Monday, January 08, 2018

Regardless the faith; Pope Francis is the real leader of the free world.



No government grandeur can match that of the Vatican. Beautiful.

8 January 2018
By Christopher Lamb

Pope offers (click here) contrasting global vision to Trump in address to diplomats
Pope Francis today issued a blueprint for geopolitical stability, calling for a de-escalation of tensions in Korea, for nuclear disarmament and for world leaders to recognise that migrating to another country is a “fundamental human right”. 
He set out his vision this morning during his annual address to diplomats.
His message runs counter to that of US President Donald Trump, underlining the Pope's role as an upholder of the compassionate, internationally-focussed, post-war consensus.  
Speaking to ambassadors from the 183 countries which the Holy See has relations with, the Pope made an indirect criticism of Trump’s policy on Jerusalem which the president recently decided would be recognised as the capital of Israel. This move ran roughshod over United Nations’ resolutions on the matter and Francis – stressing the city is “sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims” – called for those agreements to be a respected through a commitment to keeping the “status quo” of the city. 
Francis’s address this morning took place in the Sala Regia, a room full of medieval frescoes in the Vatican’s apostolic palace. The speech is the closest thing the Holy See has to a policy document on world affairs, although as the Pope pointed out in his speech, Vatican diplomacy "seeks only to promote the spiritual and material well-being of the human person and to pursue the common good"....

NOTICE from the Town Crier: Prepare for Nuclear War

Public Health Response to a Nuclear Detonation (click here)

CDC’s Public Health Grand Rounds Presents:
“Public Health Response to a Nuclear Detonation”Tuesday, January 16, 2018
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Global Communications Center (Building 19)
Alexander D. Langmuir Auditorium
Roybal Campus

In like Flynn.

I trust Barbara Starr more than I would ever trust General Flynn. Rather than a set of US Generals setting up the USA for still more failure, there needs to be an independent review board that will be able to insure the USA's national security. I don't trust Trump as far as I can skip a stone.

I really think the tensions are over with North Korea. I think South Korea has advanced the idea of peace on the Korean Peninsula and should receive the acclaim of the global community.

Trump has proven himself to be nothing but a big bag of wind. North Korea made a fool of him.


January 7, 2018
By Barbara Starr

The Pentagon (click here) is putting the finishing touches on the first comprehensive review of US nuclear forces in nearly eight years. It's shaping up as President Donald Trump's signature nuclear weapons initiative in the face of a growing North Korean nuclear threat.

The review, which may allow Trump to put his mark on the nuclear inventory for decades to come, could lead to more than $1 trillion in spending over nearly 30 years.

There have been three such reviews since the end of the Cold War, the most recent in 2010 under President Barack Obama....

That opinion holds water, too. Trump oversaw the largest nuclear build up ever by North Korea. It started with "W"s Axis of Evil and has concluded with Trump's Big Bad Wolf Act. Why is it Republicans don't believe in peace? Wait, I forgot. Peace would mean they would lose campaign financing from the military and nuclear sector. Yep. The world's security hangs in the balance because of Wall Street greed.

January 7, 2018
By Nyshka Chandran

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (click here) has ignored recent peace overtures from Seoul but he's due on Tuesday to hold a formal dialogue with his southern neighbor for the first time in more than two years.

The sudden interest in talks may have something to do with Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal. "The North has made significant advances in its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program so I think they feel a bit more willing to engage in talks now that they've actually demonstrated an incipient nuclear capability that can strike the U.S.," said Taylor Fravel, associate political science professor at MIT.

In November, the rogue state launched a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile
capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. Known as the Hwasong-15, it can fly over 13,000 kilometers, or 8,080 miles.
Speaking on the sidelines of the UBS Greater China Conference in Shanghai, Fravel said he isn't expecting much from Tuesday's discussion, which he believes will largely focus on potential
North Korean participation at the Winter Olympics in the South Korean city of PyeongChang....

There is some messy language in the media stating Trump enjoys a consensual presidency.

The Oath of Office:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution requires that before presidents can assume their duties they must take the oath of office. The completion of this thirty-five-word oath ends one president's term and begins the next.

There is no such thing as a consensual presidency. I will admit though, Trump presidency might appear consensual because of his best ability to carry out the office. His best ability really doesn't measure up, now does it?

The United States of America

The Robert's Court is extremist. The government belongs to the people. All the people. The idea a person cannot be served by a government worker (ie: marriage license clerk) is wrong.

If government is going to impose laws and there is a religious nut case in the office that carries out the law, that is institutional religious bigotry. What this is going to cause is oppression of anything where the government has laws, of people deserving of the service of a government worker. If a person working for the government carries this level of bias because of the doctrine of their religion, then they will have to be placed in a capacity that does not effect the smooth operation of government where it interacts with the people.

This is boiling down to a civil rights problem and there needs to be amendments to state constitutions carried out in all states to insure there is no discrimination of any citizen. 

January 8, 2018
By Greg Stohr


The U.S. Supreme Court (click here) left intact a Mississippi law that lets businesses and government workers refuse on religious grounds to provide services to gay and transgender people.

The justices turned away two appeals by state residents and organizations that contended the measure violates the Constitution. A federal appeals court said the opponents hadn’t suffered any injury that would let them press their claims in court.

The Mississippi fight in some ways represented the flip side of a Colorado case the high court is currently considering; the question in that instance is whether the state can require a baker who sells wedding cakes to make one for a same-sex couple’s wedding.

The cases are testing states’ ability to regulate what happens when LGBT rights come into conflict with religious freedoms. Colorado is aiming to bolster gay rights by enforcing an anti-discrimination law, even though the Denver-area baker says he has a religious objection to same-sex marriage....

The Mississippi Law was to protect people from lawsuits, it has nothing to do with refusing service to the people. The people cannot be oppressed in any way when satisfying THE LAW. Basically, the Mississippi law protects people from their own religious bias. YES, RELIGIONS CAN BE BIASED.

So, government workers in sensitive positions where they interact with the people satisfying THE LAW, cannot hold those jobs. The religious bias makes them unfit for the job. Every job description in government that interacts with the people has to have specific wording to provide for service to all people. I don't care if another person has to be called, but, government MUST allow the people to satisfy THE LAW. 

...The measure says religious people can’t be sued or penalized by the government for declining to provide services for same-sex marriage ceremonies. The law also protects people who believe gender is an immutable characteristic or who object to sex out of wedlock....

Lindsay Graham said it all.

The Republicans don't care about the country anymore than Trump does. The reason they won't ever impeach a ineffective and dangerous President is because they can exploit his lack of knowledge and push through their policy goals.

As long as there are Republicans in government power the USA is at risk for failure.


January 8, 2018
By Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann

Washington — Over the past year, (click here) we’ve witnessed prominent Republicans — who’ve been critical of President Trump and his volatile behavior — still stand behind the president or his policies.

Retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who denounced Trump on the Senate floor back in October ("When the next generation asks us: 'Why didn't you do something? Why didn't you speak up?' What are we going to say?"), has consistently voted for Trump’s policies and nominees.

Retiring Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. – who also blasted Trump last fall ("His governing model is to divide and to attempt to bully and to use untruths”) — still voted for Trump’s tax legislation.

The cartoon below are not policy changes, they are hate. And there is plenty of hate to go around from this administration, including the new tax LAW. The wealthy have permanent cuts to this income, while the national debt grows out of control. As the debt grows every year the wealthy continue to enjoy their tax cuts and who pays for it? The Middle Class and the Poor. The Middle Class and Poor receive growing tax burdens for ten years to oppress any gains they may have had. That is hatred. Recognize it and know Mnuchen is not the man for the job either.

And Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who said Trump was “crazy,” “unifit” and “a kook” during the 2016 GOP presidential primaries, has emerged as a key Trump ally.

On “Meet the Press” yesterday, Graham explained why he still sticks up for Trump: 1) because Trump is president, and 2) because Trump can help him with his policy goals....

This is the president they insult and dislike and criticize and this is what leadership to them looks like. A president engaged in watching TV and tweeting. This is the president that claims there is false news in the media. He wastes his time watching false news and mitigating it to his political favor. I suppose the US Congress considers his propaganda vital to their purpose and believes Trump should spend more time in front of television and tweeting, rather than trying to be president.

January 7, 2018
By Jonathan Swan

President Trump (click here) is starting his official day much later than he did in the early days of his presidency, often around 11am, and holding far fewer meetings, according to copies of his private schedule shown to Axios. This is largely to meet Trump’s demands for more “Executive Time,” which almost always means TV and Twitter time alone in the residence, officials tell us.

The schedules shown to me are different than the sanitized ones released to the media and public.
  • The schedule says Trump has "Executive Time" in the Oval Office every day from 8am to 11am, but the reality is he spends that time in his residence, watching TV, making phone calls and tweeting.
  • Trump comes down for his first meeting of the day, which is often an intelligence briefing, at 11am.
  • That's far later than George W. Bush, who typically arrived in the Oval by 6:45am.
  • Obama worked out first thing in the morning and usually got into the Oval between 9 and 10am, according to a former senior aide.
Trump's days in the Oval Office are relatively short – from around 11am to 6pm, then he's back to the residence. During that time he usually has a meeting or two, but spends a good deal of time making phone calls and watching cable news in the dining room adjoining the Oval. Then he's back to the residence for more phone calls and more TV....

Al Gore's Twitter account is dogged by some of the most uninformed and idiotic people I ever read.

Vice President Gore doesn't argue with the commentators to his posts, he doesn't have time for it. But, the latest thing with his Twitter account is siting the events that occurred between 1981 and 1983. 

The so called experts that can pass judgement on Vice President Gore's life's work don't even understand the definition of climate. If I may? Climate is defined as the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period.

There were two winter SEASONS recorded; the winter of 1981-82 and the winter of 1982-83. The first mentioned winter was very severe causing crop losses of peaches and the second was a very mild winter (after a severe one) whereby notably odd temperatures were recorded.

This is typical of those who dislike Vice President Gore and disdain his ability to capture the meaning of scientists and put it into the language of average Americans. These so called anti-climate crisis experts glom onto one fact that seems to suit their purpose and exploit it until it becomes reality. They are very, very wrong and are endangering lives and compromising the well being of people on Earth.

Go, Vice President Gore, Go! 

Review of the Unusual Winter of 1982–83 In the Upper Midwest (click here)

W. M. WendlandL. D. BarkD. R. ClarkR. B. CurryJ. W. EnzK. G. HubbardV. JonesE. L. KuehnastW. LytleJ. NewmanF. V. Nurnberger, and P. Waite
Regional Climate Coordinating Office, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Champaign, III, 61820

Climatologists from the climate centers of 12 states of the upper Midwest contributed temperature, precipitation, and related data for December 1982, January and February 1983. Analyses present the month-to-month spatial anomaly patterns of these parameters. Mean monthly temperatures were much above normal (30-year means) during the three months in virtually the entire region, with maximum magnitudes (+ 4 to + 9°C) extending from the Dakotas to Iowa, and to Indiana (December) and Missouri (January and February).

December precipitation was also above normal with anomalies of + 100 mm in much of Missouri, Illinois, extreme southwest Michigan, and Indiana. The maximum anomaly was over + 250 mm in southern Illinois. January and February precipitation anomalies showed only little deviation from normal.

Impacts of the mild winter were generally favorable to consumers in that heating demand was reduced from normal, and particularly reduced from that of the previous year. Costs for urban snow removal were much under budget, as well. The only potentially negative impact was a relatively high survival rate of insect larvae, which is usually controlled by normally colder winter temperatures.

The 1982 peach crop of southern Illinois was essentially lost during the 1981–82 winter due to record cold temperatures. The 1983 crop was also lost largely by a late spring frost, even though the winter was one of the warmest on record.                                   

This is a weak president. I don't call this global leadership.

January 8, 2018
1430.40z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

This is called pandering to the Russians. Alaska is a part of the USA, yet, this satellite is not allowed to include it in the overall WEATHER image. This has been occurring for weeks now and I guarantee you this satellite will go dark. 

UNISYS is a tech company that provides information to airline companies. This satellite is not it's only business, but, it is service they provide. I have been looking at UNISYS satellites for over 15 years. There was never a day that goes by there wasn't a reliable image, until now.

The satellites in orbit around Earth are reliable and when they are reaching their full age of function, they are brought down and will have been replaced long before an image like this would be generated. 

There are plenty of other satellite images to look at, but, this is a national disgrace and should not be tolerated.