Thursday, February 19, 2015

A small victory for unions. It's a good beginning.

February 19, 2015
By Anne D'innocenzio

BENTONVILLE, Arkansas (AP) " Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (click here) is spending $1 billion to make changes to how it pays and trains hourly U.S. workers as the retailer tries to reshape the image that its stores offer dead-end jobs.

As part of its biggest investment in worker training and pay ever, Wal-Mart told The Associated Press that within the next six months it will give raises to about 500,000 workers, or nearly 40 percent of its 1.3 million employees. Wal-Mart follows other retailers that have boosted hourly pay recently, but because it's the largest private employer in the U.S., the impact of its move will be more closely watched.

In addition to raises, Wal-Mart said it plans to make changes to how workers are scheduled and add training programs for sales staff so that employees can more easily map out their future at the company. 

"We are trying to create a meritocracy where you can start somewhere and end up just as high as your hard work and your capacity will enable you to go," CEO Doug McMillon told the AP during an interview this week at the company's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas....

OUR Walmart - Organization United for Respect at Walmart (click here)

Rudy Giulani doesn't love NYC employees.

The 9/11 Commission noted in its report that lack of preparedness could have led to the deaths of first responders at the scene of the attacks. The Commission noted that the radios in use by the fire department were the same radios which had been criticized for their ineffectiveness following the 1993 World Trade Center bombings.

Now don't get me wrong, it's not that he isn't a patriot, but, it is just that he loves money more than people.

Don't ever leave home or office without keys. Not even to shovel the driveway.

Forgetfulness is out of the question. No holes in pockets and secure keys where zippers will maintain them in an available access. Don't leave children unattended. There are no children in any expedition to Antarctica or the Arctic Ocean. There is a short tolerance for children while playing in subzero temperatures. Make play dates with friends at each other's home.

These temperatures require self-reliance in ways most Americans aren't usually exposed to. There is no hurrying out the door. Set the alarm to wake one half hour earlier. If sleeping in then arrival at work may be late. There are no short cuts. Double check for keys before exiting any door. Carrying a butane lighter can thaw a metal door knob. Deicer for locks is a good idea. 

Basically, "Murphy's Law," anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Don't leave gloves off for any length of time. With standing pain is not the best idea. Compromise of circulation to bare skin happens quickly. Don't use a hand to warm up a door knob. Out of the question unless there is no other method and it is an emergency.

These temperatures require "mindfulness." Please take care.

February 17, 2015
By David Taintor

Here’s something you don’t see everyday. (click here)
The brutally cold temperatures gripping much of the U.S. have hit Niagara Falls. While the falls have not been totally cut off by the deep freeze, the cold weather has arrested some of the water in glorious, massive icicles. Temperatures haven’t risen above freezing at all in February, according to NBC News meteorologist Dylan Dreyer.
The flow of water actually slows in winter. In summer, 40.68 million gallons of water tumble over the falls per minute, according to NBC News. In winter, that number drops to almost half — 22.71 million gallons per minute....

It is time for President Obama to get serious about a veto.

February 19, 2015
By Robert Boos

...These tribal nations (click here) say the US government has failed to adequately consult and negotiate the matter with them, despite the direct effect the pipeline’s route would have on their lands
“I think that a lot of tribes are really frustrated at the lack of inclusion in this process that's guaranteed through our treaty rights,” says Dallas Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network. Goldtooth says their primary concern is that the State Department’s permitting process has overlooked tribal treaties with the federal government.
For example, he says, "the Keystone pipeline passes right through the heart of the Oceti Sacowin Treaty area that was established before the Laramie Treaty back in 1868. A lot of the tribal nations really stick to the wording and negotiated agreements that were made and are treaties and we really encourage the federal government to really stick to those.”
But tribes on both sides of the US-Canada border are also concerned about a range of environmental problems like pollution, accelerated climate effects and potential danger to the tribes' water supply....

Scientists are important members of our society in the USA. If physics was easy everyone would call it common sense.

Oklahoma Geological Survey seismologist Amberlee Darold wires a solar power panel to a seismometer in southwest Oklahoma City. (Washington Post photo by Linda Davidson)

February 5, 2015 
by Associated Press in Hydraulic fracturing

OKLAHOMA CITY — A 4.3 magnitude earthquake (click here) rattled Alfalfa County in northern Oklahoma Thursday, damaging the county courthouse but causing no injuries....

...Damage to the nearly 100-year-old courthouse, built in the early 1920s, was minimal, and employees continued working in the building, Irwin said.
“We just have extra cracks that we didn’t have before, some of the older cracks are a little bigger,” said Irwin, who was on the third floor of the three-story courthouse when the earthquake happened.

The temblor occurred just days after SandRidge Energy injection well in the same area was shut down because of a 4.1 magnitude earthquake about 7 miles east of Thursday’s quake.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman Matt Skinner said SandRidge’s permit for the well required that it be shut down because of the seismic activity. The well is being used to dispose of wastewater related to oil drilling....

Why go there in the first place?

The damage is already done. All that water is not going to settle down over time. Water is water. The reason hydraulic fracturing has always been a bad idea is exampled in Oklahoma and the seismic clusters in Texas. 

"Everyone was told."

What is wrong with right wing politics? They don't recognize science and it's contributions to life in the USA.

A campus is no place for guns. Guns kill Americans.

Guns and domestic violence (click here) are a lethal combination - injuring and killing women every day in the United States. A gun is the weapon most commonly used in domestic homicides. In fact, more than three times as many women are murdered by guns used by their husbands or intimate acquaintances
than are killed by strangers’ guns, knives or other weapons combined.
Contrary to many public perceptions, many women who are murdered are killed not by strangers but by men they know.

Nearly one-third of all women murdered in the United States in recent years were murdered by a current or former intimate partner. In 2000, 1,247 women, more than three a day, were killed by their intimate partners....

The references to this entry is a bit dated, but, when Vice President Biden speaks out against domestic violence he always states this is still the reality of American women. They are still mostly killed by guns and their partners.

The society in general is plagued with guns, including children. Many Americans today see guns as a staple to their daily lives no different than their cell phones. How did we ever get here?

Guns are a power unto themselves. The frequent statement in defense of guns is "...it isn't the guns, it is the gun owners." Not. People are terrified of problems such as home invasions, that is a direct result of a right wing political issue. That belief is extremism. It is not only extremism, but, it directly adds the weapon that is going to kill a woman if she is 'out of line' with her husband/partner. It is a statement that increases the deaths in the USA. 

Home invasion is the silent killer of women. It is the reason why many men state "I am the protection of my family."

Example:

July 16, 2014
By Michelle Nemmers 
CLARE, CO -- The Clare County Sheriff's (click here) office is asking the public for help in locating and identifying a man who is accused of being involved with a home invasion in Garfield Township.
According to the Sheriff's office, the man was last seen at the Isabella Bank in Lake attempting to use a stolen credit card at the ATM.  Officials are saying the card was taken from a home that was broken into.
The homeowner was alerted by their credit card company of the transaction and then reported it to the sheriff's department.
A compound bow and tools were also stolen from the home.
Contact the Clare County Sheriff's Office at (989) 539-7166 with any information regarding the incident.

The best defense to serial thieves and home invasions are the bars of prison. Guns are not among the recommendations to prevent home invasions.

Remember these important security steps:

  • Install solid core doors, heavy duty locks, and window security devices
  • Lock all doors, windows, and garages at all times
  • Use four three-inch screws to secure heavy duty lock strike plates in the door frame
  • Use the door peephole BEFORE opening the door
  • Use your porch light to help you to see clearly outside
  • Never rely on a chain-latch as a barrier to partially open the door
  • Never open the door to strangers or solicitors
  • Call the police if the stranger acts suspicious
  • Alert your neighbors to suspicious solicitors
  • Hold a family meeting to discuss home security plans
  • Set the home perimeter alarm at night, if you have one