and then from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Gulf Coast area.
So, now that the southern pipeline was passed by the state it doesn't matter. All that matters is the new extension. Of course it won't connect with the southern pipeline right? So why discuss it?

There it is. The extension in isolation of any impacts on any aspect of the USA's environmental status.

The map to the below right is the ENTIRE project. The garage coming from Canada they call crude oil will travel the entire length of the country, but, hey it doesn't matter anymore.

 
So, now there are reasons to prevent this disaster not only from the fraud in identifying the product in question, but, also for LIMITING the assessment to a shortened project. That is more fraud. Like I stated, the garbage in this proposed pipeline goes the entire length of the country. It is not going to stop in Nebraska and magically appear at the Texas refineries. The garbage product is traveling the entire length of the country and that FACT was completely removed from the assessment. 

The map below is the Nebraska Sandhills.

In November 2011, the Department determined that additional information was needed to fully evaluate the application — in particular, information about alternative
routes within Nebraska that would avoid the NDEQ -identified Sand Hills Region.
So, what do you think? Did they avoid the NDEQ -identified Sand HillsRegion?

Of course not. They renamed it and the federal government took possession of it. How about that? The federal government carved out a piece of land from a state. Interesting. Eminent Domain. Can you imagine?

The US State Department in talks with Nebraska carved out a section of the Nebraska Sandhills IN  ORDER to satisfy Trans-Canada.

The aquifer is still in danger. An aquifer doesn't recognize the artificial definition of the US State Department and Trans Canada. Nebraska didn't have an option to simply throw the entire mess out of their state. They were required to provide land for this disaster waiting to happen.

The area of the Sandhills the State Department (click here) is using in their most recent study comes from a shrunken map formally submitted by the Nebraska DEQ through the MOU they have with the State Department. You see, its Nebraska's role to define the route, and they did...all to benefit TransCanada (who paid $5 million for the DEQ report and used a contractor HDR they are working with on other projects as well, yes this is a conflict). 

Bottom Line
Tarsands does not expand unless Keystone XL is built. The State Department's assumption that tarsands development does not change with or without this pipeline is wrong and laughable. Why would TransCanada spend billions on building the pipeline and millions on lobbying unless this piece of infrastructure is the--not a--but the lynchpin for the expansion of tarsands. Without this pipeline Canada stays at 2 million barrels a day, with it they get 3 million barrels a day. The President has the ability to keep a million barrels of tarsands in the ground a day. With a stroke of a pen he can protect property rights, water and make a dent in climate change. This report is laughable using the wrong assumption and therefore the wrong science. -Jane Kleeb, jane@boldnebraska.org, 402-705-3622


So, the pipeline that runs the entire length of the country will have 3 millions of Canadian garbage running through it.

Here is the lie of all lies:

The new proposed route differs from the 2011 Final EIS Route in two significant ways: 1) it would avoid the environmentally sensitive NDEQ - identified Sand Hills Region (because the federal government conducted eminent domaine to remove the land from Nebraska and renamed it. That is the ONLY reason the pipeline avoids environmentally sensitive NDEQ - identified Sand Hills Region) and 2) it would terminate at Steele City, Nebraska. (Blatant lie. The assessment ends in Steele City, Nebraska). From Steele City, existing pipelines would transport the crude oil to the Gulf Coast area. In other words, the proposed Project no longer includes a southern segment and instead runs from Montana to Steele City, Nebraska.

Now if the Canadian garbage is going to be TRANSPORTED BY EXISTING PIPELINE that means that is included in any ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT I ever heard of. 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) (click here)

NEPA requires Federal agencies to prepare environmental impact statements (EISs) for major Federal actions that significantly affect the quality of the human environment. An EIS is a full disclosure document that details the process through which a transportation project was developed, includes consideration of a range of reasonable alternatives,...
An environmental impact statement is the most detailed document required. The EIS is suppose to make it clear whether or not there are alternatives and what those alternatives might be. The EIS is suppose to determine any and all adverse effects of any project.
The EIS within this assessment is fraudulent. It doesn't clearly define the product and misnames it. It allows corruption by assisting a commercial enterprise outside the USA, namely Trans-Canada, to impose the demand for a state of the USA to carve out land to assign to federal and commercial authorities. The land is named the Trans-Canada/US State Department Sandhills. That is profound corruption. The "Trans-Canada/US State Department Sandhills." I'll be damned. The federal government now takes land by eminent domaine and hands it over to a private industry outside the USA. 

The assessment does not include alternatives. It identifies the pipeline as the only answer. Why? Because it misnames the product and doesn't properly identify it as a poor energy source of which alternatives include wind and solar and hydroelectric. More fraud. Automobiles now operate on less fuel than ever before. They have new CAFE standards (click here) and there are major and minor auto manufacturers in the USA now producing electric cars. The fuel demand in the USA is falling and will continue to fall and the pipeline will be a tragedy to this country within 2 years, in 2016 when new standards will begin.

This project is NOT a bridge. It is an active TRANSPORT infrastructure that has the potential to destroy aquifers. NOT A BRIDGE. It does not exist in isolation of any additional environmental impact after it is built. This is more fraud. 

This Supplemental EIS provides a thorough analysis of the environmental impacts from the proposed Project; it has been revised, expanded, and updated to include a comprehensive review of the new route in Nebraska as well as any significant new circumstances or information that is n ow available and relevant to the overall proposed Project.

The CO2 accounted for are the emissions from the PIPELINE and not the product it transports or the release in the production process. This pipeline will be carrying some of the dirtiest from of petroleum product on the planet. I don't care if Canada doesn't appreciate the climate effects on the USA, BUT, the USA needs to.
 





The Material Safety Data Sheet is only that of Crude Oil. There is no MSDS
for Canadian garbage. More fraud.

Appendix Q
Crude Oil Material Safety Data Sheets

The Canadian Garbage has high levels of NAPTHA (click here). Very different from crude oil. Appendix Q is only partially the information required for the safety of people, the land and wildlife.

The Canadian Garbage has to have high levels of NAPTHA otherwise it won't flow through the pipeline. The high levels of NAPTHA will be refined out of the product in refineries, but, that means added environmental problems within the refineries. More fraud.

Supposedly this is the graph of the 'lifetime' CO2 emissions from different sources. The Canadian Garbage is the column on the right. It is all debatable. The assessment is an interesting model, but, I really doubt the numbers.

There is far more CO2 emissions in the extraction of Canadian Garbage. Far more. I sincerely think the numbers in the graph are wrong. There is no comparison. The emissions from Canadian Garbage is far, far higher than a sincere source well of crude oil.

 

Chronology of how we got into a place where the clmate doesn't matter.

It is a planned assault against the climate to disregard any science. Previous to Bush Executive Order 11423 stood as law from 1968.

- Inauguration January 20, 2001

- National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG), was a task force created by then-U.S. President George W. Bush in 2001 during his second week in office. Vice President Dick Cheney was named chairman.

- National Energy Policy, May 2001

-Executive Order 13212, May 18, 2001 (click here)

Actions To Expedite Energy-Related Projects
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to take additional steps to expedite the increased supply and availability of energy to our Nation, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Sec. 1. Policy.
The increased production and transmission of energy in a safe and environmentally sound manner is essential to the well-being of the American people. In general, it is the policy of this Administration that executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall take appropriate actions, to the extent consistent with applicable law, to expedite projects that will increase the production, transmission, or conservation of energy....

Environmentally sound manner doesn't matter if the definition according to the National Energy Policy dummies it down. We know it did exactly that because of the fracking laws

- Executive Order 13337 (click here): - April 30, 2004 - Issuance of Permits With Respect to Certain Energy-Related Facilities and Land Transportation Crossings on the International Boundaries of the United States

This is the same stupid law the current assessment was carried out with. There are other executive orders listed within it.

- Executive Order 10530 (click here) --Providing for the performance of certain functions vested in or subject to the approval of the President

Source: The provisions of Executive Order 10530 of May 10, 1954, appear at 19 FR 2709, 3 CFR, 1954-1958 Comp., p. 189, unless otherwise noted....

...Sec. 6. The Attorney General and the Archivist of the United States are hereby designated and empowered jointly to perform the following-described functions without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President:

(a) The authority vested in the President by section 5(a) of the act of July 26, 1935, ch. 417, 49 Stat. 501, as amended (44 U.S.C. 1505(a)), to determine from time to time the documents or classes of documents having general applicability and legal effect....


I realize some of the language is about procedural processes, but, I think that exactly the problem. The Executive Orders have been left to fester in old paradigms of government without bring current climate conditions to impact any permitting.

Besides ridiculing the assessment, there is significant reasons to assault the very law that provides for the permits. The permitting processes have NOT kept up with changing climate conditions that imperil the lives of USA citizens and the future of our children.

Executive Order 10485 (click here) --Providing for the performance of certain functions heretofore performed by the President with respect to electric power and natural gas facilities located on the borders of the United States
Source: The provisions of Executive Order 10485 of Sept. 3, 1953, appear at 18 FR 5397, 3 CFR, 1949-1953 Comp., p. 970, unless otherwise noted.
WHEREAS section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act, as amended, 49 Stat. 847 (16 U.S.C. 824a(e)), requires any person desiring to transmit any electric energy from the United States to a foreign country to obtain an order of the Federal Power Commission1 authorizing it to do so; and
WHEREAS section 3 of the Natural Gas Act, (click here) 52 Stat. 822 (15 U.S.C. 717b), requires any person desiring to export any natural gas from the United States to a foreign country or to import any natural gas from a foreign country to the United States to obtain an order from the Federal Power Commission authorizing it to do so; and
WHEREAS the proper conduct of the foreign relations of the United States requires that executive permission be obtained for the construction and maintenance at the borders of the United States of facilities for the exportation or importation of electric energy and natural gas; and...

Why is it the US Government is lined with Climate Idiots?

A new State Department (click here) report on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline finds that the project would have a minimal impact on the environment, an assessment likely to increase pressure on the White House to approve it. But the report sets no deadline for doing so....

The first sentences of the report is completely wrong. It is NOT crude oil. 

How much did this cost to prepare because it isn't done competently. For real, this is NOT crude oil.

ES.1.0 (click here)

OVERVIEW OF REVIEW PROCESS

The Keystone XL Pipeline (the proposed Project) is aproposed 875-mile pipeline project that would extendfrom Morgan, Montana, to Steele City, Nebraska. Thepipeline would allow delivery of up to 830,000 barrelsper day (bpd) of crude oil... 

I demand an investigation to the evasive agenda of this report. 

...from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB)... 

The USGS has it correct. Why is it that the Canadian Sedimentary Basin is smoothed over as a crude oil source. It is not.

...The assessment was based on geoscience elements (click here) that define a total petroleum system (TPS) and associated assessment unit(s)....

The geoscience elements that define this sedimentary basin is a PETROLEUM SYSTEM with very high energy costs resulting in high CO2 outputs resulting in it's extraction. It is NOT crude oil!!!!!!!!!!!

The assessment is COMPLETE TRASH !

...These elements include petroleum source rocks (geochemical properties and petroleum generation, migration, and accumulation), reservoir description (reservoir presence, type, and quality), and petroleum traps (trap and seal types, and timing of trap and seal formation relative to petroleum migration)....

IT IS SAND. The geological formation IS the problem. The oil is not freely coming from a well with high quality properties that require very little energy to refine it. The geological formation is a SOURCE ROCK in the way of sand. The petroleum SUBSTANCE has to be extracted.

Can no one get this right? 

Does this look like crude oil? 

No. 

This report is fraudulent from the first words in it's executive summary! 

...The Resource (click here)
The terms ‘oil sands’, ‘tar sands’, and ‘bituminous sands’ are used interchangeably. Though 'bituminous sands' is the most technically accurate, all three terms describe geological formations in which thick, highly viscous bitumen—a form of petroleum that is semi-solid at room temperature—is suspended in a mixture of sand, clay, water, and other trace materials. In-situ oil sands look like black, sticky sand.

Once extracted, bitumen itself is a thick, black fluid of extremely high viscosity (hence the shorthand 'tar'). It is typically used to make asphalt or processed into synthetic oil, which can be used interchangeably with conventional crude oil....

...The Consequences
The extraction of bitumen from oil sands faces two major environmental constraints: the principal extraction techniques tax local water resources, and both extraction and use of oil from oil sands create significant carbon emissions....

This is NOT a false reality and this report from it's beginning words treats this entire assessment as if the ACTUAL characteristics of the oil sands doesn't matter. This is pure corruption.

It is stated this monstrosity will create all of 50 jobs. This is about money. That is all this is. Greed.

...But the report says (click here) once the pipeline enters service, it will support only 50 U.S. jobs—35 permanent employees and 15 temporary contractors. Here’s the relevant passage:...

The construction jobs are not a sustainable recovery to any economy.

Under Executive Order 11423,(click here) as amended, the Secretary of State has the authority to receive applications for and to issue Presidential permits for the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of certain facilities at the borders of the United States with Canada and Mexico. Permits are required for the full range of facilities at the border, including land crossings, bridges, pipelines, tunnels, conveyor belts, and tramways. This authority applies to all new border crossings and to all substantial modifications of existing crossings at the international border....

Executive Order 11423 on Pipelines (click here)

August 16, 1968 

The science is different today.

This Executive Order is incompetent for the year 2014. There is no demand for assessment by the EPA.

(b) With respect to applications received pursuant to subsection (a)(i) above, the Secretary of State shall request the views of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Transportation, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the Director of the Office of Emergency Planning. \1\ (FOOTNOTE) With respect to applications received pursuant to subsection (a)(ii) above, the Secretary of State shall request the views of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Interior. With respect to applications received pursuant to subsection (a)(iii) or (iv) above, the Secretary of State shall request the views of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Transportation. 

There is a provision for the EPA to participate. It also PERMITS the Secretary of State to accept consultation from the public in regard to the dangers of this project. It doesn't allow public comment, that would have to be a result from a lawsuit, but, there are methods for 'STAKEHOLDERS' to have access and contributions. I would strongly suggest all the local and tribal governments with environmental objections write to the Secretary of State for inclusion in the review.

(c) The Secretary of State may also consult with such other department and agency heads and with such state and local government officials as he deems appropriate with respect to each application. All federal government officials consulted by the Secretary of State pursuant to this section shall provide such information and render such assistance as he may request, consistent with their competence and authority. 

The PURPOSE of Executive Orders when it comes to border issues aren't suppose to be political, they are suppose to be based in national security. There is no shortage of petroleum products in the USA that rises to a national security issue.

The Secretary of State can allow Public Comment as well. The USA is not a dictatorship. Public Comment can include anyone, including scientists and energy experts of alternative sources than fossil fuels.
 
(b) The Secretary of State is authorized to issue such further rules and regulations, and to prescribe such further procedures, as he may from time to time deem necessary or desirable for the exercise of the authority conferred upon him by this order.

Therefore, what?

...The former Port Authority official (click here) who personally oversaw the lane closings on the George Washington Bridge ... said on Friday that the governor knew about the lane closings when they were happening, and that he had the evidence to prove it....

Was he suppose to direct traffic?

Why isn't the letter at the US Attorney's Office? 

We are losing our planet and the Western Press is focused on gossip. There have to be sincere crimes to shake this loose. The events in Fort Lee were not criminal. They are civil torts. 

God bless video tape to maintain the ratings hike.

President Assad is seriously close to violating the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Syrian National Coalition President Ahmad Jarba in Geneva

22:39 30/01/2014

MOSCOW, January 30 (RIA Novosti) – The head of the main (click here) Western-backed Syrian opposition group will visit Moscow next week, a Russian diplomatic source said Thursday.
The source said a meeting between Syrian National Coalition head Ahmad Jarba and Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov is scheduled for February 4.
Earlier in the day, Agence France-Presse quoted Jarba’s head advisor Monzer Aqbiq as saying that the opposition leader “has accepted the Russian invitation” for talks in Moscow.
Russia, which has supported Syrian President Bashar Assad in the ongoing conflict between armed rebels and government forces in the Middle Eastern country, first invited National Coalition leaders to visit Moscow back in September.
Jarba earlier expressed interest in visiting Moscow, but said he was unable to come during the period suggested by Russia due to prior commitments.

President Obama nominates former Israeli Central Bank Governor.

By Danielle Kurtzleben
January 10, 2014

The White House (click here) announced Friday that the president would nominate Stanley Fischer to serve as the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Fischer would take over as vice chair for Janet Yellen, whom the Senate this week confirmed to be the next chair. Yellen will take over as chair for Ben Bernanke, who is leaving at the end of January, the end of his second term as chairman.

Like Yellen, Fischer would come to the Federal Reserve with years of central banking experience already under his belt. Fischer was governor of the Bank of Israel from 2005 through June of this year, and previously served as vice chairman of Citigroup and deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Fischer also taught at MIT, where Bernanke was one of his students, the Washington Post reports.

Fischer and the new chair would head the central bank at a time when it's trying to unwind a massive balance sheet that has ballooned to more than $4 trillion under three rounds of massive asset purchases known as quantitative easing. Like Yellen, Fischer has credited the Fed's stimulus with boosting the economy....

The Democrats need to push back against the rightwing myths.

One of the myths propagated by the rightwing is that the people paying higher premiums are paying for the subsides. That is not true.

...The Cost Of Subsidies (click here)
But the authors of the Affordable Care Act didn't want the subsidies to become a drain on the Treasury and add to the deficits. So they included provisions designed to offset the cost of the subsidies.

MIT , who helped develop the law, says about half the costs are offset by projected savings in Medicare payments to insurers and hospitals. Another quarter is offset by added taxes on medical-device makers and drug companies.

"The other source of revenue is a tax increase on the wealthiest Americans," he says. "Those families with incomes above $250,000 a year will now have to pay more in Medicare payroll taxes."

Those provisions actually make the bill a net positive for the federal budget, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. By the CBO's accounting, Obamacare will produce a surplus. Gruber says the law will "actually lower the deficit by about $100 billion over the next decade and by $1 trillion in the decade after."...

Democrats and Progressives have a lot to brag about when it comes to The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Kaiser Family Foundation has a continuous poll regarding healthcare. Some of it is obviously due to the misinformation propagated by rightwing media, but, there are exciting statistics when one looks through this interactive site.

The public has remained (click here) deeply divided on the health reform law since it was passed in March 2010. Click below to examine how specific groups feel about the law and how those opinions have changed or not changed over time....

This law has begun to attack income inequality. I want to state first there is a high level of undecided across most of the statistics, so any of them are in transition and not determined.

But, when one looks into the ethnic statistics, African Americans and Hispanics are exceptionally satisfied with the law. They are benefiting. That reality means they are appreciating their future and seeking to be healthy to pursue it. At least that is the way I see it. They are participating (That is a reality we have measured with our minorities. Non-participation often equates to oppression and hopelessness.), engaged and happy.

The party divide is somewhat expected, but, there is also a wealth quotient that plays into that divide. Democrats seeks out the marginalized. The marginalized are usually not wealthy, but, left to cope with their lives. 

In the income dimension that plays out. The lower income folks have a higher approval rating, while those 49 K and higher tend to be less pleased with the law. 

The only statistics that I thought was something to explore was the downturn in January 2014 regarding insurance status. Something happened. The uninsured under the age of 64 were mostly approving of the law and the undecided were lower, but, January 2014 delivered a change in that movement. There are higher undecided than approve. It would be better if Congress looks at that statistic closely and reverse this trend.

The Superbowl requires Super Security.

ByBob Orr 
CBS News 
January 29, 2014, 7:06 PM

NEW YORK -- Part of Broadway in New York City (click here) was renamed Super Bowl Boulevard on Wednesday for a fan festival leading up to Sunday’s big game in New Jersey.

A million people are expected.  Ensuring their safety is a massive operation.
U.S. Customs SWAT officers are flying surveillance missions over MetLife Stadium and Manhattan.  Hercules Teams from the New York Police Department are mounting a show of force in Times Square.

New Jersey State Police river patrols are watching from the water and Transportation Security Administration officers armed with radiation detectors are sweeping train platforms at Penn Station,

It's a multi-front security challenge for New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and FBI Assistant Director George Venizelos.

"We worry about this every day here in New York,” Venizelos said. The Super Bowl “puts more focus on it.”

What does the latest intelligence say about potential threats?

"We're not picking up any direct threats against the event itself," Bratton said. "But please, be aware. Notice that backpack someone drops or walks away from."...

Could the Superbowl ever be played in Alaska? Bedsides the fact Alaska has no infrastructure for a SuperBowl, the temperatures may not be prohibitive to that potential.

I find it strange that Alaska has never even competed in holding a Winter Olympics. The state is wealthy. They give money to their citizens every year. So, what gives?

By HOWARD FENDRICH 
AP Pro Football Writer 
January 29, 2014
 
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — NFL players (click here) rely on all sorts of methods for dealing with the type of weather the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks are expected to face in the Super Bowl.

Even if there's no snow or rain on Sunday, which is what the National Weather Service predicts, the high temperature is supposed to be 38 degrees. With the opening kickoff set for about 6:30 p.m., it could be in the 20s by the time the big game comes to an end.

So how will the Broncos and Seahawks thwart the cold?

Depends on who you ask...

Alaska: No. 51 football state (click here)



Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2014/01/29/3297793/5-things-super-bowl-teams-might.html#storylink=cpy

I am not going to judge her. I didn't follow the case.




She had chosen (click here) the central Italian city over Milan and Rome because she believed it would be safer.

"She fought so hard to get out there," her father John has said.
"There were quite a few setbacks but she was determined to go and kept persisting and eventually got what she wanted."

Known as Mez to her friends, Meredith saw her time in Italy as a dream trip. Her parents said she was excited about learning the language, meeting new friends and immersing herself in a different culture....

What I don't understand is how can an American be extradited when our constitution clearly states there is no double jeopardy in the USA? 

This was not a hung jury. There was a finding, It was overturned on appeal. Why is Italy retrying this when Americans cannot be held for retrail based in double jeopardy. I find this very odd. 

My deepest sympathies for Meredith's family for their loss. I am sure she was wonderful. I think this retrial may enter into areas of USA Constitutionality. I am not a scholar, but, US law may contradict the Italian laws. I don't see the US State Department acting as a negotiator over and above US law.

Chiara Vasarri and Lorenzo Totaro, ©2014 Bloomberg News 
Published 7:44 am, Friday, January 31, 2014

Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Amanda Knox,(click here) who was convicted by an Italian appeals court yesterday of murdering a U.K. student in 2007, probably will have to wait several months before a definitive ruling in the case, a criminal lawyer said.

Knox, 26, who returned to the U.S. two years ago as a free woman after a court tossed out her 2009 murder conviction, was sentenced in absentia to 28 years and six months in jail for murder and slander by an eight-person jury. Her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito got a 25-year jail term.
Yesterday’s verdicts are not final because lawyers for Knox and Sollecito said they will appeal to Italy’s highest court. “It will take months, they may schedule it around October or November,” said Andrea Castaldo, a criminal lawyer and professor at the University of Salerno, about a possible hearing at Italy’s top court....

It is correct to stop this drone delivery program.

Janaury 31, 2014

One canny brewer (click here) had the idea of getting its beer out to fisherman in their huts on the iced over lakes of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Lakemaid Beer posted a YouTube advert showing the drone in action delivering a 12 pack to a thirsty fisherman.

The order is taken in the off-licence with GPS co-ordinates allowing the six propeller drone to carry the beer across the frozen lake....

This is dangerous. Not just the idea of drone flying overhead with a realiatively heavy package, but, also from the potential for drunkenness while ice fishing. I mean you've got to be joking.

To begin with there is the weight of the package, the fact is the brewer doesn't know who is at the end of the GPS signal. He could be selling to a minor and never know it. Then there is the danger of fisherman getting carried away with their alcohol intake. At least when they have to come off the ice they have to travel and be sober enough to do so. It creates a safety zone of understanding that the fisherman/women can't stay out on the ice while being inebriated and then expect to go back to the brewery to purchase more.

There is some real danger here and while the brewer meant no harm in providing a satisfying service, it is not thought out well. There has to be a way of establishing the age of the purchaser, limit a safe weight of any package in case it falls off the drone or the drone malfunctions. Drones can become huge and carrying packages of substantial weight. The beer will have to be packaged in smaller amounts per package. Then there is the accountability of the purchaser and their alcohol intake. Bar owners can be held responsible for serving customers to the point of danger. There has to be that same standard. 

It should not be difficult to determine the 'safe level' of consumption for such a service. The average weight of a person and the amount of alcohol consumed over a hour to maintain a sober state can be determined. The delivery would have to limit the delivery to a 'sober state' amount during the course of any day.

This all has to be looked at and limits placed on such a service.

Enjoy your retirement, you've earned it.

Thank you for fighting the good fight for so long.

January 30, 2014
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Rep. Henry Waxman, the dean of Jewish lawmakers (click here) in the U.S. House of Representatives, is retiring.
Waxman (D-Calif.), 74, who was first elected to Congress from a Los Angeles-area district in 1974, will finish out his term, which ends on Jan. 2.
“I am grateful for my supporters and allies, who have worked side-by-side with me to fight for issues we care about: health, environmental protection, women’s and gay rights, and strengthening the ties between the United States and our most important ally, the State of Israel,” he said in a statement Thursday.
Waxman has risen to leadership positions in the House, most recently as the senior Democrat on the powerful Energy Committee, which he chaired from 2009 to 2011. Waxman was perhaps most prominent as the chairman of the Oversight Committee during the last two years of the George W. Bush administration, convening hearings about the conduct of the Iraq War.
The longest serving Jewish House member, Waxman has taken a lead on pro-Israel issues, most recently in joining with Energy Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) to advance a bill that would increase cooperation with Israel in energy research.

I happen to think Jenny Sanford is an incredible person that has character credibility of her own.

I admired her beyond any imagination during a very difficult time. She speaks to the character strength and resolve of the women of the south. She is great.

...Jenny Sanford: (click here) 1984 Georgetown (University, not High School) grad expressed initial interest in C of C presidency last in August. Successful investment banker, driving campaign-manager force behind then-husband Mark's remarkable political emergence when he won 1st District House seat in 1994 and his later back-to-back gubernatorial-election victories, and bestselling author for her tell-a-lot book about her marriage's high-profile breakup. Illinois native can't be fairly accused - as former CSA Galleries store owner McConnell is - of nostalgia for Old South times (and flags) not forgotten....

Why didn't China demand better wages for their workers? Not just Walmart, all companies.

China needs a minimum wage that honors their workers and provides a good and promising quality of life. The Chinese oligarchs are destroying China's economy and not growing it. They MUST provide better wages to their workers.

NEW YORK  
Fri Jan 31, 2014 8:20am EST
 
Jan 31 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc (click here) shaved its outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter and full year to account for special items, including those tied to its store closures in Brazil and China and its Sam's Club restructuring in the United States....

The one reason companies RAN to China for cheap labor was their profit margin. Well, it would seem as though their abuse of the Chinese people have instituted global poverty and a fall in the demand for their products.

American Local Economies are the hero to the people. Don't stop now. 

The USA MUST institute an increase in the minimum wage. 

President Obama has an unexpected ally. "Regular Order."

It has been something like 20 years since Mark Sanford had a seat in the US House.

No one can deny the US House has destroyed it's integrity while becoming completely dysfunctional. They caused a fall in the USA Bond rating while insisting on instituting a sequester that had nearly crippled the US military. Decreasing the military budget was a good idea, but, not simply institute 'slash and burn."

I don't know how many times I stated the House is committing treason. The Tea Party extremists took the US House hostage. Just that simple. They assaulted the US Constitution with abuse of power afforded them in the Hastert Rule. They have caused economic deterioration and proved to slow the recovery in exponential measure. The more the House inhibited the economy the more the economy contracted. If it weren't for the emerging funding from the Recovery Act in the years after it's passage, the US economy would be far worse today.

I don't like the fact Mark Sanford left his wife and only is a part time father, but, he does have a handle on the misdeeds of the US House. He remembers when Congress functioned for the nation while still upholding conservative values. The economy soared during the years he served his district. 

If Mark Sanford is willing to be a real person, a real Congressman without fear of retribution by his peers and constituency he is a very powerful person who can offer a sane voice to the debate of the GOP that now chronically imposes corruption and lies.

There is one thing about a democracy. Just one thing. The people understand freedom and fairness. If Mark Sanford is willing to be the voice of the sane people within his district to bring about a return to functional government, I would not overlook the potential of his ambitions to do so.

By Staff reports

info@islandpacket.com 
January 29, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. — “Though President Obama and I (click here) often disagree on how to reach outcomes, I think his address this evening underscored some themes that we do agree on, such as the need to expand economic opportunity and provide tools to better help workers prepare for retirement,” Sanford said. “I was also glad to see that the President invited a Charleston resident to tonight’s address. As a single mother who worked full-time while getting her education, Sabrina Simone Jenkins exemplifies the hard-working spirit of South Carolinians, and she deserves real credit for the way she has overcome obstacles. So while I was encouraged to hear that President Obama is focused on improving conditions for people like Sabrina, I’m troubled by the short-sighted approach this administration is taking to the problems facing our country. Ultimately, I don’t think the President is focusing on the right things, and a few thoughts struck me on that front.”

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2014/01/29/2918231/rep-sanford-issues-response-to.html#storylink=cpy

Harry stand your ground. At least there is one member of Congress with a brain.

Fast Track is completely immoral and removes democracy from the people.

Don't ask me what happened to Obama in the last year, but, he has become a sell out. Now he even wants to work with the GOP over immigration whereby people will have 'legal status' (Permanent Green Card) rather than citizenship. It is ludicrous. 

The United States is now going to CREATE AN UNDERCLASS OF PEOPLE thanks to the GOP. I don't think so.

The GOP plan for immigration reform is nothing short of institutionalized bigotry and hatred. True to form, the GOP has found a way to siphon money from a population of people while immorally treating them as nobody except a larger profit margin for Wall Street. Amazing. The GOP is completely void of a moral standard for their party. 

If this is the resolve of the GOP to treat undocumented workers as another source of wealth while depriving them of citizenship then those with a permanent Green Card MUST be exempt form paying taxes!

Jan 29, 2014 3:18 PM ET

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (click here) said he opposes legislation to speed approval of trade deals, rejecting a top goal of U.S. exporters a day after President Barack Obama called for it in his State of the Union address.
“I’m against fast track,” Reid told reporters in Washington today. Asked whether he would block a floor vote on such a measure, he said, “We’ll see.” He said the Obama administration and top Senate Democrats are aware of his position.
“Everyone would be well-advised just to not push this right now,” said Reid, a Nevada Democrat...

The investigation needs to be through, sincere and SOLVE the problems created for the Ukraine people.

Mr. Bulatov was not a martyr, he was a complaintant. He didn't seek to be crucified in punitive measures to oppress the people, he wanted the government to understand the problems of the people and why they were important. This torture is about as disgusting as it comes. Thank god he is alive.

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Police on Friday opened an investigation (click here) into the kidnapping of an opposition activist, who said he was held captive for more than a week and tortured in the latest in a string of mysterious attacks on anti-government protesters in the two-month-long political crisis.

Dmytro Bulatov, 35, a member of Automaidan, a group of car owners that has taken part in the protests against President Viktor Yanukovych, went missing Jan. 22.

Bulatov was discovered outside Kiev on Thursday. He said his kidnappers beat him severely, drove nails into his hands, sliced off a piece of ear and cut his face. He said he was kept in the dark all the time and could not identify the kidnappers. After more than a week of beatings, they eventually dumped him in a forest.

"They crucified me, they nailed down my hands. They cut off my ear, they cut my face. There isn't a spot on my body that hasn't been beaten," Bulatov said on Channel 5 television. "Thank God, I am alive."

Bulatov's face and clothes were covered in clotted blood, his hands were swollen and bore the marks of nails....

The torture of people is not going to suppress, oppress or intimidate them. Torture increases their resolve to continue their oppositional determination. Once there is this level of hatred of people, where does it go next? Rounding up the people that are hated to attempt to return order the government demands in their willingness to be 'the leader that can get it done.' That isn't going to solve a country's problems, it will make it worse, far worse.

European's especially know the pains of being sheep to a power structure. They understand it all to well. They aren't going to lie down and die for the purpose of a 'stable state.'

The people have to have a voice honored by their government. Frequently, unions can be that voice. But, the people have to have the ability to organize in safety of their own opinions. Debate reveals THE TRUTH and brings about an understanding of the best way to solve a country's problem and find a path forward.

A great leader is one that honors their people, seek their best outcomes and provide the potential to a life worth living.