Tuesday, August 27, 2019

This is why the Medical Deferment Program exists you lousy son of a bitch.

USA GDP   $19.39 Trillion 

Ghana GDP $37.33 Billion 

It has been a long standing place for the USA to act as a "big brother or sister" to countries far smaller and far less able to provide for their people. There is absolutely no reason for this program to end without escorting Trump to The Hague.

The joint endeavor by the G7 to meet with Iranian leadership was genius.

The invitation and meetings between French President Macron and Iranian leadership can't be understated. There are the obvious reassurances between Iran and France as well as other members of the Iran Agreement. Bringing the Iranian leadership to France for this G7 was a matter of convenience to those countries in the agreement. It also made a huge statement to the commitment of the members to maintain the agreement from all parties.

I am certain the depth of the meeting evaded Trump, but, the Middle East is becoming a problem.

Israel is targeting Iran as the instigator to Israel's problems. Israel is carrying out aggressions in the region without even talking to the sovereign countries.

For decades Israel and Palestine have had horrible relations. The idea of a "Two-State Solution" has never been further from any reality. Trump and Kushner are fueling the fires with Isreal. It is easy to say it is about the politics of Netanyahu, but, it is far more than that.

Like any faith, there are different levels of devotion and within those devotions, there are the extremists. It is easy to be a religious extremist. For some reason, for quite some time there are extremists within the Jewish faith that believe far more land belongs to them regardless of what any other authority states. They believe, no different than other extremists, they have God in their devotions and all measures must take place to satisfy their interpretation of their faith.

It is very concerning that Israel is taking these extremist views seriously. I do not believe Israel is acting within the parameters of normal international relations, even if Israel believes it is right and correct in their willingness to take aggressive stances.

The fact Iran was at the G7 summit must have given Mr. Bolton pause. Or not. I don't know how aloof he actually is when it comes to his ideology. But, it should have given Mr. Bolton pause. Iran in attending the G7 is opening up much needed dialogue regarding what appears to be increasing instability in the Middle East with Israel taking a far more aggressive stance.

In addition, Iran in making this effort with President Macron puts the country in a different class than that of Hezbollah. One might remember Trump named the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, etc. Iran is acting like a sovereign authority and not a terrorist organization. Oddly, Hezbollah is now autonomous because of the manifestation of Daesh and the ability to maintain sovereign borders of the countries they call home. But, the important aspect of Iran's attendance of the G7 is it's very sovereign state and honoring the intact Iran Agreement. The remaining members really want the Iran Agreement to work and quite possibly a new agreement including all the G7 members.

I think President Macron did exactly the right and best thing in asking Iran to be present within the G7 meeting. Iran must reclaim all the parameters of the Iran Agreement and show good faith in acting to maintain it's affiliations with the remaining members.

August 27, 2019

Members of Lebanon's Shi'ite movement Hezbollah parade with a mock missile launcher in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, on October 27

Hezbollah (click here) is preparing a "calculated strike" against its enemy Israel after drones crashed in Beirut but it seeks to avoid a new war, two sources allied to the heavily armed Shi'ite Muslim movement told Reuters on Tuesday....

The fires in the Amazon are not a mistake, it is arson.

The people of Brazil oppose the Bolsonaro administration and their "Fire in the Amazon" plans.

Protesters (click here) hold a Brazilian flag with "SOS" written on it during a demonstration in Sao Paulo on August 23 to demand more protection for the Amazon rainforest.

The Boisonaro regime is the extremist right wing of politics in Brazil. They want money and they don't expect sanctions from The West with Trump in DC. Boisonaro is an extremist and is refusing help from France, That should be of no surprise.

13 July 2019
By Anna Jean Kaiser

...Brazil’s telenovela (click here) powerhouse TV Globo: Aruanas. The series focuses on environmental journalists and activists in the country’s vast, forested interior, where 57 environmental defenders were killed in 2017....


...The largest caucus in Brazil’s congress – the ruralista bloc – represents agribusiness interests, and in January their longtime ally, Jair Bolsonaro, became president.
Since then, Bolsonaro has launched an unprecedented attack on environmental protections, eliminating the post of secretary on climate change and stripping the environment ministry of authority.
Bolsonaro argues that the environmental protections in the Amazon hinder economic development and has promised that “not one more centimeter” of land would be allocated to indigenous tribes.
Such rhetoric has emboldened loggers, ranchers and big business interests eager to make money in the Amazon. Deforestation rose 88% in June compared to the same time last year, 169 new pesticides have been approved for use this year and the minister of mines and energy said the government was planning to allow mining in indigenous reserves.

But the vast majority of Brazil’s people live in cities, and for many of them, the assault on the rainforest is a distant reality, said Marcos Nisti, the co-creator of Aruanas....
This is the path of a famous storm, Andrew. It started August 16, 1992 and ended August 28, 1992. There were 65 fatalities. This path is not the same but similar to Katrina, especially after it passed over southern Florida. Katrina also occurred at this time of year.

I am not saying this is going to happen, what I am saying is that it could happen. The ocean waters are very hot and the Atlantic hurricane season to date has been rather calm. 

Americans need to pay attention.

Oklahoma lost 600,000 people to opioid overdoses after addiction. The Rwanda Genocide occurred over 100 days. It was more stark to the conscience.


The American people were a profit line. The three drug dealers didn't care about the health and well being of the American people. At what point do American deaths actually effect the bottom line for the loss of customers. I think that is critical for Wall Street to realize, it might give the rest of us half a chance.

Opioids are a class of drugs (click here) that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, and many others.

It happened to the innocent. (click here) It happened unwittingly. They didn't go looking for drug dealers, but, they got one anyway.

August 27, 2019
By Geoff Mulvihill

Oklahoma’s $572 million judgment (click here) against Johnson & Johnson will likely be followed by more trials and legal settlements seeking to hold a drug company accountable for a U.S. opioid crisis that has ripped apart lives, families and communities.

Monday’s ruling could help shape negotiations over roughly 1,500 similar lawsuits filed by state, local and tribal governments consolidated before a federal judge in Ohio. And as the legal cases against the opioid industry accelerate, so do concerns about how the money from verdicts or settlements will be spent.

Following are questions and answers about the opioid crisis and what lies ahead....

...By the early 2000s, the death toll from opioids was rising and there were growing numbers of thefts of drugs from pharmacies. In 2007, Purdue paid a $634 million fine and pleaded guilty to understanding the addiction risks of the drug. But the crisis only deepened after that. Prescriptions flowed freely at “pill mill” clinics, especially in Florida, where drug dealers would get drugs and spread them around the country.


In recent years, opioid overdoses have been the nation’s largest cause of accidental deaths, ahead of even automobile accidents. The death tolls per capita have been the highest in places with the highest prescription rates. The Appalachian region has been hardest hit....

Puerto Rico must take precautions NOW. It is a low velocity storm, but, Puerto Rico is not up to it.

August 27, 2019
By Bill Chappell

Puerto Rico (click here) and parts of the Dominican Republic are now under a hurricane watch due to Tropical Storm Dorian, meaning those places could see dangerous conditions within 48 hours.

Dorian's maximum sustained winds weakened to 50 mph from 60 mph overnight, according to the National Hurricane Center. As of 8 a.m. ET, the compact storm was about 15 miles west-northwest of St. Lucia, after crossing into the eastern Caribbean Sea on Tuesday morning.

"Slow strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours," the NHC says, "and Dorian is forecast to be near hurricane strength when it moves close to Puerto Rico and eastern Hispaniola."

Dry air around Dorian has tamped down the storm's strength. And the hurricane center says the system could also weaken substantially when it passes over large land masses in Puerto Rico and Hispaniola....

Israel is entering into war in the region without any dialogue to the problems.

Lebanon is calling these strikes an act of war. 


August 27, 2019
By Yaniv Kubovich

A picture (click here) taken from Khan Yunis shows an Israeli tank inspecting the area across the fence in the southern Gaza Strip, August 1, 2019.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (click here) says Israeli warplanes have attacked a Palestinian base in the country's east, near the border with Syria early Monday.

The report says there were three strikes early on Monday, minutes apart, that struck a base for a Syrian-backed group known as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — General Command.

The strikes came a day after two drones, which the Lebanese army and Hezbollah said were Israeli, crashed in the Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut, with one exploding....