Sunday, June 08, 2014

Happy #WorldOceansDay (click here) from Alaska Maritime NWR!

EditorJun 8, 2014

Since 2008, June 8th has been recognized around the world as a day to take some time out to celebrate and honor the 71 percent of the earth that is covered in ocean. 

You can learn more about how to join in projects around the globe here....

Why is it American voters are no longer flocking to the right wing politics of war to protect Israel?

NEW YORK June 8, 2014 (AP)
Once a unifying cause for generations of American Jews, (click here) Israel is now bitterly dividing Jewish communities.
Jewish organizations are withdrawing invitations to Jewish speakers or performers considered too critical of Israel, in what opponents have denounced as an ideological litmus test meant to squelch debate. Some Jewish activists have formed watchdog groups, such as Citizens Opposed to Propaganda Masquerading as Art, or COPMA, and JCC Watch, to monitor programming for perceived anti-Israel bias. They argue Jewish groups that take donations for strengthening the community shouldn't be giving a platform to Israel's critics.
American campuses have become ideological battle zones over Israeli policy in the Palestinian territories, with national Jewish groups sometimes caught up on opposing sides of the internal debate among Jewish students. The "Open Hillel" movement of Jewish students is challenging speaker guidelines developed by Hillel, the major Jewish campus group, which bars speakers who "delegitimize" or "demonize" Israel. Open Hillel is planning its first national conference in October.
And in a vote testing the parameters of Jewish debate over Israel, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, a national coalition that for decades has represented the American Jewish community, denied membership in April to J Street, the 6-year-old lobby group that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace and has sometimes criticized the Israeli government. Opponents of J Street have been showing a documentary called "The J Street Challenge," in synagogues and at Jewish gatherings around the country, characterizing the group as a threat from within....
These are major organizations putting an end to open dialogue that actually creates danger for Israel. Lobbying has been an issue with Israelis before, so I am confident they don't want a repeat performance. 
The tensions surrounding Israel and Palestine have become so immense any dialogue at all results in huge response with varying degrees of verbal assault. The internal conflict within the Jewish community is the expansionism of Israeli settlements into the Palestinian homeland since 1967. There is intolerance from all sides. Openness in the year 2014 to attempt to settle ideas about Israel's sovereign lands is slowing. 
The dialogue surrounding Israel and Palestine also seems ridiculous. This dialogue has gone on for decades and the movement to end conflict and seek peace with a two nation solution is still as mute as ever. If the dialogue achieves nothing but greater tensions; why have it at all?

By David B. Green
Jun. 8, 2014 

...Within days of Israeli statehood (click here) – which was declared on May 14, 1948 – the Moroccan sultan, Mohammed V, delivered a speech in which he warned his country’s Jews not to demonstrate “solidarity with the Zionist aggression,” but also reminding Morocco’s Muslim majority that Jews had always been a protected people there. Because the address contained both a statement of support for the Jews and an implied threat against them, the effect of it on anti-Jewish sentiment is difficult to gauge.

What is clear is that on the morning of June 7, rioters descended on Oujda’s Jewish quarter and killed four of its Jewish residents, as well as a Frenchman, and wounded another 30. Late that night, and continuing into the next morning, rioting also began in Jerada, a much smaller mining town some 60 kilometers (37 miles) to the southwest of Oujda. There, 37 Jews were killed – including the town’s rabbi, Moshe Cohen, and four family members – out of a total Jewish population of approximately 120....

By Barak Ravid
Jun. 8, 2014 | 7:15 PM

Finance Minister Yair Lapid (click here) on Sunday blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the crisis in relations with the United States over the comatose peace process. Lapid vowed to bring down Netanyahu's government should there be any attempt to annex West Bank settlements, and called on the premier to instead reveal his "map" of where Israel's future borders with the Palestinians should lie.

In a speech at the high-profile Herzliya Conference, Lapid, head of Yesh Atid, also presented a peace plan that included evacuation of "isolated settlements" during negotiations with the Palestinians.

Lapid told the VIP audience that Israel's international support is waning because it has not launched a peace initiative nor set out a vision for its borders....

According to the "Times of India"...

This is the global distribution of the Asian Indian Disaspora in 2010. In the USA, according to the 2010 census (click here) there are 2,843,391 Asian Indians residing here.


TNN
Jun 7, 2014, 11.22 PM IST

...Another finding (click here) is the low levels of the good cholesterol or HDL among Indians. Dr Shashank Joshi, lead author of the study published in PLOS One medical journal last week, said low HDL level was the most common lipid abnormality among Indians. "Almost 72% of Indians have low levels of HDL."

The finding of the ICMR study that 72% Indians have low levels of the good cholesterol or HDL holds true across the country, be it in Mumbai, Chandigarh or Chennai.

"The reason could well be genetic, but we cannot rule out environmental reasons," said one of the authors of the study, Chennai-based Dr V Mohan. The study's lead author is Dr Shashank Joshi, endocrinologist from Lilavati Hospital, Bandra.

Indian diet is traditionally high on carbohydrates, which have been associated with high levels of fat or triglycerides. "When a person has high levels of triglycerides, he or she will have low levels of HDL. There is an inverse relationship between triglycerides and good cholesterol," added Dr Mohan. Almost 30% of Indians have high levels of triglycerides, according to the study....


There are multiple body systems involved in HDL. 

New Insights Into the Regulation of HDL Metabolism and Reverse Cholesterol Transport (click here)

Figure 2. Intravascular modeling of HDL by lipases and lipid transfer factors is an important determinant of the rate of HDL clearance from the circulation....

Bending the curve on CO2 down.

Climate change “is going to be one of the most significant long-term challenges” the nation faces, said Mr. Obama. 

June 7, 2014
By Thomas L. Friedman

...“Science is science,” (click here) he said. “And there is no doubt that if we burned all the fossil fuel that’s in the ground right now that the planet’s going to get too hot and the consequences could be dire.”

So we can’t burn it all?

“We’re not going to be able to burn it all. Over the course of the next several decades, we’re going to have to build a ramp from how we currently use energy to where we need to use energy. And we’re not going to suddenly turn off a switch and suddenly we’re no longer using fossil fuels, but we have to use this time wisely, so that you have a tapering off of fossil fuels replaced by clean energy sources that are not releasing carbon. ... But I very much believe in keeping that 2 [degree] Celsius target as a goal.”...

There have been statements from very credible scientists since 2009 when the meeting in Copenhagen set the 2 C standard, that 2C was too much.

While it is always easier to communicate about a subject, especially when it includes an international community, the commitment to 2C is somewhat irrelevant now. No one is waiting to inch nearer 2C before acting to avoid it. I think most government leaders and global authorities realize this is a planet and it's capacity far outweighs any arrogance humans have in striking a limit of 2C. It is like, okay, 2C, does that mean 1.9C or 2.0C or is it okay to be at 2.01C? 

Two degrees Celsius isn't so much a landmark as it is a talking narrative. The new regulations by the US EPA is a very serious move to stem greenhouse gas emissions. The US EPA regulations states, "Now, we are going to begin the regulation of greenhouse gases." That is what is important. There doesn't have to be a monitor somewhere within Mauna Loa Laboratories (click here) measuring 2 degrees Celsius in order to institute the new regulations. That would pure foolishness to invite disaster in order to stem it. 

In the inconic graph above regarding the increasing levels of CO2 there is no immediate change. This trend must be reversed. Considering the elevation began before 1960, it is best to get started immediately if not sooner in bending the curve down.

By Andrea Thompson, Planet Earth Editor
December 04, 2013 03:27pm ET
NEW YORK — Famed climate scientist and activist James Hansen (click here) has said it before, and he'll say it again: Two degrees of warming is too much.
International climate negotiators agreed in the Copenhagen Accord, a global agreement on climate change that took place at the 2009 United Nations' Climate Change Conference, that warming this century shouldn't increase by more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. But in a new paper published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, Hansen and a cadre of co-authors from a wide array of disciplines argue that even 2 degrees is too much, and would "subject young people, future generations and nature to irreparable harm," Hansen wrote in an accompanying essay distributed to reporters....

Nothing short of a miracle worker.


Mr. James Boyd was murdered. When are the trials for his murderers?




...According to the autopsy, (click here) which described the death as a homicide, Mr. Boyd was hit by two bullets, with the fatal one entering the left side of his lower back and exiting through his armpit (that trajectory would dictate Mr. James Boyd was murdered while on the ground posing no threat to anyone) before re-entering through the upper part of his left arm and lodging in a shoulder muscle. The other bullet hit him in the upper part of his right arm, which surgeons amputated as they worked to save his life at the University of New Mexico hospital. A toxicology analysis revealed no alcohol or drugs in Mr. Boyd’s system, the autopsy said....

What the heck is going on in Canada?

June 6, 2014
By RYAN PARKER , JAMES QUEALLY
More than a day (click here) after Canadian police launched a massive manhunt for a shooter who killed three officers, authorities early Friday arrested the man believed to be responsible for the shootout in a residential neighborhood.
Justin Bourque, 24, was arrested at 12:10 a.m. local time in Moncton, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported on Twitter. The town of around 70,000 residents is in the province of New Brunswick, where homicides are rare.
Police have also identified the three officers who were allegedly gunned down on Wednesday....

You'll excuse me, but, the shootings in New Brunswick are in close proximity to Quebec City. I find it odd a helicopter simply sets down in a prison yard and flies off with prisoners. And this is the second time. Is there something about a coup we need to know about?

June 9, 2014
The search (click here) widened Sunday for three inmates who escaped with the help of a helicopter from a detention centre in Quebec City a day earlier.

It was the second helicopter-aided inmate escape in Quebec province in two years.

The three men escaped from the Orsainville Detention Centre in suburban Quebec City around 7:45 p.m. Saturday with the help of a green-coloured helicopter.

The chopper landed in the courtyard of the detention centre, which has barbed-wire fencing and a watch post, and then quickly took off with the three inmates, heading west toward Trois-Rivieres or Montreal, police said.

Authorities were put on alert across Quebec, in the rest of Canada, and in the United States, according to provincial police....

Yep, more shootings in that high class market place near any Walmart.

LAS VEGAS 
June 9, 2014 (AP)

Children are having a difficult time surviving these days.

Tornadoes, bullets, kidnappers and now corporate garbage in food. Maybe McDonald's hasn't heard of recycling yet.

But, hey, who needs regulation, right?


These rusty rings in a McDonald's Happy Meal cheeseburger almost choked 2-year-old Isabella Dally, her mother Miceala alleges.

5:00 AM Monday Jun 9, 2014

An investigation is under way after a 2-year-old girl nearly choked on two rusty metal rings while eating a McDonald's cheeseburger.

Miceala Dally and her young family were in Auckland visiting relatives and were doing some shopping at the Sylvia Park mall on April 24.

She took her daughter Isabella to McDonald's for a treat, getting the tot a Happy Meal, but it turned out to be anything but that.

"She was just eating her cheeseburger when all of a sudden we noticed her coughing quite a lot.

"I didn't actually know what was happening because she was coughing so much. It was like she was choking - she wasn't quite, but it was nearly at that stage. It was more than a little bit frightening."

Eventually, Isabella coughed up what looked like a hamburger pickle, but closer examination revealed it was two rusty metal rings stuck together.

"She pulled these things out of her mouth. She was like, 'Aw yuck'."...


Authorities are expected to have the remains of Madeline McCain soon.

A British policeman digs in a cordoned-off area in Praia de Luz, Portugal.

By Brendan de Beer, Tracy McVeigh
Monday, June 9, 2014

Portuguese police (click here) sources have confirmed to the Observer that a number of suspects identified by Scotland Yard detectives will be arrested "in the very near future" over the disappearance seven years ago of Madeleine McCann.

Police confirmed that "several people" had been identified by the London Metropolitan police (Met), who have had officers and two sniffer dogs in the Algarve all last week searching a large area of scrubland close to the holiday apartment where the McCann family were staying when the 3-year-old disappeared in May 2007.

The search of that particular area, a Portuguese police source said, would end today and the search would shift to another area....

The Northern Sea Ice Extent is not showing recovery, especially after the displaced Polar Vortex.


"The Cryosphere Today" (click here)

2014 is the yellow line. 

The Bodyguard Blanket

June 14, 2014
2330z
UNISYS Satellite and Radar (click here for 12 hour loop)

The tornado maximum is here.

The Bodyguard Blanket (click here)

It is made to protect people from bullets and flying debris. I guarantee it will not be available to school children. But, it is out there.

It is made in "Safety Orange."
3:16 PM, Jun 8, 2014

...The Bodyguard Blanket, (click here) made by ProTecht, is a bulletproof pad designed to protect students during disasters at school. The 5/16-inch thick rectangle features backpack-like straps that allow users to put it on, and then duck and cover.

Steve Walker developed the pad, The Oklahoman reported ( http://bit.ly/1k9KEj9 ). Walker started on the idea after a massive tornado struck last year in Moore, killing 24 people including seven children inside an elementary school that didn't have a tornado shelter....
This will not replace a "Safe Room." I don't believe this should be substituted for a Safe Room, but, more an additional layer of safety. This is still not going to stop a shooter. I might stop a bullet, but, the shooter will still have options to kill even with this blanket. This still isn't the final answer on the gun violence in the country. There will come a day when The Bodyguard Blanket will prove fallible in a shooting and a dead person will be found under it. 


SPC Science Support Branch Scientist, (click here) Dr. Patrick Marsh derived the probability of at least one tornado anywhere in the U.S. based on U.S. tornado reports since 1980. (Click for full resolution chart.)



EMF - Unbelievable (live at MTV Awards 1991)

"Unbelievable" by EMF (click here)

Oh!
(What the?)
(What the fuck was that?)

You burden me with your questions
You'd have me tell no lies
You're always asking what it's all about
But don't listen to my replies
You say to me I don't talk enough
But when I do I'm a fool
These times I've spent, I've realized
I'm going to shoot through
And leave you

The things, you say
Your purple prose just gives you away
The things, you say
You're unbelievable

Oh!
(What the?)
(What the fuck was that?)

You burden me with your problems
By telling me more than mine
I'm always so concerned
With the way you say
You've always go to stop
To think of us being one
Is more than I ever know
But this time, I realize
I'm going to shoot through
And leave you

The things, you say
Your purple prose just gives you away
The things, you say
You're unbelievable

Oh!
(What the?)
(What the?)
(What the?)
(What the fuck was that?)

Seemingly lastless, don't mean
You can ask us
Pushing down the relative
Bringing out your higher self
Think of the fine times
Pushing down the better few
Instead of bringing out the clues
To want the world and everything your asked to
Brace yourself with the grace of ease
I know this world ain't what it seems
(What the fuck was that?)
(It's unbelievable)

You burden me with your questions
You'd have me tell no lies
You're always asking what it's all about
But don't listen to my replies
You say to me I don't talk enough
But when I do I'm a fool
These times I've spent, I've realized
I'm going to shoot through
And leave you

The things, you say
Your purple prose just gives you away
The things, you say
It's why I love you more
The things, you say
Your purple prose just gives you away
The things, you say
You're unbelievable

Oh!
(What the?)
(What the)
You're so unbelievable

(What the?)
(What the?)
You're unbelievable

(It's unbelievable)
Oh!
(What the?)
(What the?)
(What the?)
(What the fuck was that?)
You're unbelievable

Bergdahl's platoon is whining about the return of an American.

It is the tail wagging the dog.

“We all served together, and we were all in it together over there, and he broke that bond by leaving us,” he said. Speaking of the militants, he said, “You’re just going to let these guys go for somebody who you’re already saying you know walked away. That’s just not right.”

The most exaggerated statement was on FOX News Sunday when a platoon member stated, "Every mission was tilted toward finding Bergdahl." I am quite confident there was always the knowledge there was a missing American. To that end it was included in patrols routinely, but, so were the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. Their complaints are irreverent. They might be worth any feeds for a guest shot on FOX News Sunday, but, outside that they don't contribute any valuable information to the dialogue.

The truth is "Every mission included finding Bergdahl." Can everyone speak the truth for once. If there was information to his whereabouts it was to be known. Wow, that is earth shaking, isn't it?

Joint Chiefs Chairman General Martin E. Dempsey posted on his Facebook page that Bergdahl "is innoncent until proven guilty . . . meantime we will continue to care for him and his family."
"In response to those of you interested in my personal judgments about the recovery of SGT Bowe Bergdahl, the questions about this particular soldier’s conduct are separate from our effort to recover ANY U.S. service member in enemy captivity. This was likely the last, best opportunity to free him. As for the circumstances of his capture, when he is able to provide them, we’ll learn the facts. Like any American, he is innocent until proven guilty. Our Army’s leaders will not look away from misconduct if it occurred. In the meantime, we will continue to care for him and his family. Finally, I want to thank those who for almost five years worked to find him, prepared to rescue him, and ultimately put themselves at risk to recover him."

The issue of returning an American home is not in question. The fact there was a prisoner exchange to secure him was the method to keep him alive and have him returned. What difference does it make if millions are paid to Iran for prisoner releases or prisoners that would have been released anyway were exchanged ahead of December 31, 2014.

Is there anyone that can guarantee under different circumstances Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl would have been returned alive to his family? No, so just shut up. 

None of these children should be put into adoption. NONE!

Miguel Otarola
The Republic 
June 8, 2014

NOGALES, Ariz. - Three hundred more unaccompanied migrant children — with more on the way — were transported Saturday from southern Texas into a makeshift way station set up in a Border Patrol detention facility in Nogales, Ariz., as government agencies took additional steps to improve the living conditions there....

They are, regardless of age or expectant condition, are illegal aliens. The country of origin has to be notified and if necessary the USA can help establish orphanages whereby the children will be safe, but, they are not the USA's problem.

When any potential for adoption ends, the shipping of children will stop. 

IF CONGRESS had passed The Dream Act when it was proposed, this would never be a problem.

These beautiful children have a different country to pledge their allegiance. They have a different ethnicity and belong where they were born. This is not about humanity, the USA can handle the problem without insulting human rights. This is about a controlled genocide within these countries and how children are being removed to other nations. When genetics is watered down to any country, that is genocide. These children are important to their countries and need to be returned.

If there is a humanitarian crisis within their country of origin, it is probably due to the climate crisis and global warming. It is the humanitarian crisis that needs to be addressed so end the abandonment of children to a foreign nation 'by chance' they should have a better opportunity or a better life. 

This is exactly the same as illegal aliens from Mexico. It isn't about allowing or not allowing border crossings, it is about the conditions in Mexico so citizens value their lives within Mexico. Same exact problem with the children. It is about quality of life and the love of family these children need in their country of origin.

One of the best resources regarding establishing orphanages in their country of origin is Pope Francis. He is from Argentina and knows these folks. He knows how important it is for children to be with a family and grow up within their culture and ethnicity. I am sure he knows may of the government leaders and non-profits within these countries to establish orphanages for them.

In Michigan, the objection to the ballot initiative to the NEW minimum wage is "Tip Labor?" Really?

MAY 27, 2014 AT 1:00 AM
...The bill, (click here) which eliminates the 1964 minimum wage law and replaces it with a new one, appears to short-circuit Raise Michigan’s ballot campaign.

Supporters of the bill say because the ballot proposal changes existing law — which will be replaced by the new law upon Snyder’s signature — the Raise Michigan proposal will be moot.

That’s why Sen. Morris Hood, D-Detroit, voted against the legislation and made the only floor speech in the Senate following the vote. “This circumvents their right to put it on the ballot,” he said....

...Tipped workers, who rely mostly on gratuities, will get 38 percent of the new rates. Their $2.65 an hour minimum gradually would roll up to $3.52 by 2018.

In a way, tipped workers already are guaranteed the regular minimum wage. If a food server’s lower minimum wage plus tips fails to average the current $7.40 an hour, a restaurant owner must make up the difference.

Raise Michigan’s $10.10 minimum wage plan also would apply to tipped workers. The Michigan Restaurant Association warned that such a huge increase would many out of business.

“Most of those businesses operate on a very thin margin,” said Farrington, who has owned a smaller business....

I sincerely don't approve of a separate 'Tip Wage Labor.' I doubt most Americans do. That is corporate welfare.

A waiter or waitress' income should not have to depend on whether the food is good or whether it is a good night for the restaurant. They have no control over the quality of their employment as it relates to customer satisfaction. What they do have control over is the service they provide to the customer. That is directly related to the gratitude the customer feels is deserving of an additional 'thank you' which is expressed in a tip.

Waiters and waitresses bring their own expertise to the job. Their talent is not transplanted by the owner of the facility. As a matter of fact, the owner of the facility should be worried about the quality of everything 'in support' of the expertise the 'wait staff' is bringing to their customers.

Now as far as "Most of those businesses operate on a a very thing margin." That is just too bad. I don't believe it. And if franchises are that 'thin a margin,' what is anyone investing for in the first place?

Populous restaurants like Chili's or Godfather Pizza or Ruth Chris Steak House where the food just came off the refrigerator truck and always looks the same; there isn't that much wait staff.

On a good day, one of these corporate chains might have a receptionist/cashier and maybe a person that seats customers. Then the wait staff at the tables might be about 6 or 8. So, that is approximately 10, at the most with a bartender it is 11 or 12. if they are all receiving minimum wage, that is a salary of $121.20 per hour. Now, no one is going to tell me any of those corporate restaurant chains isn't experiencing receipts of at least $121.20 per hour.

The other expenses are the chefs, the food itself which is bought according to demand (which means the food is sold - that is simply a floating 'cash in - cash out' expense), utilities for food preparation, depreciation costs on the facilities, maintenance and property and business taxes IF ANY and of course the precious stockholder dividend and CEO bonus. So the idea paying a wait staff minimum wage is cutting that 'slim margin' of viability to zero or negative is hideous. That reality does not exist.

Bergdohl's problem was, "But, this wasn't in the contract of my expections."

I have a question I can't find the answer to in any of what I have read to date. How did Bergdahl become a Sargent if he walked off base (went AWOL) twice before? And when he did walk off base twice before it wasn't in the Afghan theater. 

Bergdohl from what I can gather was a chrisitan neocon. He liked the idea of killing those within a conflict. He and his father made some lame fantasy about creating a militia in Africa where missions were attempting to teach villagers to protect themselves. He made this statement about Afghanistan, "If this deployment is lame, I'm just going to walk off into the mountains of Pakistan". (click here)

How did he ever get the authority to state whether a deployment was lame? He was off the base and working outside the unit in his mind more than he was ever a participant. That is arrogance to pretend to know more than one's superiors.

There was another war whereby the enlisted didn't trust the hierarchy, too.

"If this deployment is lame..."

That is passing judgement on his superiors. It sounds like a bad habit he had most of his life. But, he walked off base (AWOL) twice before during his time in the military and he was still a sergeant. Advancing someone in the ranks of the military with bad habits is only asking for more trouble. This is like no surprise. This was Bergdohl's habit. He didn't abandon his post without having a behavior of doing so. This time he ran into Taliban that knew the wealth of holding a POW. That 'wealth of value' of a POW existed before the Taliban were born. It will continue after the Taliban are dead. The political dogma surrounding all this is hideous and ridiculous.

And the neocon killing 'attitude' was not based in 'orders' it was based in his christianity. He judged based in christian values. As far as I can tell he lived in a fantasy world based in the idea his knowledge of what was best was the 'best idea.' He accepted no other authority except his own, but, was willing to give others' ideas a try. That is not a military person. That is a camper wanting to go home after the rigors displeased 'his own promise of ideas.'

What in the hell does the USA military have for soldiers these days?