New Orleans is now an open book to deteriorated neighborhood properties.

October 12, 2012 By Sarah Rich

When New Orleans (click here) became partnered with fellowship program Code for America this year, the city had one goal: develop a system that focuses on the city’s blighted properties. 

And the Code for America fellows are on the job, spending this year working with the city to improve data transparency on those blighted properties. 

When the city declares a property as blighted, steps to determine a resolution — whether it’s to be demolished or sold at auction, for example — are taken....

"Blight Status" (click here)

New Orleans voters to decide Nov. 6 now at-large City Council members are elected (click here)

When Orleans Parish voters decide Nov. 6 whether to amend the City Charter to change the way at-large members of the City Council are elected, they will write the final chapter in a strange political saga. If the amendment passes, the two at-large seats would be voted on independently starting in 2014....

...Under the current system, in effect since the 1950s, candidates for both at-large, or citywide, seats run in the same field, with voters allowed to cast ballots for any two. The top two finishers are elected, provided they each get more than 25 percent of the total votes cast. If two candidates do not get 25 percent, a runoff for one or both seats is held.

The proposed change would have the at-large members elected separately, though at the same time, with all candidates having to declare which seat they are seeking when they qualify. The winners would need to get more than 50 percent of the votes for that seat in a primary or runoff....

The New Orleans Film Festival needs assistance in completing its roster of films.

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper star in director David O. Russell's dramatic comedy 'Silver Lining's Playbook.' (Photo by The Weinstein Co.)

...A silver lining has emerged (click here) for New Orleans Film Festival attendees unable to score a ticket to Monday night's (Oct. 14) screening of the eagerly anticipated "Silver Linings Playbook." A second screening of the film has been revealed as a late addition to the festival schedule.
David O. Russell's crowd-pleasing dramatic comedy -- which emerged last month from the Toronto International Film Festival as an instant Oscar contender -- will fill one of two "TBA" slots on the festival's closing-night schedule, according to festival artistic director John Desplas. So in addition to the previously announced Monday screening, it will now also play Thursday (Oct. 18) at 8:15 p.m. at the Theatres at Canal Place.
The festival's other closing-night "TBA" slot has yet to be filled....

• Will these people be voting in November? Will they have a picture id?

• OCTOBER 13, 2012
• BY: KAREN GRO

A new group (click here) of homeless people have been found living under the New Orleans Pontchartrain Expressway between Camp Street and LaSalle in New Orleans, La. The group is reported to be quite large with the homeless people bringing all of their belongings to the site and settling in.

WWLTV reports that mattresses, bags of clothing, boxes and tents have popped up under the expressway with multiple families and communities of homeless people. Neighbors living close by have complained to the city and have now taken their complaints to Governor Bobby Jindal in hopes that the situation can be resolved.

Stacy Horn Koch, the mayor's liaison for the homeless, is working to move the homeless to shelters and then into transitional housing. They will then be moved to permanent supportive housing. Koch is now working with the group under the expressway on a daily basis to get them off the streets and out from under the expressway....

Why are there so many perfect circles in the universe?

In the void of space, what is the one force with a constant pattern, existence and gravity?

Slicing through a 3D ALMA view of the material around the red giant star R Sculptoris (click here for video)

Observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have revealed an unexpected spiral structure in the material around the old star R Sculptoris. This spiral is probably caused by a hidden companion star orbiting the star. This new ALMA video shows a series of slices through the data, each taken at a slightly different frequency. These reveal the shell around the star, appearing as a circular ring, that seems to gets bigger and then smaller, as well as a clear spiral structure in the inner material that it best seen about half-way through the video sequence.

Strange star spiral offers scary view of our sun’s fate (click here)

By Staff | October 13, 2012

“We’ve seen shells around this kind of star before, but this is the first time we’ve ever seen a spiral of material coming out from a star, together with a surrounding shell,” said lead author Matthias Maercker of the ESO and Argelander Institute for Astronomy at the University of Bonn in a statement.

Astronomers point out that because red giants eject copious amounts of material, they are big-time contributors to the dust and gas that assist the formation of future generations of stars and planetary systems.

E = mc2

Orbitals of a carbon atom, as seen by a field-emission microscope.Image: From "Imaging the atomic orbitals of carbon atomic chains with field-emission electron microscopy," by I. M. Mikhailovskij, E. V. Sadanov, T. I. Mazilova, V. A. Ksenofontov and O. A. Velicodnaja, in PHYSICAL REVIEW B, Vol. 80, NO. 16; October 2009

New Microscope Reveals the Shape of Atoms (click here)

Improved field-emission microscope images electron orbitals, confirming their theoretical shapes

By Davide Castelvecchi

From the "Walk of Ideas" Berlin, Germany, The Land of Ideas (click here)

This is what happens when there is business as usual with a genocidal President.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is being somewhat naive to allow business as usual with Syria. The only movement into Syria at this point consented to by bordering countries is humanitarian aid. 


Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the Syrian plane that was forced to land in Turkey was legally carrying Russian radar parts for Syria. (Mian Khursheed/Reuters)

...Sergey Lavrov (click here) insisted Friday the shipment complied with international law. He said the plane carried no weapons and that the "electric equipment for radars" of was a legitimate cargo.

Lavrov added, however, that the cargo was of "dual purpose," meaning it could have civilian and military applications. He said the Russian company that sent it to Syria will demand that Turkey return it....

The Foreign Minister has stated from the beginning both sides of the civil war have to stop in order for any negotiations to go forward. That statement was made before the continued incursion to Turkey by Syrian forces. 

Peaceful resolve is sometimes blurred in the interpretation. Russian businessmen have conducted their trade with Syria before any conflict started; to that end they are fulfilling contracts. Now, as a result what Russia and their business community might deem as 'normalcy' to enhance the peace promotion has now changed.

The conflict within Syria has now expanded beyond its borders and while the Assad regime insists on apologizing for this on going problem, it hardly seems to resolve the problem. Basically, Assad has lost control of his borders. Given that fact there is every indication any supply of anything from Russian business other than humanitarian aid will be intercepted. I sincerely hope Foreign Minister Lavrov will find the border incursions with Turkey a serious development and inform his business community of this turn of events.

In the meantime, I am confident Turkey would be happy to see the return of the radar to its Russian source. It is understandable how any business with a contract would like to make every effort to fulfill the contract, however, there are more and more complications to that end. Russia has to entertain the idea of informing its business community of a change in circumstance with Syrian contracts when any military component is involved. Such contracts should be placed 'on hold' pending a resolve to the civil war and the Turkish border incursions. Without official Russian doctrine stating same, Russian businesses will be forced into these precarious positions. 

I understand suspending such transactions with Syria will result in tensions, but, in all seriousness the best interest of the business community of Russia has to be considered. If this shipment fell into rebel hands within Syria no one's best interest would be served, especially that of the intended recipient. I believe all such contracts can be honored at a future date with reassurances of delivery.

Syrian rebels take 256 army prisoners, Al Jazeera reports (click here)

Rebels release video to Al Jazeera that shows 256 Syrian government army prisoners from Idlib.

David TrifunovOctober 13, 2012 10:53

Syrian rebels released video today that claims to show they’ve captured 256 government troops in Idlib, Al Jazeera reported.

The network couldn’t verify the identity of the prisoners or the veracity of the video, which it didn’t post online.

“All we know is that these prisoners are from Az Zainiyeh,” reporter Anita McNaught said at Aljazeera.com.

“Az Zainiyeh was where the Syrian army forces had withdrawn after opposition fighters had driven them out of the villages in that part of Idlib.”

Rebels might have captured the prisoners three days ago when fighting broke out in Az Zainiyeh, McNaught said.

The claims come a day after rebels captured an air defence base....

Like I said, the Russian equipment might not arrive at its destination, but, fall into the hands of those most able to secure it away from the Assad regime.

How can there be an internet gambling bill without a cybersecurity bill?

Heller says he can work with Reid to pass Internet poker bill (click here)

BY LAURA MYERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Posted: Oct. 11, 2012 | 3:17 p.m.

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller said Thursday he is confident he and U.S. Sen. Harry Reid can work together - after the election - to pass an Internet poker bill this year.

"Absolutely, absolutely," Heller said in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial board when asked about the chances of legislation despite the senators' head-butting on the issue.

Heller and Reid have traded charges of political gamesmanship surrounding Internet gaming as the Republican battles a Reid-backed Democrat, Rep. Shelley Berkley, for the Senate seat....

Cyber warfare a real threat, the US Secretary of Defense warns (click here)

By Martyn Williams, IDG News Service

October 13, 2012

...Speaking at a meeting of the Business Executives for National Security (BENS) in New York Thursday night, Leon Panetta called the Internet "the battlefield of the future" and spelled out what he believes the Department of Defense's role should be in cyberspace....

..."A cyber attack perpetrated by nation states or violent extremist groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack on 9/11," he said in the televised speech. "Such a destructive cyber terrorist attack could virtually paralyze the nation."...

Is a Crippling Cyberattack Really on the Way?

This could be a registered voter.

I think that was a missed opportunity. I would have said this:

"Deer are wild animals, Mame. They cannot be controlled to cross at specific locations such as School Crossing where little children would delight in seeing them. The signs are there to inform drivers like yourself that is the location where these wild animals cross the road without warning or supervision. Do you understand you have to be aware of the danger these wild animals present and drive more slowly so you can stop if you see one crossing the road. Deer tend to be impulsive wild animals so you have to drive very cautiously when you see the Deer Crossing signs. Any questions about your responsibility in regard to these wild animals, because if you hit them they could be killed and there is a traffic infraction if you don't take responsibility in stopping to report the impact. There is also a real possibility, on a rare occasion a person could be killed at these Deer Crossings by impulsive wildlife. So. Do you have more questions?"

The State Wildlife Department needs to run public service messages and/or retest people to prevent low IQ folks from driving."

Now, losing her driver's license doesn't mean she cannot vote. It would prohibit her if she was unable to drive to the licensing bureau to get a picture ID, though.

For those that aren't sincerely "Joe Watchers" it is not at all unusual for him to be spontaneously emotional.

Joe Biden is a 'Real Joe." He always has been. His advocacy for the Middle Class has nothing to do with politics or strategic positions, it is real. Very real. Joe is more of a 'Real Joe' than any phony GOP facsimile.

The Vice President was not stylistic during this debate. That was Joe. That was the man. He is attached to his life emotionally in a very healthy way.

If the Vice President was astonished by what he heard, then he was astonished. If he was smiling it was a non threatening way of him expressing his amusement (smiles) with lies and/or misguided ideas (rhetoric) then he was absolutely amused by the deception he was hearing. 

Simple. Joe is Joe. There is no style choice here except the color of his tie.

Seven years later and finally progress.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar speaks during a news conference, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, in Las Vegas, in which he and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced a plan that sets aside 285,000 acres of public land for the development of large-scale solar power plants. The government is establishing 17 new "solar energy zones" on 285,000 acres in six states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Most of the land,153,627 acres, is in Southern California. . Photo: Julie Jacobson / AP

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal officials on Friday approved a plan that sets aside 445 square miles of public land for the development of large-scale solar power plants, cementing a new government approach to renewable energy development in the West after years of delays and false starts.

At a news conference in Las Vegas, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called the new plan a "roadmap ... that will lead to faster, smarter utility-scale solar development on public lands."

The plan replaces the department's previous first-come, first-served system of approving solar projects, which let developers choose where they wanted to build utility-scale solar sites and allowed for land speculation.

The department no longer will decide projects within the zones on a case-by-case basis as it had since 2005, when solar developers began filing applications. Instead, the department will direct development to land it has identified as having fewer wildlife and natural-resource obstacles....

Terrorism in Pakistan

4:04AM EDT October 13. 2012 -

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful car bomb (click here) went off outside the offices of pro-government tribal elders in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 15 people, police said.

Police official Naeem Khan said least 30 people were also wounded in the attack in the town of Darra Adam Khel in the troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan...

The Anti-Government militia known as the Taliban are attempting once again to terrorize the people and government of Pakistan. This is an example of why the people turn opinion against their government and their own people. It is tiem they stop being afraid of their children's future. These perpetrators must be stopped. Those responsible for the car bombing must be arrested, tried and imprisoned. This car bomber did not accomplish this alone. His tribe has to be held responsible for allowing such violence to be tolerated.

...No group immediately claimed responsibility, but Pakistani Taliban militants have staged such attacks in tribal region of Darra Adam Khel to punish elders for backing security forces in offensives against militants in the region.

Darra Adam Khel is famous for its weapons market selling home-made guns crafted by local artisans in this tribal region, where central government is weak. Local elders there have formed "peace committees" to evict militants, and have also helped authorities in the past in operations against insurgents....

The weapons industry in Darra Adam Khel must be dismantled. It has to be destroyed never to be regenerated again. Weapons production in Pakistan has to be made illegal for at least a generation to stop this. How are the good people of Pakistan ever to live without fear if this is allowed to continue.

Repeal Miichigan's Emergency Manager Law - Vote NO!

Public Act 4 went into effect on March 16, 2011 (click here).

In Michigan, if a referendum proposal passes, the law is adopted; if the proposal is defeated, the law will not take effect. This means that voters wishing for PA 4 to take effect would vote yes, while voters opposing PA 4 would vote no.



Posted: Friday, October 12, 2012 4:32 pm
Updated: 4:38 pm, Fri Oct 12, 2012

Proposal 12-1

A referendum on Public Act 4 of 2011, the Emergency Manager Law (click here)

Supported by: Gov. Rick Snyder

Opposed by: State Rep. Woodrow Stanley (D-Flint)

A ‘yes’ vote means: To give approval to the Emergency Manager Law, which allows the Governor of Michigan to appoint emergency managers to take the place of elected government officials during financial emergencies in a city or school district.

A ‘no’ vote means: Repealing the Emergency Manager Law.

 Proposal 1 (Michigan Emergency Manager Referendum) is opposed by Stanley, who argues that an emergency manager would undermine the democratic process of electing government leaders.

 Gov. Rick Snyder supports the law, saying that emergency managers help struggling cities and school districts get back on track....

The girls want an education. Is that so terrible?

Pakistani girls display a poster while sitting at their desk, as their teacher, not shown, talks to them about 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by a Taliban gunman.(Photo: Muhammed Muheisen, AP)

Putting old heads on young shoulders. The children of Pakistan are building their futures today. They will not settle for oppression, stigma and violence anymore. Their time has come.
President Zadari has every reason to be proud of the children of Pakistan.. They are strong and determined to have a better life. They need the protection and loyalty of the government to insure Pakistan's peaceful future. The late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto would not settle for anything else if she were alive today. The free lancing of violence to insure Taliban social order has to stop.

11:10PM EDT October 12. 2012 -

MINGORA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police have arrested (click here) a number of suspects in the case of a 14-year-old girl shot and wounded by the Taliban for promoting education for girls and criticizing the fundamentalist Islamic movement, officials said Friday.

The shooting of Malala Yousufzai along with two classmates while they were on their way home from school Tuesday horrified people in Pakistan and internationally. It has been followed by an outpouring of support for a girl who earned the enmity of the Taliban for publicizing their acts and speaking about the importance of education for girls.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying that the girl was promoting "Western thinking." Late on Thursday, a spokesman for one of the group's branches in the country's north said the top leadership of the Taliban's Swat Valley chapter decided two months ago to kill Yousufzai in a carefully planned attack after her family ignored repeated warnings....

Colorado has some issues.

If Denver is going to move these transients out of their caves, they'll need swat teams. The cave dwellers have the tactical advantage.

There is every reason to believe the caves contain artifacts such as guns, drugs and skeletons of missing people.

...Ridgeway's body was found Wednesday about 7 miles southwest of her home. The remains were found in the Pattridge Park open space area in Arvada, a Denver suburb. The park is located south of the south of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, which is known for its abandoned coal mines and often used by road bikers and model airplane flyers. Authorities said the body was not intact, but they did not explain further.

Anxious parents kept close and watched over their children because of potential predator in their midst.

"Our focus has changed from the search for Jessica to a mission of justice for Jessica," Westminster Police Chief Lee Birk said. "We realize there is a predator at large in our community."

Ridgeway began a short walk from her home to Witt Elementary School on the morning of Oct. 5 but never arrived. A massive search by hundreds of law enforcement officers did not start until hours later because Jessica's mother works nights and slept through a call from school officials saying Jessica wasn't there....

Is the air really that much thinner in Denver?

Didn't this happen in 2008 as well?

By Keith Coffman

DENVER
Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:18pm EDT

Denver Police Detective Raquel Lopez (click here) said a worker inside the office called police in mid-afternoon to report that a bullet had shattered a window pane.

"Right now, no one is in custody and investigators are looking at surveillance video to see if a vehicle can be identified," Lopez said.

Lopez said it was a single shot and no one inside was physically injured.

Detectives are not aware of any threats made to the campaign, but are exploring all possibilities, she said.

2008

Assassination scare in Denver (click here)

Three men allegedly discussed shooting Barack Obama, then the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nominee, during his acceptance speech on the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Cousins Tharin Gartrell and Shawn Adolf, and their friend Nathan Johnson, allegedly came to Denver specifically to kill Obama,...

I take it Congressman Ryan didn't worry about drinking contaminated water.

I suppose there are many reasons for THIRST. Drought, diabetes, hoping to need to pee during a Vice Presidential debate. Maybe dehydration.

Hydraulic fracturing rare in Kentucky, but, Appalachian Forum poses questions about regulation and pollution of gas drilling (click here)

By Ivy Brashear
Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues

Geologists, professors, activists and experts came together for the Appalachian Forum on Hydraulic Fracturing last night at the University of Kentucky to discuss fracking as a means of natural-gas extraction in the state.

Kentucky gas wells usually go about 5,000 feet below the surface, much shallower than the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, where there has been the most controversy about hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking....

...The shales in Kentucky have much more clay, and that discourages hydrofracking in the state because water makes clay formations swell, inhibiting the release of gas. Instead, Kentucky drillers frack with liquid nitrogen. “Every shale well in Kentucky is fracked,” said Rick Bender, vice president of BlackRidge Resource Partners, a Lexington firm with gas wells in Ohio. “Without fracking, we couldn’t get the gas out.”...

Close call, huh, Ryan?

Heat stroke, too. A human being can be very thirsty if they are suffering from heat stroke. That is according to The Mayo Clinic.

There is support on the web for Congressman Ryan if he cares to 'commune.'

Yes anxiety (click here) can make you thirsty.  When my anxiety is really high I have the same problem. 

Try and calm yourself down and try and focus on something positive.  The goal is to reduce your anxiety and then you should notice that you aren't so thristy anymore.  Don't obsess over the anxiety because as you know that only makes it worse. 

Good Luck....

Poor man. How close does he get to pushing the button on the nation's nuclear weapons?

There is a reason why Romney appears humble through his generosity.

"Wow, Romney paid somebody's medical bills. I think Paul Ryan just implied that Romney would pay for all of our medical bills! Yay!"

I am not going to give a pass to the generosity issue with Romney. The topic of generosity isn't really the kind one carries out in the lives of average Americans.

The donations Romney takes off his taxes is to his church. He already stated, their donations are his 10% tithing. So, it isn't as though another million or half a million is given to the American Cancer Society or the American Lung Association. Romney's deductions as donations is for his tithing.

Romney is also some kind of big shot in the church. A minister or something like that. Like Huckabee. 

So, while he helps at every turn, including with his partner when his daughter was missing, that is a role and/or moral obligation he has. No different than Joe Biden's advocacy for the Middle Class. It is a core to his morality. So, when Ryan liked to say, 'Sure Mitt has big bucks, he also has a big heart.'

Yes and no. 

I sincerely believe Romney doesn't 'brag' for a couple reasons, but, the one that seems obvious to me is that his 'compassion' is based in his religion and easily scrutinized as a role he has to take in his capacity of a Mormon minister. So, he is more or less compelled to act as he does.

In all sincerity if Romney doesn't want to brag about his generosity in the role as minister or his deductions actually are his tithing, then Ryan should respect that.

According to the Right Wing on FOX today, the attack in Benghazi is proof of Obama foreign policy failing.

To begin with this is an extension of the Islamophobia the Right Wing chronically pedals as fact with fortune teller accuracy about the future.

The fair and balanced network never features someone like Arianna Huffington in split screen with Rove so the display of FOX's power to relay fortune telling ability is mute.

But, it goes like this. The morning after the Benghazi attacks, President Obama abandoned his post. He cancelled a meeting with his daily security team, stopped to dry the tears of the State Department and went to Las Vegas for a fund raiser.

I dare Karl Rove to state fund raisers are not important.

Obama alone: This president does not need intel briefers (click here)

By Marc A. Thiessen, Published: September 13

...The president was scheduled to hold the intelligence meeting at 10:50 a.m. Wednesday, the day after the attacks, but it was canceled so that he could comfort grieving employees at the State Department — as well he should. But instead of rescheduling the intelligence briefing for later in the day, Obama apparently chose to skip it altogether and attend a Las Vegas fundraiser for his re-election campaign. One day after a terrorist attack.

Excuse, Mr. Thiessen, your assessment falls a little short, honey. If I may?

Breaking: Marine Fast Team Being Sent From Spain To Libya To Re-Secure U.S. Embassy (click here)

Wednesday, September 12, 2012 8:13 AM

A team of about 50 Marines has been dispatched to the Libyan city of Benghazi to secure the U.S. Consulate after attacks Tuesday left four Americans dead including the U.S. ambassador, a senior U.S. military official told Fox News.

The official said a Marine “fast team” is being sent from the U.S. Naval base in Rota, Spain. They are not yet on the ground.

The move comes after President Obama ordered “all necessary resources” provided to Libya to support the security of U.S. personnel in the country.

In a statement, Obama also said he’s directed his administration to “increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe.”...f

Where all this Right Wing Propaganda really gets interesting is to realize FOX News was the first to report the fact President Obama immediately addressed the security issue in the State Department.

Published September 12, 2012

FoxNews.com

Two Navy guided missile destroyers (click here) are being deployed off the coast of Libya, after attacks Tuesday on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi left four Americans dead, including the U.S. ambassador, military officials told Fox News. 

The destroyers are for "contingency purposes," a military official said.

In addition, officials said a "fast team" of 50 Marines was being sent from the U.S. Naval base in Rota, Spain. They are expected to go to Tripoli. According to a U.S. official, there are no U.S. personnel left at the consulate in Benghazi which was attacked. 

A U.S. military aircraft is also expected to leave Libya soon with the dead and wounded onboard. ...

I call this type of Right Wing Propaganda fabricated by those at the top of the propaganda food chain like Rush and Rove, "Truth or Consequences."

If the Right Wing propagandist EXPERTS at FOX and across the spectrum actually tell the truth there will be political consequences they cannot afford.

Now, I am confident President Obama immediately upon getting the news about Ambassador Stevens didn't turn over and go back to sleep. I am quite confident he immediately took the elevator to the Oval Office and called in all the security detail as well as his cabinet to immediately handle the crisis. It would have been remiss of President Obama to wait until 10:30 AM to handle the crisis, therefore, there was no reason to hold the meeting at all.

The Right Wing Propagandists, especially those at the fair and balanced network need to apologize to President Obama, the family of Ambassador Stevens, Secretary Clinton, the State Department staff deployed abroad and to the American people for using their good names for political fodder inconsequential to reality and facts in order to place their loyalty vote to good government in the wrong political column, namely Republican.

.

In anticipation of normal winter temperatures, the next insult to the Middle Class is the petroleum industry. AGAIN.

It doesn't matter the product, the petroleum industry, in all their wisdom to drill and frack 'at home' still exploits a nation entrenched in carbon based fuels rather than alternatives.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Households (click here) will spend more for heating oil and natural gas this winter than last, as temperatures return to "roughly normal" compared with the unusually warm winter seen last year, according to the Energy Information Administration's monthly Short-Term Energy and Winter Fuels Outlook report released Wednesday....

Where is Howard Hamm and Romney on this. The idea a glut of any petroleum product will reduce the price is hideous. Currently, there is more natural gas being produced than needed in the USA. So much is being produced in the USA that Howard Hamm and his buddies want to sell it abroad. 

Supposedly, in a FREE MARKET SYSTEM, if a product is in more abundance than demand the price falls. Not the case in the petroleum industry. Just the opposite happens.

Posted on October 12, 2012 at 5:30 am by  Bloomberg in General, Natural Gas

...Gas may reach (click here) $4 per million British thermal units for the first time since September 2011 as winter heating demand picks up after mild weather a year ago, according to Mizuho Securities USA Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Prices have jumped 8.7 percent to $3.488 since July as electricity generators used record amounts of the fuel.

A production boom that’s put the nation on course for energy independence drove gas to below $2 per million British thermal units in April for the first time in 10 years, encouraging power plants to buy the fuel instead of coal. Gas jumped 18 percent July through September as record heat in the lower 48 states stoked air-conditioning use. The market surged 33 percent in the previous three months....

So, for the Cheney Energy Committee extending regulation free fracking has the citizens of the USA gotten reasonable energy costs? NOooooo. They received seismic activity, dirty water supplies and higher energy prices. 

Wake up America. The Romney energy plan isn't about providing cheaper energy prices to consumers it is about lining the pockets of cronies.

The Democrats are "Right on the Money," the country needs competition from alternative energies to bring better prices to the consumer. It is well worth the money to develop Alternative Energies before the cost of energy takes Americans paychecks.

Natural Gas has the lion share of the energy to heat homes. A change in price to the natural gas supplies will enhance or remove economic growth. The more expensive natural gas is the economy will reduce its consumer vitality in all other areas. Food prices increase, too.

Energy consumption in the USA

Natural gas

Households: 58.7 million

Change from last year: Up 0.6 percent

Share of total: 49 percent

Electricity

Households: 45 million

Change from last year: Up 2.6 percent

Share of total: 38 percent

Heating Oil

Households: 7 million

Change from last year: Down 2.8 percent

Share of total: 6 percent

Propane

Households: 5.6 million

Change from last year: Down 1.8 percent

Share of total: 5 percent

Wood

Households: 2.6 million

Change from last year: Up 3 percent

Share of total: 2.2

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

The Democrats have been correct on the money issues.

That is the heart of the entitlement COMPLAINTS. The Affordable Care Act has extended the health of Medicare for another decade.

There is only one option to change SSI. People may be living longer, but, there are citizens in the USA that cannot extend their working longevity. The working poor in the USA are in worse health than the rest of the country. That reality, especially after 16 years of NO health care policy since Contract with America, demands the allowance of retirement at age 65. Those folks are not retiring in pristine health to ride motorcycles all over the place and living their dreams of retirement. They are literally allowed to rest rather than burn the candle at both ends.

The only option on SSI retirement is to create an option of higher payments if a person seeks their SSI payments at a later age. In other words, if a person retires at age 66 their payments can be a couple percent higher, if they retire at the age of 67 their payments can be 4 to 5 percent higher, etc. The only option for raising the retirement age is to make it an option with incentive to move in that direction. Once the populous is healthier at age 65 with less retiring at that age, then and only then, can the mandatory age be moved back to age 67 or later. The retirement age of SSI has to be in response to the reality of the nation and not an arbitrary decision.

Health care premiums are not yet realized as the State Exchanges won't be in place until 2014 when the individual mandate takes its constitutional place in the Affordable Care Act. So, the COMPLAINTS about premium prices at this point needs to be aimed at the insurance companies themselves. The 15% administrative cost is now in effect and we know for a fact there will be people in this nation receiving a rebate on their premiums. No one ever hears about that fact from the Political Right either. They complain about the expense of the premiums and never amend that complaint to reflect the fact there are rebates coming FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY.

The Right Wing has no ideas except more of the same victimization of the Middle Class while extending the poverty dynamic to swallow up more citizens year after year.