Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Any ideas about the potential location of lost hikers in the Grand Canyon? This ever happen before?

April 26, 2017
Chilling final images of a grandmother and her step-grandson (click here) have been posted after the teen's GoPro was recovered by search and rescue.
Lou-Ann Merrell, 62, and Jackson Standefer, 14, were hiking in the Grand Canyon on Saturday, April 15 when the pair lost their footing while trying to cross a creek during a family trip in a remote part of the northern Arizona park. They were swept away by the water.
An intense search was then initiated for the pair, which included three ground teams consisting of about 20 people total, a National Park Service helicopter, a drone and an inflatable motor raft that was flown into the canyon....
...But the search in Grand Canyon National Park has since been scaled back, with a park spokeswoman saying the searchers on the ground won't be used because they've now checked all areas that they can reach on foot.
The search will continue with the helicopter, drone and motorised inflatable raft....

The holiday apartments should be shuttered. It is a haven for human trafficking.

April 26, 2017

British detectives (click here) have a 'significant' line of inquiry in the Madeleine McCann case, ten years after the youngster went missing.
Scotland Yard chief Mark Rowley said there are still 'critical' leads that are of 'great interest' in the investigation into the three-year-old's disappearance from a holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3, 2007.
He also ruled out that her parents Gerry and Kate McCann were involved in her abduction and said that she could still be alive, the Daily Mail reported.
The comments come after the McCanns released a statement earlier today saying they still hold out hope of finding out what happened to their daughter.
In an interview nearly a decade on from her disappearance, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner ruled out Maddie's parents as possible suspects....

What about the victims? What about the people killed by these drug lords?

Border control families, the families of people killed by their illegal drugs? What about the victims of the drug cartels? They should be compensated for their losses. There are the children victims brought to the USA to escape the ravages of these men and their drug networks. What about all the causalities of these cartels, what happens to them?

I don't see that monies taken from illegal activities should be paying for Republican politics.

There are no specific plans, costs of any kind and completion dates. There are no blueprints specifying the design throughout. There are no plans, but, all the drug money should be dedicated to a dream of a wall. I don't think so.

August 26, 2017

Cash seized (click here) from notorious Mexican drug lords, such as El Chapo, could be used to cover the cost of Donald Trump's border wall.

The radical new proposal was put forward Tuesday by Senator Ted Cruz as part of the Texas Republican's EL CHAPO bill, according to Daily Mail.

The bill's title, in addition to being the nickname of the infamous and recently extradited Joaquin Guzman, stands for Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order.

Cruz's proposal calls for the US government to seek $14 billion ($20.1 billion) from Guzman specifically, while also trying to get its hands on funds from other drug lords to cover the cost of building the wall and securing the border....

Senator Bob Corker needs to stop comparing Libya to North Korea, he should refer to the Axis of Evil and the "W"rongful war in Iraq.

24 April 2017
By Patrick Wintour

Rome (click here) has brokered a diplomatic breakthrough in Libya that has the potential to bring the two main warring sides together in a new political agreement after years of division, fighting and economic misery.
The scale of the breakthrough will be tested later this week, but Italy is hailing a compromise brokered between the presidents of the house of representatives, Ageela Saleh, and the state council, Abdulrahman Sewehli.

The meeting was overseen by the Italian foreign minister, Angelino Alfano, and the Italian ambassador to Libya....

It is grossly incorrect to be referring to Libya as an equivalent to North Korea and the fact the President of North Korea learned plenty from the disarmament of Libya. Does Senator Corker actually hear what he is saying? He is saying small countries with nuclear capacity learned a vital lesson from disarmament. That may be very true, but, what it also states is that the larger countries are untrustworthy of disarmament.

Nuclear disarmament is a sovereignty issue. Nuclear armament occurred because a small country was worried about invasion and having nuclear weapons will deter any attempt by larger countries to war.

I don't know what the heck "W" thought he was doing at the DMZ when he made that speech, but, if he actually thought it was going to motivate North Korea to the peace table he was sadly mistaken. I think "W" got the type of reaction he wanted and it had nothing to do with peace.

"W" wanted a war and he got it when Iraq, an unarmed country, was illegally invaded. THAT is what taught Iran and North Korea a lesson, not the legal process of honoring non-proliferation.

Let's review:

On December 19, 2003, (click here) the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Libya) agreed to eliminate all materials, equipment, and programs aimed at the production of nuclear or other internationally proscribed weapons. Libya's then leader Colonel Mu'ammar Qadhafi admitted that, in contravention of its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Libya had pursued a nuclear weaponsprogram. In 2004, the United States and the United Kingdom dismantled Libya's nuclear weapons infrastructure with oversight from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)....

For member nations the non-proliferation treaty is a legal directive. One of the reasons leaders disarm from nuclear weapons is because THEY DON'T WANT THEIR PEOPLE TO BE A TARGET. Now, either these leaders are drinking the Kool-Aid or they are dealing with honorable leaders of nuclear countries. So far the USA does not have a good record for being an honorable nuclear country. At all. The invasion into Iraq was about oil and everyone knows it. The invasion was illegal and hurried because the UN Inspectors were finding nothing actionable in relation to violations of the UN Resolutions that brought the USA and Iraq to that point. "W" didn't want to be honorable, he wanted to satisfy the greed of his political cronies AND get Dick Cheney off the hook for cooking the books at Halliburton.

North Korea had disarmed from nuclear capacity under Kim Jong Il, the second generation leader in that country. That bears repeating.

North Korea had disarmed from nuclear capacity under Kim Jong Il, the second generation leader in that country.

Got that?

What "W" did with his "Axis of Evil" speech was a violation of the trust these countries placed in the USA. That bears repeating.

What "W" did with his "Axis of Evil" speech was a violation of the trust these countries placed in the USA.

The USA went from a benevolent peace seeking country into a monster with six heads and each head with three eyes in an instant.

The term axis of evil was used by U.S. President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address on January 29, 2002.

...Under this agreement, (click here) Pyongyang committed to freezing its illicit plutonium weapons program in exchange for aid.

Following the collapse of this agreement in 2002, North Korea claimed that it had withdrawn from the NPT in January 2003 and once again began operating its nuclear facilities....

The six member talks was a sincere effort to bring about an understanding of an imitative that would lead to first safety of the people of North Korea and secondly peace on the Korean peninsula.

...The second major diplomatic effort were the Six-Party Talks initiated in August of 2003 which involved China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. In between periods of stalemate and crisis, those talks arrived at critical breakthroughs in 2005, when North Korea pledged to abandon “all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs” and return to the NPT, and in 2007, when the parties agreed on a series of steps to implement that 2005 agreement.

Those talks, however, broke down in 2009 following disagreements over verification and an internationally condemned North Korea rocket launch....

Take a good look at where the six countries are today, fourteen years later.

China - has to deal with North Korea to assist in the containment of a nuclear launch. This is not a game or a trade relationship, a nuclear explosion on the Korean peninsula, especially near China's border, would be devastating. It would be devastating to North Korea, but, also to South Korea, China and Russia, not to mention Japan. Additionally, the winds would carry the fallout east into and across the Pacific Ocean and North America would be effected.

Libya has none of those issues as an Arab country in the Middle East. North Korea had two major nuclear countries at it's near borders.

Japan - There have been mention of arming with nuclear weapons in the past election. The South Koreans still oppose the idea and would like to see a reunification of the North and South Korean people as a final end to tensions and a beginning to improved trade. Today, South Korea is far from that goal and has witnessed the closing of bilateral interests that would build a TRUSTING relationship.

Leaders in the USA laugh at the idea of trust and treat leaders to countries as fools for even entertaining the idea of non-proliferation. The USA leadership acts with power and not benevolent methods to achieve success in peace talks. Power. It is a myth. Nuclear holocaust is not good governance. 

North Korea - The new leader of North Korea is chronically testing the country's limits both in its ocean borders as well as it's nuclear and missile capacity. There have been active testing of nuclear explosions registering on the Richter Scale by western monitors. North Korea has sold fishing rights to China when it can nearly feed it's own people. The expansion into foreign waters to establish fishing rights has been less an attempt to feed the North Korean people so much as claiming more real estate or water rights to increase the price to the country that would buy it.

The new and third generation leader of North Korea has no compassion at all for the North Korean people. The minority in the power structure has loyalty to the new Kim Jong un and they better because he has little patience for anything else and clearly demonstrates that every time he kills a family member.

Russia - Russia is no longer a partner, neither are the others, and clearly it has no intention of returning to any talks no matter the other members UNLESS it is accompanied by a lifting of any sanctions that is hurting it's economy. But, Russia is moving in a very different direction than it's traditional role in the region. It no longer has patience with the idea of being peaceful. Peace has no quotient in the real world. It does nothing but allows The West to instill their greed and rob people of their assets. The Axis of Evil speech must have been a profound moment for Russian leadership, especially Vladimir Putin.

Trustworthiness of the USA was placed on the back burner and Russia had to reassess. What we are seeing now with Russia was a one time reset of trust between the two countries that failed. Putin is not interested in revisiting any trusting relationship with The West, that was clearly demonstrated with the border wars with Ukraine. Putin has no patience for countries not a part of his economic union. He wants to reflect strength and protection for that economic union no matter what it takes.

The former President Medvedev spent most of his term in office traveling to other countries and working to build trust and economic ties with any country that wanted it so long as Russia had it's loyalty when it breaks out into a war with The West.

South Korea - The faith in government leadership with the South Korean people has waned with the impeachment of Park Geun-hye. South Korea is the best barometer to realize the tensions on the peninsula, although silence today is defining, the absence of a real treaty with the north is a profound problem. One needs to realize economic ties with The West are vital to an alliance of peaceful countries in the region of North Korea. South Korea is more and more interested in testing missiles to counter any aggression by the North. None of these measures were even considered before "The Six Talks" ended.

The South Korean economy has been improving significantly since the presidency of Bill Clinton. The entire region trusted Clinton and as a result there was far more security on the peninsula. But, the South Korean economy does lag behind that of Japan and the USA. South Korea's economy demands peace. It doesn't work well if ships seeking exports are under threat. The entire idea there can be significant war on the Peninsula is simply crazy. That will be not only dangerous but demoralizing to the people who need to find trust in their government again.

United States - There is nothing to say, except, OMG!

We are finished in Libya. Rome has done a magnificent thing and if it could work it's magic in Syria that would be a dream to come true.

Libya was never North Korea. Not even close. The internal dynamics of Libya and North Korea are completely different. I might add it wasn't Kim Jong un that learned his lesson to non-proliferation and the victims of it when all trust is violated, it was the previous generation that heard "W"s speech and said, "OMG!"

One of the points President Trump stated about "The Southern Wall" was it is an investment that would save money in the future.

January 26, 2017
By Kate Drew

...According to a Government Accountability Office 2009 report, (click here) the cost to build 1 mile of fencing at the border averaged between $2.8 million and $3.9 million. But that figure may be low relative to costs for future sections of the wall. It's based only on the first 220 miles fenced and does not include other factors, such as topography, transportation logistics in harder-to-reach areas (i.e. road-building and earth and drainage work), labor costs, land acquisition costs and surveillance equipment. 
"The first miles of fencing were in the easiest" places, said Marc Rosenblum, deputy director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute. These were fencing areas in or close to cities and accessible transportation, rather than deep in deserts or mountains. Additionally, the first miles were on public lands, while completing a border wall would require the government to acquire land from private holders. The GAO estimate for one difficult section of fencing near San Diego was $16 million....
I'd like to see the future savings,but, I also want to see the cost of MAINTENANCE as well. The Wall will become an anchor to the federal budget because of maintenance costs and further measures to stop the cartels.
I can't imagine the savings a wall would create. A water station in the desert of the USA cost a lot less, including the loyalty of the Undocumented to the USA that contributes to the economy.

The cost estimates above are 2009 dollars and the maintenance is not yet known or even estimated. The cartels will be blasting the darn thing into oblivion. On the Mexican side of the border, who is going to stop them? 

Roofs are important to a home. In California we witnessed the importance of a slate roof. It saved the home during a wildfire.

Is there white slate?

If there is white tile, which is manufactured, there can be a coating for slate to make it cooler than dark slate. The covering has to be fire PROOF to continue the protection of the slate alone.

There should be other stone tried in testing laboratories as well. Granite comes in many colors, etc. There are good alternatives for building energy efficient buildings. There is no reason for the USA to lag behind other countries that are finding real solutions to their GHG emissions. It is vital we do. Generations to come need to know we believed in their lives and achievements that are benevolent and not self-serving.

The California slate roof worked to protect the home because the wind blown embers could not find a place to start burning. Imagine the difference between a tar roof and a slate roof.

What does saving energy dollars tell us about white roofs? It tells us there is 25% less HEAT absorbed by the building that has to be compensated. I think most people would agree 25% less energy use is a good thing. Now, place that white roof at the two caps of Earth. How much HEAT energy is reflected back to space. It is a lot. It is important to maintain coolness of Earth. Everyone can help. End emissions of GHG. It is important.

85th North Korean Anniversary.

China has asked to remain calm. It is a good idea. Do we really need this type of nasty and negative dialogue in the USA. It relates nothing important.