Is the Casey Anthony Trial the next OJ ordeal? Absolutely. The Mainstream Media may as well bring in experts to follow it.

Casey, herself, is not a reliable person to be involved in any 'quotes' as far as credibility.  She has been compromised by her image after her daughter was missing and to state her father was abusive is a legitimate observation by her regardless of her pandering to her parents seeking power through their power.  It could be the relationship with her parents today is simply an extension of the alleged abuse.  She has personality disorders, probably Borderline Personality Disorder to say the least.  Is she guilty?  On circumstantial evidence?  I can't believe the prosecution has such a weak forensic case.

The State has the body and there should be all kinds of DNA evidence found at and with the crime scene and victim.  Yet, I do not hear any reporting of a clear DNA match from the body that would close the case on Casey.  I find that to be really odd.

To say Casey is a negligent mother is an understatement, but, a murderer?  There should be all kinds of evidence against her and yet the best The State has is circumstantial.  The jury will probably rule against her plea of not guilty, but, the case bothers me.  Mothers kill, no doubt about that, but, everything is so strange leading to the discovery of the body and the evidence itself, I find it disturbing this is not an open and shut case from all venues.

Casey has been her own worst enemy in many ways, but, not without the prompting of people that surrounded her.  It is a sad case and Caylee was a beautiful child.  She was surrounded by dysfunction at every turn, but, she found reasons to smile.  I wish mothers, in doubt of their ability to care for a child, be it financial, emotional or otherwise, would consider offering those children up for aboption.  In this case, Caylee was victim to the family that somewhat defined itself as a caring family in regard to a young girl.  Casey didn't have the personality strength to step back and realize parenthood was not her idea of fun.  The State should have done better by this child and it concerns me that Caylee's death is known to more than one woman that was her mother.  I don't really believe Caylee is receiving justice, but, that is just me.  An entire month without questions or concerns.  Wow.

Burn the Yearbook Movement sponsored by FOX News.

If that list carried the names of Democrats one can believe it would be splattered all over FOX's e-pages and television coverage as a fact and appropriate.  The Yearbook Committee is correct in including a list of the "5 Worst Persons in the World' as a noteworthy cultural icon of 'the times.' 

Yearbook committtees across the USA frequently seek out 'signs' as iconography of the year they graduated.  That sometimes mean the outrageous appear.  So, the nonconformists at the High School were welcome in a unique way to remember their reality at a time of graduation from High School.  Including the list is TYPICAL and appropriate and the morons at FOX News are trying to make a political issue out of a simple yearbook page.

Whether the list is correct or not is something people will debate forever.  I do mean forever.  The innocent civilians that died in Iraq are historic in numbers when the USA realizes it was a blatantly illegal and unnecessary war.  The War in Iraq will go down in the history books as one of the worst propaganda events in the history of this country.  And.  One might add that FOX propaganda was an intricate part of the deception that lead to the invasion that ultimately removed liability from the former CEO of Halliburton and then Vice President by self appointment, the $9 million dollar man himself Richard Cheney.

There is no controversy here EXCEPT the propaganda of disgruntled hypocrits masquading as RE-SPON-SIBLE parents.  Give me a break.

Was "The Two Americas" a myth? No. That was evident in October of 2008 and beyond.

I sincerely believe the criminal charges against John Edwards has resulted for political power and personal gain rather than legitimate reasons.

One has to ask how long the "National Enquirer" is going to bank roll this story?  It is a dead horse that is receiving a beating for no reason at all.

EDWARDS SURRENDERS TO FEDS!  (click here)

Sad, but, true.  But, enough is enough and a strong reason this is becoming a witch hunt in North Carolina is because of the law suit of Andrew Young.  Fool that he is.  (click title to entry - thank you)  Well, after all it was he that 'made all dreams possible,' yes?  Yes.

I find it really, really odd that the prosecution is actually using Ms. Mellon's handwritten notes as evidence in a case that involves good friends and a benevolent Southern Bell.

I do believe there is a 'hint' of vengence for Elizabeth that lives on as well.  That is unfortuate as I am certain she had higher regard for her own dignity than that.

But, as to Ms. Mellon.  I will write about another Southern Bell and what happens after their spouses die.

I can't help but realize the hideous nature of 'how far' this has all gone.  I mean the National Enquirer lost all dignity with maintaining the longevity of this topic.  It is one thing to bring to light the mistress of a potential president, but, to continue to 'stir the pot' for stirring purposes is more than hideous.

Moses Herman Cone (click here)  (June 29, 1857 – December 8, 1908) was an American textile entrepreneur, conservationist, and philanthropist of the Gilded Age who was active in the southern United States. He began his career in sales and became an innovator who offered finished clothing, which was unusual in an era when textiles were normally sold as unfinished cloth....

No one in the USA knows Moses from 'the south.'  He was a ruthless SOB that knew how to get blood from a nickel.  I am sure his wife would agree.  See Mrs. Cone didn't have control of any money while he was alive.  Not that she suffered in silence, not at all, but, she 'had to put up with guy.' ya know?

Church going folks.  Moralists.  There was always a reason for unfathomable wealth in the way of Christian morality.  It provided income 'enough' for people to feed their familes and live in the 'rent controlled' housing that was owned by the company of which the employees paid for monthly.  So, there were always reasons why the Southern Gentry could call themselves Gentry even if their employees and their employees familes lived in poverty and squalor.  Ah, those were the day.

Well, you see, good 'ole Moses here died before his wife.  She, being a good Christian wife and longing to be sure there was a seat in heaven for the poor bastard after a reasonable stent in purgatory decided she needed to move into more moderate 'digs' and use the vast fortune her spouse amassed for a benevolent reason.

So, in recognition of Moses she built a hospital to benefit all the families that worked for the industries of Moses and his family.  The hospital stands yet today in Greensboro in memory of him and is required to carry his name forever as the 'original charter' stipulates.  That 'role' if you will is extremely typical for fine Southern Bells seeking to find joy in relieving the suffering of others.

I don't know Ms. Mellon.  I am not even going to pretend to.  But, I don't have to and still realize why she was so involved with Senator John Edwards, his wife Elizabeth and his hopes of bringing social justice to the USA as a Vice Presidential and later Presidential hopeful.  There was absolutely nothing malicious in the relationship 'of hope' that developed between the former Senator and Ms. Mellon.  Nothing.  No lies.  No deceits.  Disappointment, perhaps, but absolutely no conspiracy to hide a child that was not aborted from the public.

Instead, the longing for a better America was smeared by an irresponsible videographer that could not or would not separate herself from her subject long enough to bring about the changes in the USA that Ms. Mellon dreamed of.  I am quite sure Ms. Mellon did not know Ms. Hunter, nor asked to meet her.  It is ONLY my estimation that Ms. Mellon assumed from people like Andrew Young that Ms. Hunter was extorting monies from John Edwards.  A fine Southern Bell seeking a better path for the USA in the promise of a devoted man would believe the best of him and the worst of a woman that was attempting to disrupt a marriage and a dream.

So. 

In the estimation of a wealthy widow if money was what Ms. Hunter wanted then money is what she was to have. 

The engineering of the particulars of all that was the work of Mr. Young.  If that isn't obvious than I don't know what is.  It is interesting a civil suit surrounding an extortion tape is being brought by Young after he engineered the arrangement for Ms. Hunter and the image for the former Senator.

When marriages are assaulted and fall into disrepair in the south it is said, "Things get ugly."  They have.  Unfortately.  I find the entire mess quite over exposed and interesting 'BLUR' of the facts for political and personal reasons by people other than the accused in both instances.

I wish the Edwards family the best and hope there is a good and just outcome for John.  Not being legitimately involved in politics and having a daughter that doesn't live with his other children is punishment enough as far as I am concerned.  It should be enough for everyone else including the ludicrous "National Enquirer" that managed to elevate their news rag to 'heroic dimensions' and actually believes readers still believe it maintains that status.

Elizabeth Edwards lived a magnificent life.  She will never have her memory diminished.  She was exceptional in every way.  No one needs a media service interested in vengence beyond vengence to validate that either.

Sarah Palin: Paul Revere Warned The British

What to discuss first to 'get messes out of the way of what matters.'

Palin, Edwards.  Edwards, Palin.  Palin, Edwards.  Hmmm.....Edwards, Palin.  I think first Palin as she is more a tabloid than any tabloid out there.

From the "National Enquirer."

...The 47-year-old politician (click title to entry - thank you) en­dured shock waves from her daughter’s underage drinking and partying, pregnancy scare and nasty homophobic rants on Face­book before finally pulling her out of school....

Willow Palin is being coined as 'a wild child' by the Enquirer, but, I don't hear any complains from Sarah. 

What was the name of that bus she was riding on?????  .....................  oh, yeah, 'One Nation.'  I was wondering did that name indicate a goal or a reality.

When is Palin going to admit she is a joke?  She likes to star in this flag waving mess she calls the truth, but, it just isn't.  Her lie today regarding the ride to Paul Revere had nothing to do with reality, it had to do with rhetoric.  She consciously took the "Freedom Call" out of context for her own purposes.  I mean do I have to say it?  When is this hideous attention to morons seeking power going to stop in this country?  Quite frankly it is disgusting to see the press gussing all over an idiot and expecting her to be a legitimate 'character' for the presidency.  Like, doesn't the press actually have something to write about except the tabloid life of the Palins?

Enough of that mess, there is no redeeming value to any of it.  It solves no problems and speaks to nothing of substance.  So much for needing schools in the USA, just learn to be an idiot enough to attract other idiots.

So, let's see if I get this right. I do mean 'right' and not correct.

Libya: BP Evacuates Workers Amid Unrest (click here)

:39pm UK,
Monday February 21, 2011

Lisa Holland, foreign affairs correspondent

BP has said it was evacuating families of workers and non-essential staff from Libya in the wake of political unrest....

It wasn't enough that Paulson lost the opportunity to actually affiliate with real terrorists that have prostate cancer and destroy jet planes full of people, but, the USA House of Representatives actually DO NOT understand what is occuring in Libya.  Not the Senate, but, the House.

Okay.

So, where exactly is the confusion, the fact that the United Nation's Resolution 1973 BARS occupation of foreign troops or the fact the oil fields haven't been given to Halliburton yet?

Oh, the Paulson thing?  Yeah.  Goldman Sachs was seeking to invest heavily in the oil fields in Libya before the rebels decided to take over the country.  I am sure they were looking forward to hunkering down with Gadaffi, getting to know him and laughing about the fact MONEY can buy loyality even where the law prohibits it.  You know, the prostate cancer charade.

There were actually two bills, one by Representative Kucinich removing the USA from the engagement with NATO into Libya and the other was by Speaker Boner that calls for clarification of the engagement OR ELSE.  The OR ELSE is for political propaganda as the Boner bill that passed 268 to 145 vs. the Kucinich bill that failed 148-265.  The Kucinich bill recieved bipartisan support as a note of order.

...The resolution by Speaker John Boehner (click title to entry - thank you) said the president has failed to provide a "compelling rationale" for the nearly 3-month old operation to aid rebels battling Moammar Gadhafi's forces. During Friday's debate, Democrats and Republicans complained that Obama ignored Congress' constitutional authority to declare war.

The nonbinding measure insists that Obama provide Congress with details on the scope of the mission and its costs within 14 days. It also bars U.S. ground forces except to rescue an American service member....

But, the Boner Bill does not carry any clout as it is NON - BINDING.  The measure does not require any USA involvement to end either.  The House was provided information about the NATO decision in the first week of USA involvement, but, evidently can't seem to come to conclusions regarding the topic.

"This resolution puts the president on notice," Boehner said on the floor. "He has the chance to get this right, and if he doesn't, Congress will exercise its constitutional authority and we will make it right." 

Speaker Boner sells his soul for the chance to espouse political rhetoric.  I would think someone that has been in the USA House of Representatives since 1991 would understand the 'precedent' that has been drawn on by the President in order to assist allies in NATO.

It goes like this and to begin, USA intelligence is deployed 'on the ground' in the capacity of intelligence gathering.  That is for the specific reason for the safety of civilians as it is nearly impoossible at times to discern rebel movements, etc.

Beyond that there is precedent for the USA to act.  First established precedent, is the NATO air campaign to stop Slobodan Milosevic's ethnic cleansing in 1999.  The USA, under Former President Clinton, didn't even have a UN Security Council Resolution when it engaged in these actions in Bosnia.  The NATO parties involved were left to their own jurisprudence to decide their actions.  The actions in Libya carry the brevity of having not just allies, but, a UN Security Council Resolution invoking the powers of NATO to act to protect the citizens of Libya.

Kosovo remembers 1999 air strikes (click here)

23/03/2011

...He describes how Serbian police came to expel his family from his house in Pristina during the night of March 24th.

"The Serbian police said, 'Do you see NATO? They are coming, but when they come, you will not be here'," he recalled....

But, where does the UN Security Council have the audacity to actually call for protections of civilians in a THEN sovereign country?

Remember Rwanda?  Yes?  Remember how President Clinton, even today, regrets not acting to stop that genocide?  Yes?  That 'refecltion' by the Former President and international coalitions began a policy called, "Responsibility to Protect."  Most people haven't heard of it, but, certainly I would expect a USA House Speaker to not only KNOW what that policy states, but, to understand it and act on it.

Here it is:

The RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT ("RtoP" or "R2P") (click here) is a new international security and human rights norm to address the international community’s failure to prevent and stop genocides, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.  The INTERNATIONAL COALITION FOR THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT (ICRtoP) brings together NGOs from all regions of the world to strengthen normative consensus for RtoP, further the understanding of the norm, push for strengthened capacities to prevent and halt genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and mobilize NGOs to push for action to save lives in RtoP country-specific situations.

If I can refer to Darfur for an analogy. 

There are many, many NGOs involved in the Darfur region to assist in the SURVIVAL of people victimized by their government.  In order for NGOs to operate 'at all' they need some degree of 'tolerance' to provide the needed supplies to people marginally surviving.

Understanding how vital NGOs are to survival efforts to prevent genocide comes the understanding that for them to provide their services thet have to be reasonably safe.  In case of Libya, there was a great deal of danger to the people of Libya directly from their government.  The danger came in the way of military armaments and death.  There was no way possible for the people of Libya to survive when their government turned against them and there was no way for NGOs to act in their benefit to insure their survival.  What had to occur in Libya, as NATO decided, was to stop the bombing of civilians to allow for survival and actions by NGOs to take place.  As much as diplomacy worked in Darfur, to somewhat of an effective degree, it was not at all working in Libya. 

So, to insure the UN Security Council Resolution 1973 was to be effective there was only one resolve left to the international community consisting of NATO; they had to disarm Libya and remove the dangers to its' civilians and the life saving work of international NGOs.  There was only one way of doing that and only one country within the NATO Alliance that could carry that directive to completion.  I remind, France was the first of NATO allies to enter Libyan air space and did so heroically and without USA involvement at that time.  But, France's capacity still wasn't able to address the battery of Libya's national missile defense system and the USA could.

So, to realize how LAX the USA House of Representatives actually is under Republican leadership and majority, this topic is actually closed as the President acted appropriately in support of alliances this country values and has been long standing.  He acted as Commander and Chief well within his power and it is the USA House of Representatives that is proving to prove to be incompetent.

I mean really.

The "George Walker Bush Economy" returns, with a vengence !!!!!!!!!

Draconian state and local budget cuts while attempting to destroy unions and the Middle Class.  So, what else is new?


It is safe to say the Republicans 'have no ideas' to improve the sagging economy which was left behind by Bush, Cheney, Paulson and Evans / Gutierrez.  This is surprise.  We already know cutting taxes for the wealthy provides NO new job growth.  We already know that cutting government 'to fit the political rhetoric of the Republicans provides NO new job growth.  So what was everyone thinking when they put draconian political hacks in the Governorships of the states?

Jobless rate inches up; job growth flattens (click title to entry - thank you)

9:29 am June 3, 2011, by Jay

The new job numbers are out. The economy produced 83,000 additional jobs in the private sector in May, still in the positive range but well below the improvement shown in recent months and also below the number needed to shrink the unemployment rate, which rose from 9 to 9.1 percent.
Private-sector job growth was offset to a degree by job losses in state and local government, a decline that brought the total number of jobs created in May down to 54,000. As the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted, “local
government has lost 446,000 jobs since an employment peak in September 2008.”...

The ONLY idea the Republicans, be it mainstream or Tea Baggers, have to offer is to be the 'Equal and Opposite' Force in the USA economy and then to blame it on the current President.  Amazing.  "Equal and Opposite" is the only aspect of science a Republican values.

The lack of insight as to what really comprises return of viability to any economy can currently be noted in North Carolina where there is a Republican majority in the legislature with a Democratic Governor trying to 'right the ship' and 'protect children's futures.'

...Gov. Bev Perdue (click here) says the Senate budget would force local districts to lay off school personnel. Her office distributed information after the Senate vote on the amounts each district stands to lose. Perdue's budget proposal kept part of a temporary sales tax increase adopted two years ago to see the state through the recession....

What the NC Republican budget attempts to deceive the electorate of is a proposed increase in jobs in education.  While the NC Republican budget definately would remove valuable teachers from the classrooms, what it intends to do is create less classrooms wtih less teachers, increase the number of students in each classroom while HIRING teaching assistants to help accommodate the increased number of students each teacher has to educate.

The question is WILL THE CHILDREN LEARN?  If a teacher is asked to use EXTENDERS to the learning process of the students it means they will not be able to PERSONALLY attend to the students' needs.  Instead, students will be left to seek learning opportunities by far less qualified and experienced teacher assistants.  The NC Republicans turn every teacher with larger numbers of students into a 'lecturer' while the students at all grade levels are left on their own to understand the lecture with the help of assistants that do not have the expertise of the teachers.  It sets students behind and certainly doesn't begin to be sure "No Child is Left Behind.'

North Carolina has one of the lowest pay scales in the nation.  A teacher's starting salary out of college with a four year degress is $19,000 per year.  If that isn't enough of an insult, teachers with teacher's assistants in the classroom will be measured for merit salary increased based on the same standards of teachers with smaller classrooms.  North Carolina doesn't have unions either.

One might note the 'drop out' rate is high for NC.  While the state boasts some of the top public universities in the nation, it might be worthwhile to realize those universities are also a bit of a cash cow for all the out of state students accepted for education.  I believe the average percentage of out of state students accepted in the public university system is at least 18% of the student body.  The success rate or should I say the lack of success rate of in state students justifiies the ever increasing percentage of the public university system.

The teachers of every school and university in North Carolina deserves to have a union to protect them and more than that, to protect their students and the quality of education they receive.  Most if not all North Carolina teachers are very dedicated to improving the lives of their students and seek success for each one.  That will be nearly impossible if Governor Purdue does not veto the state budget.

I'll tell you how dedicated the teachers of this state are, they provide the learning materials for their students.  Tablets, pencils, erasers and the list goes on.  See, the draconian Republican rhetorical standards of 'the south' have turned METHODS of the public education into private education by demanding the students provide their own learning supplies.  Next they'll have to purchase their own books.  Teachers in order to teach often buy their own teaching supplies out of their poorly compensated salaries. 

So, then, what is left in 'disposable' income in North Carolina to ACTUALLY have an economy?

Odd. Bipartisan paid hackers. Hm?

...And the group has an even more eye-opening claim: It was hired to hack PBS.org.

"This is the guy that paid us to hack pbs.org," the Lulz Security group wrote on its Twitter feed, pointing to the account of another person who goes by the name Shadow DXS.

Branndon Pike, the Daytona Beach 21-year-old who goes by the name Shadow DXS online, was quick to deny any such pay-off.

Pike said he's broke. "My fiancee is paying all my bills right now," he told FoxNews.com. "If I had a dollar it would not be going to these clowns."...

Hackers: Coming Soon to a PC Near You  (click here)

The PBS attack and Tupac report may seem like fun and games, but the joke could be on hackers if the Pentagon has its way

By Robert X. Cringely

Infoworld  

Jun 2, 2011 6:48 pm

This just in: After 15 years, Tupac Shakur is still dead.

It seems reports of the rapper's resuscitation have been slightly exaggerated -- or, rather,completely fabricated by a hacking group calling itself Lulz Sec (and/or the Lulz Boat). That "group" took over the website of PBS NewsHour over the weekend and posted a story that Tupac, who was gunned down in internecine hip-hop combat on the streets of Las Vegas in 1996, is actually alive and well and living in New Zealand, raising sheep, no doubt, along with Biggie Smalls....

Would decriminalizing the drug trade while placing it in the hands of physicians and business actually stop the abuse and crime affiliated with it currently?

Two soldiers watch 134 tons of marijuana seized by the Mexican Army burn in the border town of Tijuana, Mexico, in October 2010. (click title to entry - thank you)

It isn't an easy question to answer, but, there is definately a way of determining a solid yes or no to those issues.

…"Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won," the report said.

The 19-member commission includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former U.S. official George P. Schultz, who held cabinet posts under U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. Others include former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, former presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, writers Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa, U.K. business mogul Richard Branson and the current prime minister of Greece….

…The commission is especially critical of the United States, which its members say must lead changing its anti-drug policies from being guided by anti-crime approaches to ones rooted in health care and human rights….

George Pratt Schultz is no one's fool.  He is a learned man that has mastered 'policy' from every venue there is for policy.  He has served the people of the USA in vital roles within its government and his assessments cannot be dismissed.

His partner is the Former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.  They were joined by distinguished citizens to come to a concensus on how best to defeat the growing problem of drug cartels and their impingement on nations (that is plural) sovereignty.  Currently, Mexico is hanging on but finding it difficult to improve quality of life for its' citizens while fighting a sincere war within its borders with international criminals.  Afghanistan has the USA military absolutely confounded to stop the production of opium and instill an economy as profitable as the illegal trade that now exists. 

Is it possible for a civilized world to produce currently illegal drugs, classify them, regulate and control them, incorporate them into an economy to serve the people and their economies at lower costs and better quality than the products today on illegal markets?  The answer probably is YES.

The next BEST step for the study group to take is a presentation to the General Assembly of the United Nations.  This issue cannot die in political propaganda.  Affiliated with the global illegal drug trade are illegal trades of weapons and the funding of extremist organizations and that is only two of the very profound problems facing the global community that involves these dynamics.

Drug Addictions COST nations billions if not trillions in economic viability.  The citizens fall into influences outside their governments and I might add 'alcoholism' can be a good comparision to begin a comparison.  Alcoholism can be treated and treated successfully, but, that would not occur IF prohibition was the law of the land and covert activity was the only means of finding treatment.  Imagine having 'back street' alcohol treatment facilities.  Nothing short of disasterous and completely deleterious to a society.

To begin, the use of these 'scheduled' drugs have to be looked at closely.  If they are to be legal, in order to be effective the drugs MIGHT have to be classified as medications and then there is the uproar about INSURANCE COVERAGE and what is covered and what is not.  If these drugs are to be legalized and administered by physicians with the goal of removing their victims from the addiction, there will always be the danger of an underground movement no different than that we see today with perscription drugs.  Either it is aggressively treated or the 'illegal drug market' will survive.

The determination of 'benefit' of legalizing this market vs maintaining it as criminal will be found in THE MARGIN of improvement that is gained by aggressive, physician based legalization that overcomes and GIVES ADVANTAGE to the governments around the world rather than the criminals.  The best outcome is the marginalization of the criminal element while the legal trade is attractive to citizens, sought out as the best alternative and elevated to a positive aspect to any society burdened with these problems. 

It could be done and it should be done.  A vigorous Untied Nations exploring the potential and the end of drug cartels should go forward.  No one nation can take this challenge on without global consent.  It has to be a global focus to stop the cartels.  I have confidence if this is approached in an international venue it will not only be successful, but, will provide greater legitimacy to understanding the use of the drugs and where they are to be applied in medicine and where they are not.

To say the medical community of the USA will support these initiatives is an understatement.  When my Father at the age of 80, was battling cancer his oncologist stated to him in the presence of his family that if he decided to find comfort in marijuana as a relief to the symptoms he was going to experience in order to survive the treatment regime he would consent to the activity even though he could not legally say so.  My son in complete distress and in his 30s was willing to try to find comfort for his Grandfather.  Mind, we were all in the same room.  My son does not participate in this activity and I know that for a fact, but, in wanting to save his Grandfather's life he would do anything.  My Father stringently objected to my son's involvement and thanked his oncologist for being open minded.  I am confident the oncologist finds use of these substances within his practice everyday and finds it better to know what his patients are taking into their bodies rather than hide it.  There is danger in IGNORING the benefits of substances currently criminalized when people are fighting for their lives and desperate.  Something my son said to me after his Grandfather's death was, "If Grandpa had received some relief and appetitite enhancement with marijuana as a treatment, he might still be with us now."  No one should ignore those words, because somewhere in this country honest and decent citizens are doing exactly that and might not be telling their physicians about it.  Would my Father's oncologist have perscribed marijuana if he felt it would have saved his life?  You betcha.

The Study Group needs to go forward with their finding and not let it be shelved as inconsequential to a better world.

Battle Creek, Michigan was hit as well. (click here for video - thank you)

James McBryde of Mt. Pleasant heads from the Morning Sun Meet of Champions to take cover inside Mt. Pleasant High School Tuesday after the track meet was postposed due to threatening weather and lightning. Sun photograph by LISA YANICK-JONAITIS (click here)

Speaking of Massachusetts

Tornado Strikes Springfield, Mass. (click here for video)

An apparent tornado struck the downtown of one of Massachusetts' largest cities Wednesday afternoon, scattering debris, toppling trees, and frightening...

It started over the river.  There was plenty of fuel there for that monster.  Moisture.  Heat.  And it was done.  A big one, too.  It doesn't have much color because tornadoes don't have color until they carry debris.

There is damage to URBAN areas by TORNADOES today.  Heat Sinks.  Familiar with that term?  They are urban areas otherwise known as concrete jungles that when conditions are right can spawn their own tornadoes from the heat coming off the buildings and streets.  An evaluation will have to determine that in this instance, but, it is very possible. 

Apparent tornado hits Mass. city, injuries cited (click title to entry - thank you)

By STEPHEN SINGER

Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- A possible tornado has touched down in one of the biggest cities in Massachusetts, and a spokesman for the mayor says there has been damage and reports of injuries.

Other communities in western Massachusetts also may have sustained damage from the storm that hit Springfield on Wednesday. Tornado warnings are in effect. Residents have been told to stay indoors....

Baystate Medical Center spokeswoman Jane Albert says the Springfield hospital is treating numerous injured people. She says some have serious force trauma injuries.

Mayor Domenic Sarno's spokesman Thomas Walsh says there are no reports of deaths.

Walsh says he saw a spinning cloud of debris from a window at City Hall when the apparent tornado hit. He later saw uprooted trees downtown….

continued...

Buoy, it is not easy being a housekeeper these days, huh? Let's see if the USA prosecutors due better with international bankers than NBA superstars.

Twice in one week.  Perhaps International Bankers need to 'HIRE' their legal prostitutes before they come to the USA.  It wasn't like this when Bush was in office, huh?

..."It just blows our mind that this happened again (click title to entry - thank you)," said Joe McInerney, CEO of American Hotel & Lodging Association, the industry's biggest trade group.

New York police arrested Egyptian banker Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar, 74, on a charge of sexually assaulting a housekeeper at The Pierre, a luxury hotel on New York's Upper East Side.

When she delivered tissues he'd requested Sunday, he locked her in his room and touched her inappropriately, police said.

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested May 14, accused of a sexual attack on a housekeeper at Manhattan's Sofitel hotel. Hotel managers and employee unions say such incidents are rare, but after the first report, chains reviewed their security procedures. "You can't have employees being scared," McInerney said....

This is where it really gets interesting, though.  I do believe hotel workers need a UNION !  See indeed.

Hyatt offers 98 cleaners new jobs  (click here)

Boston Financial News – Several Hyatt Boston Hotels are Embarrassed by Thoughtless Firing

By Katie Johnston Chase and Megan Woolhouse Globe Staff

Article Courtesy of:  The Boston Globe

Hyatt Hotels Corp., responding to public outcry, political pressure, and threatened boycotts, yesterday offered the 98 housekeepers it fired last month new jobs at their old wages, a move that was met with mixed reaction by those who protested the firings.

Hyatt said it is offering the housekeepers at the three Boston-area Hyatts, who had been abruptly replaced by lower-wage workers, full-time positions with United Service Cos., a Chicago-based staffing organization that the hotel chain uses for contract labor. Hyatt said those who accept the positions will be paid at their full Hyatt wage rate through the end of next year….

 It is EASY TO BE THOUGHTLESS, when the people that work for an international hotel chain seem so much the peon and easily replaced.  Must keep the cusotmers happy, happy, happy.  Except, of course, when those customers can also be employees.

We Should All Be Ashamed of Ourselves  (click here)

By The Editors

May 31, 2011 | 8:14 p.m

It's the last week in May and the weather is finally warm, the Hamptons commute is seasonally torturous, and our aging international businessmen are doing what has become increasingly commonplace this time of year: lecherously pursuing the housekeeping staff through the halls and in the well-appointed rooms of our fine luxury hotels. And by "increasingly commonplace" we mean "twice in two weeks."  Which is far more commonplace than we'd like. Once in two weeks is pushing it.  Twice is just ... embarrassing....

The Weiners, it is more than dignity, it is personal peril at the 'operative end' of a fool-hearty prank.

Congressman Anthony Weiner and his wife.

The young LADY involved does not want her name smeared from one end of the internet to the other either.  But, for Congressman Weiner he could face ethic charges or worse.  He is doing the right thing to pursue this with 'independent' investigation before the waters get really muddy and all kinds of insinuations can be propagated.

He is protecting his marriage as well as his reputation and the interests of constituents.

If the 'prank' wasn't so obviously silly, it might even carrry brevity in the real world.

Female college student backs Congressman Weiner's 'hacking' story after VERY risqué picture is tweeted from his account (click title to entry - thank you)

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 7:13 PM on 1st June 2011

A lifeline for embarrassed U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner seems to have been extended by the woman at the centre of a scandal after a saucy picture was sent to her from the politician's Twitter account.

The married New York Congressman was left red-faced on Friday night, after someone published a crude picture of a man in underpants on his official Twitter account.

The picture, a close-up of a bulge in a pair of man's grey boxer briefs, was sent to one Twitter user - a 21-year-old college student from Seattle called Gennette Cordova - but was on view to all 45,000 of his followers....

We have seen this type of SOCIAL ENGINEERING before.  He is absolutely correct to take control and find out what the heck is going on here.  I wish him the best as the personality doesn't fit the picture UNLESS it was his wife that was playing with allure and enticement. 

"Medicare Advantage" (The PRIVATE Medicare) is running scared. (Link to 'Regular' Medicare - click at this title)

To begin, IS PRESIDENT OBAMA LYING about waste, fraud and abuse in private health insurance?

NO !!!!!!!  BY their own admission they know they are guilty.

That is just to begin.

Medicare Advantage Compliance Symposium

July 11, 2011 - July 12, 2011 | Arlington, VA

Health care fraud costs an estimated 68 billion dollars annually, (click here) and in many cases health plans are left to pick up the tab. Health plans must bolster their arsenal of strategies to avoid investigation and battle corruption. Join leaders from health plans, provider groups, regulatory bodies and law firms at this as they discuss such key topics as: the development of Fraud Waste and Abuse offices and programming, insight on Utilization Management and Encounter Data, ICD-10, Audit and Investigation Response, and case studies on topics ranging from Trends in Fraud, to management of Special Investigations, to comprehensive Compliance Planning.

EXAMPLE:

Wellcare (From their own website - click here).  They ask at this website, "Looking for a BETTER MEDICARE plan?  If consumers actually looked at the prosecutions by the Security and Exchange Commision and the USA Attorney General's Office at the bottom of that website, they would see this.

...in connection with the purchase or sale of any security:  (click here)

(a) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud;

(b) to make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or

(c) to engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person....

Why would anyone WANT to be affiliated with this health care organization?

If I may?

Wellcare is an huge organization that can easily be characterized as "Too Big Too Fail."  It conspired through former officers and employees of the organization to 'take the consumer' for OVER $40 Billion starting in 2002.

The year the fraud began was 2002 (click here for document). 

That means for seven long years, NO ONE bothered to prosecute this WALL STREET COMPANY.  No one until President Obama came in to office and began to LOOK FOR  and find waste, fraud and abuse.  Now, if Republicans want to say funding "Medicare Advantage" is a good thing when they don't even bother to police it, then they need to come up with a better strategy because this OUTRAGEOUS.

"Wellcare" is a corporate entity.  "Medicare Advantage" is a corporate entity.  Neither of these ? organizations ? (more like racketeers) are government in any way shape or form, EXCEPT, they receive government monies from the American Taxpayer through the USA Treasury. 

Got that?  Wall Street firms EXISTING to defraud the USA Treasury.

Okay?

Now, what if Medicare, the REGULAR Medicare administered by the USA government, were to completely end.  Instead people would be provided a voucher to purchase PRIVATE health care from these scoundrels?  What would happen?  Now, realize, the monies these 'entities' are receiving is still coming from the USA Treasury.  What would happen?  Too big to fail, but, not too big for fraud.  What would happen?

Yes, they would receive a bailout JUST LIKE WALL STREET did in 2008, but, there is something far worse than that.  What is it?  Because it happened in 2008 with Paulson and his cohorts.  What happened other than the bailout and the abandonment of the USA's economy?  There was something more, far more important, that happened that was more important to realize than that?  What was it?

THE IMPUGNING OF THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Paulson and his cohorts impunged the laws of the USA and called into question its sovereignty in favor of corporate domination of all that transpired in regard to their industry.

"Wellcare" and abusive practices of "Medicare Advantage" are now under the control of 'the law' to a certain extent, but, not to the extent they need to be.  It is why the Financial Reforms by the Obama Administration and the Consumer Protection Agency have become NECESSARY and VITAL.  They PRESERVE the sovereignty of the USA over and above the 'Too Big Too Fail" domination of Wall Street and Corporate America.  The USA in the case with "Wellcare" STILL has the ability to prosecute law breakers and send them to prision and levy fines.  When that changes and Medicare is completely privatized that will end and all that will be available to Americans is FUNDING the bailouts to the companies they pledge allegence and THIS TIME for their health care.

OH, no, no, no, no.  I don't think so.

The ONLY place private industry should be allowed to practive is in offering Medicare Supplemental insurance for a monthly fee.  In no way, should private industry ever control 'the care' Americans receive to the quality or the quantity that will impact the longevity of an entire country.  Placing the well being of Americans in the hands of Wall Street has caused deaths across this nation when it never should have happened.  It has to stop.  When we allow people to be 'a commodity' rather than a citizen we lose our integrity as a nation and a people. 

The Republicans are going to have to come up with something BETTER than they have got now which is ALL RHETORICAL and IRRELIVANT.

I want us to take our country back from WALL STREET and corrupted and corruptable politicians.  Let's do that in 2010. 

"Oh, yes we can."

The Bush Tax Cuts. How many of the people in this picture are still in office?

President Bush signing the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 in the White House East Room in June 7, 2001




















The question is NOT how much of the USA public spending is a percentage of the GDP !

The REAL question is WHOM is funding the percentage of the USA GDP represented by public spending?



The public sector of the USA economy, along with the entitlements of SSI and Medicare, are a vital part of the USA GDP.  The 'idea' that measuring public spending against the entire GDP of the USA is very, very deceiving.  When there are contractures in the USA economy because the business sector of the USA economy has been irreverent and/or negligent and/or greedy, the percentage of the GDP of the USA that is the public sector spending will definately GO UP.

Why?

Because the business sector of the USA GDP is losing its PERCENTAGE of the total.  So, while in 2000 after the surplus of the Clinton Administration, the USA seemed to be cruising without a lot of concern to the increasing percentage of the public spending of the USA, at the end of 2008 when the entire USA economy was in jeopardy and heading south, the percentage of the USA public spending grew.

It makes more sense to realize that 'economic growth' needs to be the focus of any economic policy and asking the government to 'down size' is not realistic a solution to the CONCERNS of the average citizen or the lousy financial experts around the globe.

The real solution to 'growth' of the USA economy is to increase local and SINCERELY small business owners to 'saturate' their local economies to the extent they can and then and only then seek foreign markets to make up the difference.  In other words, put everyone back to work in local economies to increase the tax revenues and then seek outside ? competition ? or better yet, business opportunists that are not competitive to bring new products to existing HOME GROWN American products.

One aspect to politics that I can usually count on is that when 'rational' by political pundits and candidates seems backwards' it most definately is. 

I asked myself, would I rather higher taxes on the wealthy and healthy to fund the USA's vital public sector economy or would I rather yield precious needed tax dollars to wealthy citizens and corporations to spend in Germany on orgies?

The way the USA economy works now with outsourced jobs, marginal incomes to the USA Middle Class with profits from Wal-Mart going to China, is that when we 'run short' of revenues we turn around and BORROW the profits China is reaping from OUR starved economy.

Hello?  Do I detect a vicious cycle that will further starve the USA of vital tax revenue through vital and good paying jobs while asking the profiteers in China to pay for their own purchase power in the USA by increasing our debt without investment to our growth?  I do believe so.

What India and China do not realize or at least appear not to realize is that when USA dollars, in the way of profits, leave the country, they are actually destroying their own markets.  Have we seen this before?  Yes.  When?  When USA automakers moved their production plants out of the USA for higher dividends to their stockholders while putting American workers out of work so they had no more income to actually purchase automobiles.

Something has to give here and it HAS TO BE WALL STREET and the Super Rich.  The USA Middle Class has given all it can give and it needs to stop.

But, Americans can get that 'feel goof feeling' by DONATING to invaluable NGO's that do the work of angels.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Campaign seeks to raise awareness of domestic minor sex trafficking  (click title to entry - thank you)

Billboards such as this one at Stewart Street and Minor Avenue have been placed by Shared Hope International. It's part of a national campaign to raise awareness about sex trafficking of American girls....

...The campaign, called "Do you know Lacy?" is being spearheaded by Shared Hope International, an anti-trafficking organization based in Vancouver, Wash., that was founded by former U.S. Rep. Linda Smith in 1998. Lacy, a pseudonym Smith gave to one young victim in her book, "Renting Lacy," is now an every girl of sorts, representing every American girl lured into the sex trade....

There are the exceptions though. It would seem these exceptions are among those exceptions that exist along the Arizona Mexican border.

3 Ariz. officers accused of drug, human smuggling

BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press

Updated 07:43 a.m., Wednesday, May 25, 2011

PHOENIX (AP) — (click title to entry - thank you) Three employees of America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff have been arrested in a drug and human trafficking case, authorities said Tuesday.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said a deputy and two female detention officers at the sheriff's largest jail facility were among 12 people taken into custody and accused of being in a Phoenix-based international drug smuggling ring....

The underpaid and endangered public employee that is "The American Police Officer" is hard at work especially in Nashville.

Chief Steve Anderson announces the distribution of new flood badges during a news conference at the North Precinct.  (click here)


There was a crime sweep in Nashville through six precints. 






Undercover arrests pick up drug, prostitution cases  (click title to entry - thank you)

2:12 PM, May. 28, 2011

Undercover detectives in Metro Police's six precincts charged 108 persons this week with mostly drug and prostitution offenses.

…They seized 30.3 grams of cocaine, 100.2 grams of marijuana, 161 pills, two guns, one vehicle and $220 cash….

…168 grams of cocaine and 2.5 grams of marijuana….

…seized 19.7 grams of cocaine, 59.7 grams of marijuana, one gun, one vehicle and $465 cash.…

…seized 1.5 grams of cocaine, 4.6 grams of marijuana, one gun and $1,858 cash….

…150 Lortab pills, 59.2 grams of cocaine and 148 grams of marijuana….

…Anyone suspecting drug activity in their neighborhood is urged to call the police department’s 244-DOPE hotline. Callers to the hotline can remain anonymous.

And why EXACTLY  do these PUBLIC EMPLOYEES even bother?  Because children are more safe if they do.

What the heck? LEGAL Corporate Orgies in Germany to insure loyalty to corruption? Really?

The trip was Mr. Kaiser's troops (click title to entry - thank you)  in the historic Gellert thermal baths of Budapest. What happened to the townsfolk in the 13th Century are relaxed, now known as "water Nights"takes place..

..Brothel visits at trade fairs and sex parties are seen as ways of providing (exclusively male) employees with an incentive that goes beyond the  normal pay raise or bonus. A representative from a German sex worker association posits that the red light reward trend may also be popular precisely because it would be embarrassing if made public.

“Rewards bind the interested parties and are therefore often the little connection to corruption,” she says. “If a reward in the form of prostitution is taken, then a much easier potential for personal blackmail emerges.” But the person who arranges and pays for the sexual encounter is also at risk of blackmail. {Der Spiegel}

Well, that’s one way to ensure loyalty.

We can only hope that the legality of  the events themselves help to ensure that everyone involved is a willing participant. Victims of human trafficking can often be forced into sex work, and in a field no one wants to admit they’re involved with that makes it all too easy for traffickers to continue what can be very shady, terrible treatment of women....

Just in case one was pondering the words, "The Kaiser's Troops," this might help.  The Kaiser is a very old concept of a powerful man with many underlingings.

From a little acorn, a great friendship grows (click here)

12:01AM GMT 14 Nov 2004

Ninety years after he was conscripted, Germany's only surviving veteran of the Great War talks to Tony Paterson in Alsace

Charles Kuentz holds up a sepia photograph of himself taken in 1916. It shows a youth of 19 wearing the Prussian spiked helmet, a heavy, grey field coat and sword that make up the full military dress uniform of the Kaiser's Imperial Army. Now, at 107, Mr Kuentz is the last soldier alive who fought for the Germans during the Great War.

His other photos show frightened-looking young men in ragged battle dress staring at a landscape turned into a sea of mud by shell fire. "We thought it would be a war to end all wars and I fought it in the belief that it would never happen again, but sadly it always does," Mr Kuentz told The Telegraph, from his home in Colmar, in eastern France, yesterday. "I will die hoping that mankind will one day see sense and we will stop killing each other."...

Republicans suggest more corruption to health care as a solution to bi-partisanship

...Representative Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House of Representatives Budget Committee, said he would "absolutely" be willing to negotiate with Democrats, who have hammered his plan to scale back government-run health plans for the poor and the elderly.

With Ryan's plan headed for likely defeat in the Democratic-controlled Senate, that chamber's top Republican said it was time for "an adult conversation" on ways to keep healthcare costs under control.

"Let's just stipulate that nobody is trying to throw Grandma off the cliff," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on "Fox News Sunday."

Health reform is a top sticking point as the two sides try to hash out a budget deal that would give lawmakers political cover to back an increase in the country's borrowing authority.

And as the 2012 election season gets underway, it is shaping up to be a top campaign issue as well.

Ryan's proposal to partially privatize the Medicare health plan for the elderly has already imperiled the presidential hopes of one Republican, Newt Gingrich, who faced a fierce conservative backlash last week after he described it as "right-wing social engineering."

Polls show that Ryan's proposed changes are unpopular with voters, and McConnell said he is not urging his fellow Republicans to support it when it comes up for a vote in the Senate this week.

"We have other budgets that Republicans are pushing," McConnell said. "We're not going to be able to coalesce behind just one."...