Tuesday, November 15, 2016

It is a scientific fact that ocean tides are effected by the moon.

November 15, 2016
By James Samenow

Yaneisy Duenas and Ferando Sanudo walk through the flooded parking lot to their boat at the Haulover Marine Center on Monday in North Miami

This week’s supermoon (click here) was more than a spectacular sight in the night sky. It nudged up sea levels, leading to areas of coastal flooding along the East Coast.
Such inundation offered a glimpse of the new normal in certain low-lying areas as sea levels rise because of climate change.
Coastal sections of South Florida and New England were among those immersed in ocean water on Monday and Tuesday during high tide cycles. From Palm Beach to Miami, the Weather Service hoisted coastal flood advisories cautioning that tidal levels were running about a foot above normal “due to the occurrence of the super moon.”
In New England, the Weather Service office in Boston said the combination of “very high astronomical tides” and a weak coastal storm would result in a water nearly a foot above normally dry land at high tide.....

The night of the Supermoon. Indeed. Bigger and brighter and close enough to wave to the man on the moon.

14 November 2016
By Paul Rincon

A selection of pictures (click here) from the UK and abroad as the moon makes its closest approach since 1948.

...The UK's (click here) best chance to see it is on Monday evening; the Moon rose at 16:43 GMT in Edinburgh and 16:44 in London.
To observers, it will appear about 7% larger than normal and about 15% brighter - although the human eye is barely able to discern that difference.
The Moon was closest - only 221,524 miles (356,509km) away - at 11:21 GMT...

New Zealand in emergency.

New Zealand is still taking assessment of the earthquake. There are Air Force helicopters flying supplies into people cut off from movement because of the earthquake. The same helicopters are also removing people and tourists to safer ground and a flight back home.

Ruptures in farmland around Conway near Kaikoura. (click here) 

People are literally unable to move to safer ground. The main roads are all destroyed in one way or another, including the main truck route. The railroad tracks are disturbed and they are unusable.

It is a terrible. Heroic dialogue regarding the quakes and people may save lives in the future. I am sure the citizens have insight to the best outcomes. Perhaps an appeal for aid within the United Nations might bring needed funding for repair or resettlement.

November 16, 2016
By Fran O'Sullivan

How many more major earthquakes (click here) can New Zealand sustain without crippling the country's ability to maintain current economic growth rates?
It's an unpalatable question.
But away from the cameras, that is exactly the question which John Key and Bill English should be pondering.
Whether they like it or not, they will have to reorder their fiscal priorities so the major infrastructure challenges in Auckland and Christchurch can still be addressed, at the same time as they gear up to fund what will be another very significant rebuild. Not all of the costs will be covered by insurance.
This will reduce the Government's options for next year's election.
The good news is that major businesses have taken steps to become more resilient since the first major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011....

It has been the practicee of the incoming President since 911 to keep the existing DoD Secretary on for at least a year or so.

Secretary Carter has extensive experience with the Department of Defense. It would be wise for President Elect Trump to ask Secretary Carter to stay in place for at least the beginning of his first term.

The terrorist attacks on the USA was successful during those first years of President Clinton in 1993 and President Bush in 2001. The transition was more secure in 2009 with then Secretary Gates stayed with the Obama Administration until 2011.

That approach might be a good practice for Homeland Security and Mr. Jeh C. Johnson. With those two national security Secretaries in place, President-Elect Trump will have time to focus on the remaining offices of his cabinet. 

Washington, Nov. 14, 2016 — The ties between (click here) the Defense Department and commercial technology and innovation keep the U.S. military agile as it meets today’s challenges and remains ready for the future, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today.
In a forum hosted here by The Atlantic magazine and innovation firm 1776, the secretary discussed DoD’s technology partnerships and the Force of the Future with The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg
While DoD focuses on five evolving threats from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, “I also need to make sure that we're ready for things that we cannot foresee today -- as ready as we can possibly be,” Carter said....

Donald Trump's relationship with Native Americans will most likely be strained at the very least.

October 4, 2016
By Jesse Coleman 

Since last week's presidential debate, (click here)) we’ve been hearing quite a bit about Donald Trump’s tax returns (or lack thereof). While the conversation has revolved around why Trump has chosen not to release his returns — as all presidential candidates have since 1980 — we do know some things about what those returns would reveal should he choose to make them public.
 
In particular, we already know quite a bit about Trump’s connections to the fossil fuel industry and to the Dakota Access Pipeline. 

Trump has deep financial and personnel ties to the pipeline, which would transport nearly 500,000 barrels of fracked oil per day from North Dakota to Illinois. The pipeline threatens the water supply and sacred lands of the Standing Rock Sioux, who have joined with dozens of tribes and other groups to stop the project.

While much of Trump’s finances remain a mystery, he did have to file a financial disclosure form when he declared his candidacy for president (despite his claims, this is not the same and does not provide the same level of transparency as a tax return). This disclosure form shows significant investments in the fossil fuel industry, and two of the fossil fuel companies Trump holds stock in are directly funding the Dakota Access Pipeline. 

This year, Trump disclosed between $1,500 and $50,000 in investments in the primary builder of the pipeline, Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners. This figure is down from the $500,000 to $1 million in investments he disclosed in 2015....
I heard Paul Ryan stated the US House is in lock step with Donald Trump. That is an easy way of avoiding conflict with those that elected Mr. Trump. The US Senate has a filibuster that will prevent adverse legislature to the people to pass. 

It is a re-election strategy. The Right Wing is always grieving over legislation measures that never make it into law. So, when the Republicans compaign for 2018 and 2020 they can blame it on the Democrats in the US Senate.

This time there are some really shadey folks full of hate that are also in lock step with Mr. Trump and the US Congress. The Democrats have to point out the Republicans are involved with people that sincerely want to hurt Americans.

Ms. Conway doesn't seem to understand what happened on November 8th.

A thin skin in not going to survive the office of the President of the USA. On November 8, 2016 Mr. Trump became the President Elect. He is no longer a private figure. POTUS must accept all comers in that job. It is part of the job descrption. Mr. Trump is not CEO, he is the President - Elect. 

On the other hand, 'the people' can still sue him as President. They can also sue him as a private person who's lives are compromised in any way because he was throwing his weight around. The President - Elect does have to respond to lawsuits against him as President and/or as a private citizen. 

He ran for the job and now he has to conduct himself in that position.

On the other hand, Secretary Clinton is now a private citizen and has the capacity to sue on behalf of any damage the government has caused her.

Wait 'til he sees the effigies. The burning ones, including that of the flag, is a sure way of knowing the people aren't happy. It is a First Amendment dialogue to get attention to the aggrieved. 

It seems as though some folks didn't want to wait until the inauguration.

November 13, 2016
By Hunter

...“It only took five days for President-elect Trump (click here) to try to silence his critics with the threat of legal action. This should shock and concern all Americans. [...]

Since Trump was elected, acts of hate against Muslims, Jews, women and people of color have spiked dramatically. The KKK is planning a parade to celebrate Trump’s victory because the KKK sees Trump as their champion. Today, a headline in one newspaper reads, ‘Popular neo-Nazi site urges readers to troll liberals into suicide,’ while another reads, ‘Post-election spate of hate crimes worse than 9-11.’

“But instead of rising to the responsibility of his office, Trump is hiding behind his Twitter account and sending his staff on TV to threaten his critics.

“If this is going to be a time of healing, Trump must take action immediately to stop the acts of hate and threats of violence that are being committed in his name across the country. Trump owes the nation leadership, not petty attempts to silence his critics.”...           
November 15, 2016

Kathleen Crowther


Just days following the temporary suspension (click here) of a University of Oklahoma student accused of sending racist messages to black students at the University of Pennsylvania, OU has found itself in the midst of another racially charged incident.
Kathleen Crowther, a history of science professor at OU, posted pictures on her Twitter account Monday that she said were racist fliers that she discovered on OU’s campus.

Some of the fliers, with titles such as “Why White Women Shouldn’t Date Black Men” and “Race and Intelligence: the Facts” reportedly contained statements such as, “In the U.S., the average white IQ is about 100, the average black IQ is about 85, and the average East Asian IQ is about 105.”...

November 15, 2016
By Brianna Bailey

Oklahoma City — The number of Oklahoma voters (click here) who left their presidential ballots blank or wrote in a candidate nearly doubled this year from the 2012 election, according to data from the Oklahoma State Election Board.

Some 15,931 Oklahoma voters rejected Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Gary Johnson last Tuesday, leaving all three boxes blank. In 2012, 8,161 Oklahoma ballots did not include a vote for president....

Europe is beginning to rationalize it's eastern border.

Europe needs to assess it's way forward. NATO countries are suppose to pay two percent of the cost. That dollar figures fluctuates with any increase in NATO initiatives. I doubt Europe can afford to support NATO with the costs that are coming for two reasons.

If the USA increase its role in Europe that two percent becomes higher with greater spending in Europe. 

(Perhaps the EU should begin to consider funding the two percent with a common fund on the entire GDP of 14 trillion, 693 billion.)

If the USA decreases its profile in Europe that two percent needs to be used to increase the independenc to Europe's military content and stance. Either way if the USA insists on payment of the monies due to it under the NATO agreement Europe will not be able to pay the bill. 

The EU must begin to address it's own security and determine when the USA will come to their defense. As of January 20, 2017 the USA's stance anywhere in the world comes into question. REGIONAL security is a method of defining the role of any country within that region.

It is completely horrible there is no way to know what the next four years of NATO will look like. That reality alone is reason for Europe to begin movement to autonomy. 

Europe needs to lead. If it assumes leadership NATO will put national security priorities first and that is the best place for Europe. I don't know if the Trump administration will abide by the treaty at all. If Mr. Trump orders less troops in Europe based on financial arrangements that are not met, the US Congress may step in to bring about a different president. There is nothing to say a different president will honor the treaty either. It is safe to say, the future of the USA is in question.

13 November 2016
By Jessica Elgot

Jeremy Corbyn (click here) has suggested he is in favour of reducing Nato’s presence on eastern Europe’s borders with Russia and said it was clear the US president-elect, Donald Trump, believed he could improve relations with Vladimir Putin.
The Labour leader said he had “many, many criticisms of Putin, the human rights abuses in Russia and the militarisation of society” but said further escalation had to be avoided.
“I do think there has to be a process that we try and demilitarise the border between what are now the Nato states and Russia so we drive apart those forces, keep them further apart ... we can’t descend into a new cold war,” he told BBC1’s Andrew Marr show.
The UK is deploying hundreds of troops as well as aircraft and armour to eastern Europe as part of the biggest buildup of Nato forces in the region amid growing tensions with Russia.
Corbyn said the election of Trump, who has expressed scepticism of Nato, was a reflection of the anger communities felt at being left behind by globalisation, but dismissed the suggestion that only the right was managing to capitalise on that feeling....
November 14, 2016
By Sean Colarossi

One peaceful anti-Trump protest on the campus of Ohio State University quickly turned violent on Monday night when Donald Trump supporter shoved a protester down a flight of stairs while he was delivering a speech to the crowd.

After pushing the man, a brief scuffle broke out between the Trump supporter and another protester, but it was quickly broken up by other demonstrators. The police arrived seconds later and escorted the man out of the building....