This is such a joke.

3. Straits of Hormuz (click title to entry - thank you) The world’s most important oil chokepoint, with 15 million barrels of oil shipped through it daily. Only 1.5 miles wide at its narrowest point.  Connects Persian Gulf with Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea;

The pirates nearly have the Straits of Hormuz under control anyway.  I am quite confident the pirates carry out their attacks with immunity from Iran.  I have never read of Iran interceding with any raids on ships passing through The Straits anyway.


It is probably the best thing to happen, it will make for easier monitoring of activity in Iran and help gain control of the piracy.  The USA could really decriminalize the area if they have such cooperation from Iran.  It would be good.

Somali pirates seize tanker near Omani port (click here)

Saleh Al Shaibany

Aug 21, 2011 

MUSCAT // Somali pirates hijacked a tanker with 21 Indian sailors on board while it was being loaded just three kilometres from an Omani port yesterday.

Last night the Fairchem Bogey, owned by an Indian firm, was heading toward Somalia after it was seized while it was loading its cargo near Salalah in Oman's far west at about 8.30am, port officials said.

While pirates have continued to stray further north and east in the Indian Ocean to capture ships, the fact that the attack took place so close to a port will cause further alarm for ship operators....

No one is going to say the USA military was going to be surprised by this, were they?  I mean, all the military needs is half a chance to do it their way.  The Free World and most of Arabia believes the pirates work for Iran.

Military personnel place a flag on a submarine during the Velayat-90 war games by the Iranian navy in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran December 27, 2011. Iran threatened on Tuesday to stop the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz if foreign sanctions were imposed on its crude exports over its nuclear ambitions, a move that could trigger military conflict with economies dependent on Gulf oil.

USS Theodore Roosevelt

From Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet Public Affairs  (click here)

NORFOLK (NNS) -- More than 15,000 service members from four countries will participate in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) 08-4 "Operation Brimstone", July 21-31 in North Carolina and off the eastern U.S. coast from Virginia to Florida.

JTFEX 08-4 serves as a ready-for-deployment certification event for the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TR CSG) and the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group (IWO ESG). The exercise will also serve as a Joint Task Force Capable Headquarters sustainment event. In addition, JTFEX 08-4 will offer preliminary accreditation for 2nd Fleet's Maritime Headquarters with Maritime Operations Center (MHQ with MOC)). MHQ with MOC is a new approach to command and control for fleet commanders.

"This exercise is a tremendous opportunity to train; not only as the Navy and Marine Corps team, but with our joint and coalition partners as well," said Commander, 2nd Fleet Vice Adm. Marty Chanik.

"JTFEX 08-4 will flex our warfighting capabilities from the operational level through expeditionary strike force and strike group operations with several of our coalition partners – France, Brazil and the United Kingdom."...

Any actions between Iran and the USA would be unchallenged globally as there are too many lost assets in this region already and China's cost of transportation of their energy supply would be more detrimental to them than the USA.  China would be the hardest hit by any closure of The Straits.

Iran (click here) has launched production of the Zolfaqar and Seraj 1 class missile boats, Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said on Monday.

"The Seraj 1 boat is a high-speed rocket-launcher designed for tropical areas," the ISNA news agency quoted Vahidi as saying. "It is fitted with advanced indigenous communication capabilities."

The Zolfaqar missile-carrying boat "is a surveillance boat designed for quick attacks on enemy ships, it is outfitted with rocket launchers and machine guns," he said....

Russia pays attention to Iran.  Iran considers Russia a muscular asset to its own ambitions, however, I do not believe Russia views itself as an asset to Iran, so much as a business partner.  I sincerely doubt Russia could be lured into turning The Straits in WW III.  The USA and Russia were on the same side in WWII and it may seem silly, but, considering we are all working on non-proliferation and have been the entire time for decades, I sincerely believe there would be no confrontation between the two powers.  Securing The Straits would probably be as much a priority for Russia as the USA and China.  I sincerely believe Iran's muscle flexing only proves there is little Iran can expect from other nations when it comes to causing damage to the global economy.  I do not believe Russia will respond to an Iranian temper tantrum.  Too much as stake and Russia on the record stating Iran's nuclear capacity is non-existant with UN inspectors on the ground there.

Are the inspectors still there?  If Iran were going to muster up its military for confrontation there would be a warning to any foreign ministers in the country, neutral or not.  I do believe this is brinkmanship by Iran.

The UN Inspectors have been in place as recently as November 2011.  That is the report the inspectors stated Iran was preparing a nuclear weapon, but, the report failed to reveal strong evidence.  That is where there is contention between Russia and The West.  Russia consistently has stated there is no nuclear weapon being developed in Iran.  There were pitfalls in the IAEA report.

These inspections occurred after Iran backed down from blocking the inspectors in June or July or somewhere around that time frame.  I am quite confident Russia was the economic partner that insisted the inspectors carry out their work. 

 Now, one can say Russia is conspiring to keep the Iranian missile capacity a secret, but, that is so far afield it is completely ridiculous.  Try to imagine Russia facilitating a nuclear bomb operation in Iran.  Nothing is more bizarre.  If Iranian missiles could reach Europe they can reach Russia and Russia is not willing to allow such problems for its country.  Russia is considered an friend of Israel as well. 

Fact Sheet Russia-Israel Relations (click here)

July 30, 2010

Since the end of the Cold War, relations between Russia and Israel have been on the upswing. A major source of the strengthened ties between the two countries is that one out of every seven Israelis is Russian due to the roughly one million Russian Jews who immigrated to Israel in recent decades....

Russia was one of the powers settling the end of WWII.  It was first into Berlin.  It consented to the development of an  Israeli homeland.  Remember, the Berlin Wall and East and West Berlin.  Does anyone in their right mind actually believe Russia is that much of an enemy?  The entire nuclear proliferation mess is completely stupid and contrary to any relations between the USA and Russia.

By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan - Nov 9, 2011 12:01 AM ET

U.S. and European officials (click here) said they will seek to tighten financial sanctions against Iran as soon as possible, armed with a United Nations atomic weapons inspectors’ report that asserts Iran has conducted clandestine activities “specific to nuclear weapons.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency concluded the Persian Gulf nation has pursued a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on its ballistic missiles. Yesterday’s statement is the strongest to date from the Vienna-based UN watchdog that Iran isn’t simply seeking peaceful nuclear power, as its leaders insist.

The findings bolster the arguments of U.S. and European officials who say negotiations with Iran have failed to halt a covert nuclear weapons program. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is seeking support in his cabinet for military action to destroy Iran’s program, news reports said, raising concerns in Washington and at the UN....

Fear mongering really has no place here.  That is what occurred before the Bush/Cheney invasion into an unarmed country, where they were seeking nuclear weapons program the UN Inspectors stated there was no evidence at all that indicated same.

 Sunday 25 October 2009 12.23 EDT

...UN inspectors (click here) got their first look today inside a once-secret uranium enrichment facility that has raised western suspicions about the extent ofIran's nuclear programme.

The semi-official Mehr news agency reported that the four-member team visited the heavily protected facility, carved into a mountainside south of Tehran. The tour marked the first independent examination of the site, but no results were expected until after the inspectors leave Iran later this week....

Published: December 19, 2011

If Iran used nuclear material to do weapons work, the country would be in direct violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Tehran has signed. Failing to report that work to the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency -- as they are required to – would also put Iran at odds with the international community. In any case, a large measure of ambiguity about Iran's nuclear work would be removed. IAEA inspectors were careful to avoid "extrapolating" in the November report, in the hope that Iran would answer their questions. The result is that important implications were not spelled out in the detailed allegation of a comprehensive and sustained Iranian nuclear weapons program.

The United States has estimated that Iran stopped its weaponization activities in 2003 but the IAEA report states that some work has continued since then. These activities may have included neutron initiator testing using natural uranium, or natural uranium transformed into uranium deuteride. A neutron initiator is a key trigger to setting off a nuclear explosion. The tiny initiator is placed in the center of a nuclear core to produce a burst of neutrons, initiating a fission chain reaction.

The test would have required a dry-run explosion....

Any aggression by Iran toward any entity in The Straits of Hormuz would be conventional, not nuclear.  The Iran military, no matter their capacity, ain't all that. Everyone has to try, I guess.

The air mass coming in on the west coast of North America looks to be a concern with young venturous students off for holiday.

December 27. 2011

1130:01z
UNISYS Water Vapor North and West Hemisphere Satellite


Twelve hours earlier at the beginning of the 12 hour loop it is noted there are primarily straight line winds, but, only when the denser air mass reaches warmer land does the air expand and take up more space dictating a piling up of the mass into a vortex as seen developing quickly within the next 12 hours of the loop.




December 27, 2011
2230:01z
UNISYS Water Vapor North and West Hemisphere Satellite (click title to entry for 12 hour loop - thank you)


December 28, 2011
0005 GMT
Pacific Coast Satellite

- Winds will be especially strong (click here) near the Washington and Oregon coasts, across south-central Oregon and over much of Montana and Wyoming with gusts from 40 to 75 mph.

- Lows will range from between 0 and 20 degrees in the central and southern Rockies to the 40s along the West Coast.

There seems to be a fair amount of moisture with this air mass, but, there is approaching straight line winds behind the developed vortex.  I just don't like it. Probably much ado about nothing.  I just worry about the high velocity winds, especially in the mountains where people, young people, could be spending their time off from school.

December 27, 2011
2312 GMT
Pacific Ocean Satellite


It isn't the usual vortex. This air mass has an etiology of completely arctic air.  It is dense in concentration and it will carry more velocity with that density.


The approaching air mass picked up moisture from the some Indonesian rainforests and an Indian Ocean typhoon, but, quickly diverged into north and south directions.

December 27, 2011 
1835 GMT
Pacific Global Satellite


The distinctive two masses are noted with the southern mass moving sharply south toward Antarctica.  It is east of Australia and New Zealand, but, there is a small air mass noted to be moving over New Zealand.  They just had another set of earthquakes this past weekend.  The fun just never ends in New Zealand these days and there appears to be a burgeoning area of Christchurch which is unretrievible due to the continued shaking.  I think this past weekend was nearly 6 on the Richter scale.

December 27, 2011
2214 GMT
Western Pacific Satellite


The heat transfer system from the Indian Ocean and Indonesia has substantial heat.  It looks like northern Australia and New Zealand is its path.


But, the northern air mass that is at the west coast of North America is primarily from the west coast of India.  It is considerably more north than the southern hemisphere air mass.  It enters frigid territory quickly and accumulates condensation of water as it comes across the Pacific.

December 27, 2011 
1710 GMT
Indian Ocean Satellite


The air mass that is providing the water vapor to the current west coast system of North America is actually a Tropical Storm which is still active.  It is Tropical Storm Thane expected to make landfall across the southern end of India and passing over Sri Lanka.

Tropical Storm Thane (click here and page down)
December 27, 2011
2232 UTC


Graphic provided by Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center/Joint Typhoon Warning Center (click here)

It is a very wet storm so the water vapor supplying the west coast of NA has ample moisture along with winds.


KOCHI, DEC 27: 

As expected, the Bay of Bengal has erupted suddenly with activity after tropical cyclone ‘Thane' spun up over the waters early on Tuesday morning.

CONVECTIVE CLOUDS (click here)

An Insat cloud imagery showed convective (rain-triggering) clouds rising over parts of Tamil Nadu, south and central Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea
.

Meanwhile, a weather warning issued by the IMD said that heavy rainfall would break out at one or two places over Andaman and Nicobar Islands and over north coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south coastal Andhra Pradesh from Wednesday.

Meanwhile in the north, dense fog conditions have been forecast over parts of Punjab, Haryana Delhi Uttar Pradesh and Bihar until Thursday morning.

The prevailing cold wave would set off ground frost over many parts of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi and some parts of north Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh.

#Occupy observed the holiday with a religious tone. (click title for video - thank you.

Occupy Wall Street marks Christmas with prayers (click here)
December 25, 2011 18:49 EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- Occupy Wall Street protesters have celebrated Christmas with prayers and a reading of a Martin Luther King speech in Manhattan's Zuccotti Park.Police evicted protesters from the privately owned public space in November.  Christmas Day at Zuccotti -- the 100th day of the first demonstrations -- started at midnight with a prayer service in the park. Breakfast was served in the morning.At noon, a 1967 speech by King was read -- one in which the civil rights leader expressed his opposition to the Vietnam War.Other Christmas activities at Zuccotti Park included music and a poetry reading....

It could be said, Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges the struggle of the 99%.

Pope Benedict spoke of many things in his Christmas address, including the violence that so mars the struggle for freedom.  His health is stated to be delicate at the age of 85, but, he didn't hesitate to state how commercial identity of the flock taints the beauty of life and love and spiritual piety.

...In his homily, (click here) Benedict lamented that Christmas has become an increasingly commercial celebration that obscures the simplicity of the message of Christ's birth.

"Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light," he said.

It was the second time in as many days that Benedict has pointed to the need to rediscover faith to confront the problems facing the world today. In his end-of-year meeting with Vatican officials on Thursday, Benedict said Europe's financial crisis was largely "based on the ethical crisis looming over the Old Continent."...

Pope Benedict will be traveling to Cuba.  It is stated Cuba is expecting to release prisoners before or as he arrives for his visit and mass.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone.

25 to 30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States every year.

This is a Scotch Pine Tree.  We picked this variety of Christmas Tree out every year when I was child.  (click here)

 Christmas trees have been sold commercially in the United States since about 1850.

The best-selling trees are Scotch pine, Douglas fir, Noble fir, Fraser fir, Virginia pine, balsam fir and white pine.

More than 2,000 trees are usually planted per acre on tree farms. It takes six to 10 years to grow a mature tree.

There are more than 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the United States.

The first decorated Christmas tree was in Riga, Latvia, in 1510.

The first Christmas tree retail lot in the country was started in 1851 in New York.

Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states.

73 million Christmas trees will be planted this year on farms.

Oregon produces the most real trees.

Sources: National Christmas Tree Association; U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture

Largest Reindeer Herd in the world is becoming threatened by poor Canadian environmental oversight and laws.

The reindeer is central to the lives and cultures of indigenous peoples across the sub-Arctic.


It would seem as though Canada has no respect for their indigenous people either.

The world’s largest reindeer herd (click title to entry - thank you) has plummeted in size, with local indigenous people blaming the spread of massive industrial projects in the area.

The George River herd, which once numbered 8-900,000 animals, stands today at just 74,000 – a drop of up to 92%.

The herd roams the vast tundra of Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada. Known as caribou in North America, the animals are central to the culture of the Cree and Innu people of the region....

Besides the new industrial pollution and dynamics played out, there is habitat loss and of all things OVER HUNTING !  The herd nor the Innu people have no protection from either environmental assault or exploitive hunting practices for profiteers.



CARIBOU HUNTING (click here)
Canada and Alaska


Canada was never good at protecting baby seals, why would any expect them to protect Reindeer.

Russia Bans Baby Seal Massacre, Canada Continues Killing Spree (click here)

by STEPHANIE ROGERS

Baby seals are safe from being massacred in Russia, as the country announced Wednesday that it had banned hunting the animals. The announcement came weeks after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called it a “bloody industry”.  Anti-seal hunting protesters had gathered in 20 cities and towns across Russia this week to urge a halt to the practice....

This Holiday Season reflect on the preciousness of the natural world and the reverence it needs from First World nations.  Thank you.

I TOLD YOU SO !!!! Iraq will break into there provinces and nothing is going to stop it. I said that in 2003 !!!!!

An aide to Iraq's top Shiite cleric says (click title to entry - thank you) the ayatollah is holding the country's politicians responsible for the devastating bombings that tore through mostly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and killed at least 69 people.


Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani contends that conflicts among Iraqi political leaders have created a crisis that threatens the nation and allows for such attacks.


That's according to al-Sistani's representative, Ahmed al-Safi. He spoke during a Friday sermon in the holy city of Karbala....


The Grand Ayatollah is a man of peace, but, evidently the Prime Minister is not.


December 23, 2011

Iraq Prime Minister Nuri al Malikicalled, (click here) on Thursday, to promptly kit out Iraqi forces with necessary equipment and machinery. The US Army Chief of Staff for his part stressed that his country is will to cooperate with Iraq through training, preparing and army forces....

HOLD YOUR HORSES RIGHT THERE, Mr. US Army Chief of Staff ! 


I don't think so !!!!!!!!!!


There are mercenaries over there, also known as Private Contractors, they are hanging out at the USA embassy.  They can become Maliki's henchmen now, the USA is OUT OF IRAQ FOREVER !!!


If I had it my way the USA would not be laying out money to private contrators either !


Prime Minister Maliki is not in the position to simply rid the country of its second in command, a Shiite.  So, it would seem we have a Prime Minister in treason of the Iraq Constitution.  Evidently, Mr. Maliki is intent on drawing still yet another line in the sand in the Middle East without the openness to the people and the full legislative branch of the government.  I do believe he has jeopardized his own authority in proceeding the way he has causing sectarian violence within his own country and then calling for increased weaponry and aggression against the innocent people of Iraq.  What is his next move, ethnic cleansing?

Iraq'sMaliki urges Kurds to hand over fugitive vice president (click here)

Al Jazeera, Qatar

Presenter, Female #1
Maliki called on the regional government of Kurdistan to hand over the Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi. The Iraqi prime minister strongly warned against what he referred to as "politicizing the case."

Guest, Male #1 (Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi PM)
We ask our brothers in the regional government to take responsibility and hand over the accused to the judiciary, especially since they are familiar with this case. Refusing to hand him over or allowing him to escape may cause trouble. We do not want the regional government to appear to have facilitated or helped someone wanted by the judiciary. I'm not saying otherwise, I'm only saying he's wanted. As for politicizing the case, as I said to you, it is rejected....


This occurred immediately upon the USA withdrawal.  It was planned and deployed.  Mr. Maliki has chosen a very poor path for himself and the potential for violence and aggression in the region considering the majority of other countries are Sunni and far better armed than Iraq.  With Maliki now exhibiting extremism he is not only arming Iraq for more violence, but, Iran as well, another sympathizing Shi'ite nation.  The USA WILL NOT send arms or escalate this violence.


WILL NOT !!!  There will be no arms shipments to Iraq to they can trickle into Iran.


ABSOLUTELY NOT !!!!


Maliki is an extremist and needs to be removed from office.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (click here) said on Wednesday that his government had agreed to extend a year-end deadline for the removal of Iranian dissidents housed in a camp northeast of Baghdad.

Camp Ashraf, which is home to around 3,400 Iranian refugees hostile to the regime in Tehran, is now set to close in April, Maliki said at a news conference in the Iraqi capital.

The camp is controlled by the People's Mujahedeen, which the United States blacklists as a terrorist group.

"The secretary general of the United Nations presented a suggestion for the Iraqi government asking to postpone (the closure)... and we agreed," Maliki told reporters....

It would seem as though Mr. Maliki has more mercenaries than he can handle right now and there will be no escalation in the region because of a power hungry idiot. They are not only mercenaries, they are terrorists as well, enemies of the USA.  I'll be darn.

Maliki this week sought Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi's (click here) arrest on terrorism charges and moved to fire a Sunni deputy. On Thursday at least 72 people were killed in Baghdad by bombings in mainly Shi'ite neighborhoods.

The events threaten to splinter Iraq's fragile sectarian and ethnic faultlines and highlight the risk of the country tumbling into the kind of bloody slaughter that a few years ago led the OPEC oil-producer to the edge of civil war.

After Friday prayers, with Sunni imams warning Maliki was seeking to foment sectarian divisions, protesters were on the streets of Sunni-dominated Samarra, Ramadi, Baiji and Qaim, many waving banners in support of Hashemi, and criticizing the government.

"The charges against Hashemi were orchestrated behind closed doors. Maliki is trying to remove Sunnis from power to get a tight grip, like as a new dictator of Iraq," said Ahmed al-Abbasi, a+ protester from Samarra....

The Sunni Imams are calling for PROTESTS, not guns and bombs.  THAT is legal and important, the USA will not participate in violence in Iraq AT ALL !

No weapons, no bullets, no tanks, no planes, no spy planes, no soldiers and NO MORE RETURN to being the Global Police!

Ever get the idea Republicans hate the Middle Class Tax Payer? The backbone of their own economy.

There is a profound problem with the New Republican.  They don't care about people.  There is still no tax increase for the wealthiest Americans while the country still struggles to rebuild its economy and reduce its debt.

The Republican House made the point they didn't approve of the two month extension only, but, there was simply a half measure to add drama without much sincerely on the line.  Why make the controversy in the first place when there was little or nothing they could do about it?


The reason there are short term extensions is to play with the economy long enough to effect the elections and to further a Republican agenda which is nothing but a backlash against the people.  That is what it comes down to.  The American people know there needs to be tax increases and yet there is absolutely no resolve what so ever in the Republican Party to carry out the will of the people. 


The rant from the Right during the first year of the Obama Administration when they were seeking to pass health care reform was that the nation didn't want it.  They stated the President wasn't listening to the country.  The Affordable Health Care Law has turned out to be the best thing that has happened to this country and I can't wait for the State Exchanges to begin in 2014.  But, when it comes to listening to the country in regard to tax increases it falls on deaf ears for the Republicans.  They are not interested in the people of this nation unless they believe it will create a political wedge for them, otherwise, we can all go to hell.

December 23, 2011

After weeks of bickering and doubt, (click title to entry - thank you) Congress delivered a last-minute holiday tax cut extension to 160 million workers Friday along with further unemployment benefits for millions laid off in the nation's fierce recession and weak economic recovery. It was a convincing victory for President Obama, a humbling retreat for House Republicans.

Back-to-back voice vote approvals of the two-month special measure by the Senate and House came in mere seconds with no debate, just days after House Republican leaders had insisted that full-blown negotiations on a full-year bill were the only way to prevent an immediate tax increase on Jan. 1.

Most members of Congress were already gone for the holidays, leaving behind just a few legislators to take formal action. Obama was leaving in the afternoon for a delayed vacation in Hawaii....

I am going to be traveling from early tomorrow until Friday evening...

...so, it is best I get sincere sleep before I leave.  


I left off on page 116 and the text goes to about page 160.  Then there is a table at the end.  I will finish the 44 pages beginning either Friday evening or Saturday depending on how the traveling goes on Friday.


I wish you all well and I hope the holidays are coming along for everyone.


Chanukah began today.  Christmas is on December 25th.  Kwanzaa begins on December 26th.  That only touches on three of the holidays taking place at this time of year.  

The winter solstice will arrive tomorrow night, at 12:30 a.m. EST (officially occurring on December 22nd) when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun, bringing about the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The winter solstice, by definition, is a term used to describe this single moment when the Earth’s maximum axial tilt to the sun is 23°23’.

One last thing and it is about Representative John Lewis.  He was on the House floor stating objections regarding the vote on the Senate bill.  His understanding of strife in America is profound.  It is detectable when he speaks about the injustice of it. Representative Lewis doesn't believe the USA should be creating strife for Americans, but, finding the cause and resolving it.

He was very upset when he spoke and I worried the entire time he spoke.  I wish him peace for he is a man of resolve.  There are many members in the House that simply don't have that capacity nor the respect for that capacity and will never relate to such a reality. I heard him and I know if there was any power to change the outcome to prevent Americans any more loss in their lives he would make it happen.  

I have faith, Representative Lewis, in the people of this nation because we have people like you that continue to show the country what devotion to justice is sincerely about.  It will work out and maybe at the end of the House process the nation will have a bill that will serve the people for an entire year.  If that doesn't occur and we sustain a wrongful act by the legislature that will diminish the economy, we will have an answer to whom is dedicated to this nation's best outcome and who is not.

I thank Representative Lewis for his dedication and I wish him peace in these days of joy and good will.

I found this video stunning as to the 'literal wall' that exists between the police and military and the people.

No doubt the women were attempting to reach Parliament and they were spotted 'behind the wall.'  I sincere threat of unarmed civilians.

It should not be a surprise that women are being beaten mercilessly.

It was a woman that began the demonstrations against President Mubarak.  She and her cell phone.  It would seem as though the police in Cairo are afraid of the people now.  They will lose control and the unexpected will really happen or worse.  It seems with the women very badly outnumbered this was a pre-emptive strike against any chance of the opposition reorganizing.  


The police and military are probably seeing any reorganization a threat to another Libya or Syria.  The tensions between civilians and authorities are high.  I would estimate that is true in many of the MIddle East countries with changing dynamics in the government.  The uncertainty as to how to proceed has to be chaotic.  This scene alone is about as chaotic a police force as I have seen anywhere.

The latest 'slam' of President Obama is that he is not a leader. Of course, the attack is from the Right.

There is a clip on "Morning Joe" of Chris Christi at the title.  


I find it astounding that an entire party that has no leadership of its own can actually state the President is not a leader.  I believe the problem is the political right of the USA doesn't know what it is to lead, so much as follow.

Honor needs to be paid to the civilian dead in Libya. War reparations are in order.

Russia’s Ambassador (click title to entry - thank you) to the UN Vitaly Churkin called on Monday for a probe into the deaths of peaceful Libyans killed by NATO air strikes during its military campaign, the Russian NTV channel reported on Tuesday.

Churkin’s statement came after the New York Times published its investigation on Sunday, claiming up to 70 people were killed in Libya during NATO’s eight-month military operation....

NATO cannot pretend these deaths didn't happen.  They did.  There is no dishonor to NATO as the UN Resolution was clear; the civilians were being targeted by the Gaddafi regime and it had to be stopped.  The NATO intelligence was incredibly good to have only 70 civilians dead, but, they are dead none the less.  

The people of Libya fought a very difficult war and I am sure there are many who fought the war that are also dead, through at the very least snipers on rooftops.  But, NATO has to admit there were errors in their intelligence while they were attempting to the people.  War reparations are in order to help Libya rebuild and in those reparations should be assistance to the family members still alive carrying the greatest loss and hardship having lost loved ones.  

The West is a civilized and it is difficult for us to consider acting to rescue an entire nation while having caused casualties, but, there is nothing civilized about looking the other when mistakes are made.  Those people are important people and we should recognize those lost and the pain families are still sustaining with their loss.  It is far more civilized to honor those dead and those that survived than to excuse ourselves for being heroes and nothing more.  The Libyan people are the heroes and we have a stronger ally today then we ever did with Gaddafi.  I think we should keep it that way.

SUBTITLE B – LONG TERM UNEMPLOYED HIRING PREFERENCES

SEC. 351. LONG TERM UNEMPLOYEED WORKERS WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDITS.


(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of section 51(b) of the Internal Revenue Code is amended by inserting “$10,000 per year in the case of any individual who is a qualified long term unemployed individual by reason of subsection (d)(11), and” before “$12,000 per year”.


Cited law:

(3)Limitation on wages per year taken into account (click here)

        The amount of the qualified first-year wages which may be taken into account with respect to any individual shall not exceed  $6,000 per year ($12,000 per year in the case of  any individual who is a qualified veteran by reason of  subsection (d)(3)(A)(ii)).

This is an incentive for employers that hire veterans.  It increases the tax credit.  The act goes on to define exactly what a 'long term unemployed' is.  The states are going to certify individuals for this program.  Not a bad idea.  It provides continuity for recipients.  


(i) the individual is certified by the designated local agency as being in receipt of unemployment compensation under State or Federal law for not less than 6 months during the 1-year period ending on the hiring date.


More definitions.


(d) CREDIT MADE AVAILABLE TO TAX-EXEMPT EMPLOYERS IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.—Section 52(c) of the Internal Revenue Code is amended—



(2) CREDIT AMOUNT.—In calculating tax-exempt employers, the work opportunity credit shall be determined by substituting “26 percent” for “40 percent” in section 51(a) and by substituting “16.25 percent” for “25 percent” in section 51(i)(3)(A).


(3) TAX-EXEMPT EMPLOYER.—For purposes of this subtitle, the term “tax-exempt employer” means an employer that is —


(A) an organization described in section 501(c) and exempt from taxation under section 501(a), or


(B) a public higher education institution (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965).


The next provision deals with US possession and their tax credits to employers from the federal government.



(e) Treatment of Possessions.—
(1) Payments to possessions.—
(A) Mirror code possessions.—
(B) Other possessions.—


(3) Definitions and special rules.—


(A) Possession of the United States.--For purposes of this subsection (e), the term ``possession of the United States'' includes American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands.


(B) Mirror code tax system.--For purposes of this subsection, the term ``mirror code tax system'' means, with respect to any possession of the United States, the income tax system of such possession if the income tax liability of the residents of such possession under such system is determined by reference to the income tax laws of the United States as if such possession were the United States.


(C) Treatment of payments.-- For purposes of section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United States Code, rules similar to the rules of section 1001(b)(3)(C) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 shall apply.


(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section shall apply


(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for the employer after the date of the enactment of this Act.


Of course the act hasn't been enacted yet, so the likelihood of any employer receiving a credit for employing a veteran in 2011 doesn't exist!  So, much for a 'user friendly' Congress.


Subtitle C begins here and it is a bit lengthy, so I'll read that tomorrow beginning on page 116.



SUBTITLE C – PATHWAYS BACK TO WORK
SEC. 361. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the “Pathways Back to Work Act of 2011”.
SEC. 362. ESTABLISHMENT OF PATHWAYS BACK TO WORK FUND.

end.