What was that about the worry over the military budget cuts? Really?

Performance Budget/Congressional Budget Justification (NUREG-1100)

Now, it seems to me that the Super-Committee should have been very serious about scrutinizing the cuts before them with what is now called the Sequester. But, hey, I could be wrong about that. For god sake, Boehner, can't you get anyone to do what they need to do in that Congress? Is this some of your politics or forgotten priorities. I know this is not political enough for you, but, I sure hope the domestic side of the budget is being adequately addressed. March 1st is really going to happen without restructuring an across the board 10% cut, huh? Wow.

Rod Adams · November 16, 2012

It is time to remind Congress (click here) and the President that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s budget is, by law, almost 90% funded with fees assessed on licensees. The structure was put into place during the Reagan Administration at a time when David Stockman was selling the idea that the government could charge fees on users of its “services” instead of imposing taxes on people that might not use specific government services. For fiscal year 2013, the NRC fee total will be $924.8 million.

The other 10% or so of the NRC’s budget comes from appropriated money because the NRC does some things that cannot be counted as a service to its licensees. One example activity that would be instantly recognized as a special tax on nuclear operators if charged to licensees is the NRC’s support of international agencies. For FY 2013, the net appropriations number is $128.5 million, resulting in a total of $1,053 million....

A half of a decade later.

"Atoms for Peace" is a legitimate band. (click here)

The question is; "Is the only default setting we have for nuclear technology electricity generation?"

President Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" Speech (click here)

December 8, 1953

Before the General Assembly of the United Nations on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy

Madame President, Members of the General Assembly:

When Secretary General Hammarskjold's invitation to address this General Assembly reached me in Bermuda, I was just beginning a series of conferences with the Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers of Great Britain and of France. Our subject was some of the problems that beset our world....

...But the great test and the great accomplishments still lie ahead. And in the confident expectation of those accomplishments, I would use the office which, for the time being, I hold, to assure you that the Government of the United States will remain steadfast in its support of this body. This we shall do in the conviction that you will provide a great share of the wisdom, the courage, and the faith which can bring to this world lasting peace for all nations, and happiness and well-being for all men....

It hasn't really worked out that way, has it? During the entire dialogue by the USA of it's weapon of mass destruction there is always laced a sense of higher purpose for the weapon. The Allied forces had ended the war in the east with it and allowed the struggle in Europe to continue. It was Russia that finally ended the war with Hitler though.

The world bought into this benevolence of power by the USA. The Columbia Physics Department would receive 28 Nobel Prizes for scientific discovery. So, every nation, every leader was well invested in the power of the USA and basically believed everything Eisenhower stated. It was an unspoken promise in his dialogue. Somehow, the USA would contain the power of nuclear potential.

Eisenhower effectively removed the heinousness of the deaths in Japan as a victory and promoted peaceful use of nuclear power. Very clever. Why the world didn't seek to end the insane idea when it was presented is something no one writes about. Who were those that looked into their crystal balls and saw what was to come? Evidently, no one. The genie was out of the bottle and there was no going back.

Russia, while using nuclear technology for electricity generation didn't wait to find their own nuclear military capacity. After all the ignitions in Japan were very near their borders. It was impossible to buy into the idea that the USA was never going to use the weapons again. It had just vanquished Hitler. The Soviet Union wasn't about to settle back in an easy chair without securing it's sovereignty away from a greater threat. 

We know today the path "Atoms for Peace" took. Five legitimate nuclear nations all with significant enough arsenals that could wipe out every human life on Earth. And the peaceful use of atomic energy has made it into the hands of nations too scared of The West to never develop it further than electricity generation.

Would the outcome today been so much different if Eisenhower didn't run his propaganda campaign. Would the world be rid of the nuclear weapons of mass destruction if only the concern for the technology were evident? 

President Obama didn't start the trend in Illinois. Promise.

1959 Morris, IL Commonwealth Edison Dresden Nuclear Power Plant Press Photo (picture for sale on E-Bay)

...Illinois (click here) was also home to the first commercial power reactor, (click here) Unit 1 at Commonwealth Edison's Dresden Power Station. Subsequent problems forced the permanent shutdown of this unit, thus also making it one of the first commercial power reactors to close prematurely....

I find it more than interesting that Illinois was the beginning of electrical generation by nuclear chain reaction and it has one of the largest deposits of spent nuclear fuel in the country. Over 10,000 metric tons.

If we accept the fact the USA had no alternative but to develop a doomsday weapon...

...then we have to accept the fact the potential was unleashed by a madman in Germany with no respect for life, except, his own Aryan Race. I sincerely believe Hitler meant it. He wanted a weapon to sterile the world and rebuild it after he was finished with is war to end all wars.

I believed he hated the world and every aspect of any nation that did not service is purpose. Why otherwise the weapon? Why the idea?

To ask that question is a bit dangerous, because, today we have all kinds of imaginations creating all these films that will be reviewed by peers at the awards tonight. But, to realize such a weapon was never conceived until it came as a priority to Hitler's new nation makes it all the more a reality.

Let's just say Japan and Hitler had succeeded in the war. The fact the scientists were in the USA was irrelevant. The Axis Powers would have owned the technology that was being developed with his scientists and being prepared to use as a weapon.

It is a lot to think about.

It is nearly understandable why Pearl Harbor happened in 1941. If Japan was to stop the insane weapon of mass destruction it was now or never; so the Kamikaze pilots were a given.

There isn't much written about the inner circles of the Axis Powers. It is more important to history to paint the victor in the struggle than the aggressor and the defeated.

The Japanese were at war with China. Supposedly the USA imposed an oil embargo on Japan. Either way, the attack on Pearl Harbor was a second front for Japan. It wasn't really a planned attack at the beginning of the Japanese - Chinese war. Japan would seek to disable the USA military fleet until it had a chance to take over the Dutch East Indies where there were oil fields.

I have to wonder if the freezing of Japanese assets and the oil embargo was due to the confidence Roosevelt began to realize with the first test completed on the doomsday weapon. Basically, no matter the chronology leading up the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was the USA that unleashed the wrath of Japan. That had to be a well contemplated change in status between the USA and Japan. The embargo, the bomb and the move by Japan toward the East Indies all resulted by a confidence that lay ahead.

The development of a nuclear military capacity was uncharted ground.

It was called The Manhattan Project. This video is an instructional record of the times they lived in and the degree the USA government committed resources to have it all happen.

One could say, it would be better to prevent the development of such technology, but, if it didn't happen in the USA it would have happened elsewhere and would the outcome today be so stark and aimed at non-proliferation.

At the first test occurred, the scientists backed away from using the technology as a weapon. They had an idea about the magnitude of the technology, but, it's final development was a surprise to even them. They told the USA military they did not want this unleashed in the world.

Their protestations were taken seriously and the President wanted to notify Japan of the weapon and the willingness of the USA to use it. The weapon itself and not the use of it in war was to be a deterrent. The rest is history.

Why the bomb?

The story is the Germans, Hilter, would have perfected the ultimate weapon if the USA hadn't taken ownership of it.

1939 were the time when the USA entered the war, but, it had begun long before.

* Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931

* Italy invaded Ethiopia beginning in 1935

* Nazi Germany signed a treaty with Fascist Italy in 1936 creating the Rome-Berlin Axis

*Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign a pact in 1936

*Eight months later Japan invades China. Then one wonders why Japan and China has tensions. But, China never entered WWII.

So, the story is plausible. It makes sense. The world was breaking out in war in ways that threatened populations. I am quite sure the scientists making it as far as Great Britain wanted to be removed from the potential of wiping out life. Physicists were running from the aggressors. They have had to had an indication of the use of their own genius.

American scientists, (click here and be sure watch the video of 2 minutes and 43 seconds) many of them refugees from fascist regimes in Europe, took steps in 1939 to organize a project to exploit the newly recognized fission process for military purposes. The first contact with the government was made by G.B. Pegram of Columbia University (click here), who arranged a conference between Enrico Fermi and the Navy Department in March 1939. In the summer of 1939, Albert Einstein was persuaded by his fellow scientists to use his influence and present the military potential of an uncontrolled fission chain reaction to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In February 1940, $6,000 was made available to start research under the supervision of a committee headed by L.J. Briggs, director of the National Bureau of Standards....

saturday

It's Sunday Night

"Nuclear" by Destiny's Child

You had you dreams 
And I had mine 
Eyes wide open 
And we dreamed together 
I never know how we keep 
Our shit together 

Wondering 
Is this love or illusion 
We're just getting better 
When the two become one 
On a quantum level 

It's nuclear 
We're two here 
There's nowhere left to run 
Why run? Why would you run? 
It's nucler 
We're two here 
We both heat up 

Goin all the way (eh eh) 
Goin all the way (eh eh) 
Goin all the way (eh eh) 
Goin all the way (eh eh) 

You had your half 
And I had mine 
But now there's no such thing 
As you and me 
I was so used to feeling incomplete 

Wondering 
Is this Love or illusion 
We're just getting better 
When the two become one 
On a quantum level 

It's nuclear 
We're two here 
There's nowhere left to run 
Why run? Why would you run? 
It's nuclear 
We're two here 
We both heat up 

Goin all the way 

Anytime the climates change between us 
We share a bond they can't restrict 
That can't be touched 
So amazing super power 
Take over 
Never lose the energy 

It's nuclear 
We're two here 
There's nowhere left to run 
Why run? Why would you run? 
It's nuclear 
We're two here 
We both heat up 

Goin all the way (eh eh) 
Goin all the way (eh eh) 
Goin all the way (eh eh) 
Goin all the way (eh eh)

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun." LePierre

Interesting film. I am impressed with the USA. But, it isn't Best Picture material.

Popular. Sure. But, Best Picture? Not really. Interesting lessons and insight, but, not the quality I would expect for Best Picture. My opinion.

President Carter did bring all the hostages home alive.

The myth of American hypermasculinity.

See the Three Female Fighters Cut from Return of the Jedi (click here)

Ah, but the pilot has a pretty face.

The one aspect of advocating women's rights across the decades has always met with an intractable dynamic.

Patriarchy.

The idea when women step into traditionally masculine roles they have to act and be masculine.

The idea that women are pretty, vulnerable and need protection permeates the American culture. We have witnessed this in the military related to rape. The sexual assaults of women, in the patriarchal culture of the military, are welcome and needed and a payment for the protection they will receive. 

We all know the old paradigm where women fucks their way to the top when they achieve higher paying management positions. So, therefore, women really can't achieve the pinnacle places of power and wealth. It just isn't possible.

Recently, there has been ads for a program whereby contestants wear robot armament and go into battle with each other. The ad features a woman. So, there in the face of equity of the gender is a female wearing armament

The favorite wrestling venue for women is mud wrestling. They just can't compete anywhere else.

Colette Dowling, author of The Cinderella Complex wrote a second book titled "The Frailty Myth." Dowling really gets down to it. She notes how women have been pitchers of the 90 mph baseball, but, never get to the Hall of Fame. Women aren't known to use steroids either. 

The more women show their strength the more hypermasculinity emerges. She talks about physical equality with men, the organism, the virgin, their is a chapter called, "The Backlash." 

The reason women can't compete with men is because men don't want them in the club unless they are sexual.

There is this idea that patriarchy is the pinnacle of any civilized society. Some feminists accept that as true. I never did. Women are very capable of being a part of any game, be it Wall Street, manning a NGO in the Middle East or flying a helicopter into battle. There really is no limit. 

When anyone states, patriarchy is the pinnacle of any society in history for as long as organized society has existed, I simply state, "She has a swing to her hips." 

Is it up to women to 'break the mold?' No. It is up to women to 'set the standard' and then we will have a civilized society where hypermasculinity is removed and women are as much a part of any game.

Have a better day.

The Frailty Myth, Women Approaching Physical Equity (click here)

If anyone is involved with female athletes this is an excellent book to begin the advocacy for their equity.

The dilemma is simple and easily validated. When men are 'Aren't Tough Enough" they accept a greater definition of physical strength to separate themselves from advancing women. Hypermasculinity. That hypermasculinity permeates the gun and violence culture of the USA.

So, one more time. 

Do women seek to break the mold? 

No.

Women seek to set the standard.

It is the only way to remove this hideous race of defining gender. When a woman dons a robot armament to compete in a televised fight, where will the poor man go to define his stronger persona. It would a far better exercise to explore where masculinity has been before women have sought equity and revisit it through fashion, theater and movies.

"...and the President laid out no plan...." ( 00:57 seconds)

The President's No Plan (click here)

...And he's laid out a specific plan to do more. (click here) His proposal resolves the sequester and reduces our deficit by over $4 trillion dollars in a balanced way- by cutting spending, finding savings in entitlement programs and asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share.As a result the deficit would be cut below its historic average and the debt would fall as a share of the economy over the next decade.  Just two months ago Speaker Boehner said there was $800 billion in deficit reduction that could be achieved by only closing loopholes and reducing tax expenditures.  So we know we can get this done. Let’s be clear: the President’s proposal to Speaker Boehner is still on the table. Here it is again....

Today, Moody's downgraded Great Britain's Bonds due to their policy of austerity. One has to wonder how President Obama has accomplished so much with so little growth of the USA national debt. President Obama has depth to most issues. He is amazing in that he is as personable to the average person that he is, but, it probably comes from his ability and passion to preach the Bible to others. He likes making that connection. It is my guess it fulfills him personally and adds to his understanding of his purpose in life. When one sincerely reflects on the extraordinary ability of President Obama, we are very lucky to have him.

To save him from being guilty of sainthood, the graph above is a measure of debt to GDP ratio. Some might see that as a cop-out to the real debt problem, however, I would disagree.

Deficits add to the national debt. By every measure President Obama is not adding to the national debt if he can avoid it. He has managed to do two things here. He has prevented adding to the national debt by PAYING for programs. The Democrats have called it "Pay Go." President Obama has demanded payment for any spending whenever possible.

Additionally, the spending has paid off. While President Obama and the Democrats have instituted Pay Go wherever they can, the spending has actually improved the economy. We know the economy is better. It is fairly obvious. He managed to pay for all kinds of incentives to increase the household budgets of Americans. In return, those monies were returned to the economy and the economy expanded. The expansion of the economy is noted in the GDP.

So, a couple of things contributed to the graph above. There was 'paid spending' whenever possible AND the GDP increased. The results are exponential. The spending reduced over time and the GDP increased during that same time frame, hence, the very good news in the graph above. 

If the Republicans can't find the beauty in President Obama's economics then maybe they can at least find his plan and stop lying. What is really scary is that the Republicans actually believe their lies. So, they didn't even bother to look, just accuse. POLITICS. The Rhetorical Republicans practice politics not 'what is the word?' Come on, what is the word? 

There ya go.

GOVERNING

The Rhetorical Republicans practice politics and not governing. This is more proof and if this continues it will be conclusive proof there is no reason to return them to office as they have violated in very blatant ways, The Public Trust.

Billy O'Reilly states Mark Ferrandino's life is about to change for the worse.

"...change for the worse..." was a direct quote he stated in cross talk and a bit under his breath. But, he said it. Irresponsibly as always.

Macho Man O'Reilly is a Gay Basher. He states the USA is becoming a nation of barbarism. Evidently, Jessica's Law didn't pass through the Colorado legislature and now Mr. Ferrandino, who is a gay man, is the reason.

Rep. Ferrandino (click here) has a sterling record of standing up for Colorado consumers and civil rights. He sponsored legislation granting needy homeowners threatened with foreclosure 90 extra days to work with their lenders to come to a good solution. He led the fight to crack down on payday lenders, reducing their exorbitant 300 percent interest rates. He sponsored legislation allowing state employees to designate their unmarried partners as insurance beneficiaries, and he has championed civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

I won't worry so much as O'Reilly also is targeting Governor Cuomo as a man to contend with because of the so called weak laws that victimize children. But, Rep. Ferrandino doesn't have body guards. So, he needs to be alerted he is on O'Reilly's hit list and we know all too well what happens to people on O'Reilly's hit list. He is stating Governor Cuomo is going to allow 12 year old girls to receive abortions without asking how they became pregnant and after all it is statutory rape.

There are judicial decisions requiring parents to be aware of minors seeking abortions. I would expect a parent to come forward to law enforcement if the child was raped. Mr. O'Reilly, evidently, wants more of a police state than most legislators seem to be possible.

The precedent governing minors is Casey, 1992 (click here)

(ii) for minors, informed consent of the parents, with a judicial bypass option when the minor could not obtain parental permission;

When is O'Reilly going to be removed from the airways of the USA when he threatened the lives of others in naming them and implicating to the Pro-Life Nut Cases that is the next best target for them.

'Jessica's Law' fails again before Colorado lawmakers (click here)

9-year-old Jessica Lunsford raped, killed in 2005

...Jessica's Law would make it a minimum 25 years in prison for a sex assault against a child younger than 14, if the suspect is seven or more years older. It also requires monitoring of the person after they're released from prison....

Currently, Colorado has a 4 year sentence for child rape as a mandatory sentence. Twenty-five years is a long time for a first time offender. This is child rape and not murder. Jessica was murdered by her kidnapper. I realize her father has a profound purpose for his life and his daughter's memory, but, there are many murderers of child and otherwise that sometimes get 25 years for their crimes. 

If Colorado continues to push back against Jessica's Law, it might be reviewed by other states. I am sure the Lunsford organization does not want that to happen. Every state is different. Colorado must have it's reasons, but, it sincerely has no relevance to the gay community in that state. 

Mr. Lunsford weakens his legitimacy by having Mr. O'Reilly seek victimization of a gay legislator rather than building a greater consensus in the community of Colorado to move the law forward. 

This is a difficult time to build consensus for longer prison terms, too. State budgets are stretched and adding prison populations is not at the top of anyone's list. I suggest Mr. Lunsford use his organization to study the reason why Colorado has repeatedly refused to pass Jessica's Law and seek to over come it. I wish him well. I am sorry about the death of his daughter. I am sure he was the light in his life.

Add to the agenda is religious hatred. He specifically lied about the University of Missouri recognition of religious diversity of Christian vs Muslim vs Pagen/Wiccan. It is an past time of Mr. O'Reilly to espouse hatred of religious diversity at every turn and of course it plays right into the Barbarism theme of the lack of Jessica's Law.

It is the policy (click here) of the University of Missouri-Columbia to respect the diversity of our students. The faculty is reminded that students might want to observe religious holidays and days of special commemoration and is encouraged to accommodate students who have a conflict with a class period, test or activity because of these obligations. Approved by the MU Faculty Council on October 21, 2010. Amended by the MU Faculty Council on April 21, 2011. Approved by the MU Faculty Council on October 6, 2011.

It is a very standard academic calender which also provides a link 'off campus' highlighted as 'religious holidays.' On that page if one clicks on 2013 (click here) there are innumerable holidays of every diversity conceivable. There are plenty more holidays for Christians than seven. The lies of FOX News that promulgates hatred is significant. Why is this allowed in the USA? A cable news network uses hatred on a regular basis including hatred of individuals to the point they are targets of assassination should never be a part of the media culture in the USA.

This segment of the ? show ? was nothing but lies and of course the audience had no clue unless they bothered to research it afterwards.

Hanford is leaking.

The Hanford site in eastern Washington is considered one of the most contaminated locations on Earth.

That is the Columbia River. The picture is looking south along the river.

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News
The leaking of radioactive liquids (click here) at the Hanford, Wash., Nuclear Reservation is more extensive than previously reported, with six storage tanks affected, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday.

In a conference call with reporters Friday after a meeting with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Inslee disclosed that six of the 177 tanks were leaking at the nuclear facility in Richland, in eastern Washington about 50 miles southeast of Yakima.

Inslee said Chu told him that evaluation system of the tank levels wasn't used correctly, raising the prospect that there may be even more leaks. But he said he was told that there was no immediate threat....

Polluted groundwater (click here) from Hanford seeps into the Columbia River in the Hanford Reach.  Federal and state agencies are undertaking major efforts to prevent the movement of contaminated groundwater to the Columbia River.  Black Rock reservoir will leak into the groundwater, and could create pressure on natural groundwater, increasing the movement of groundwater toward the Hanford site.

This is Hanford Reach (click here) which was designated as a National Monument by President Clinton in 2000.

The dark line at the top third of the picture divides the land open to the public. That dark line is the Columbia River. The area north (designated by arrow to the right) is open to the public. It is considered the north shore of the monument. The area south of Columbia River (the dark line) is closed to the public. The area closed to the pubic is where the nuclear mess is managed or perhaps better stated, was managed.

This is what bothers me, The public access area is about 30 miles north of the nuclear facility. It is always believed the contamination into the aquifer will never migrate anywhere but south. I am not convinced of that. 

If a drop of dark ink is dropped into a puddle with an exit into a trickle of rain water, it doesn't simply run in one direction. The ink spreads throughout the puddle while it also runs toward the exit into the trickle. My guess is that the Hanford management is underfunded. It is just one of those things that is under the pubic radar. Those in the area know it is there, but, it isn't a focus of concern. The darn thing has been a problem for so long, it is assumed it is contained and managed. 

If Secretary Chu is re-running tests and finding new conclusions, there is a good chance the management in the past has been flawed. That is just me, but, I would be remiss not to mention it.

This isn't the first interview with President Obama by Reverend Al.

President Obama met with civil rights leaders including Rev. Al Sharpton and others on 2/21/2013 in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. They discussed issues critical to the African-American and civil rights communities

This may have been the first time Civil Rights Leaders were together with President Obama.

Reverend Sharpton has a great relationship with President Obama. I found the radio interview extremely truthful and revealing. The two should do this every six months to clear the air with media rhetoric.

The part of the interview/conversation regarding the upcoming debt cuts took place here. (click here 00:44 seconds begins the topic upto 3:01 minutes)

This is the link to "The Al Sharpton Show" radio program (click here)

This is the entire interview. (click here) I liked it. It was not at all confrontational. They may as have been sitting at the kitchen table. I found it warm and informative. The President has a great deal of depth. He leaves no stone unturned. There are honest answers. No half truths. No rhetoric. I loved it.

On Thursday morning, the Rev. Al Sharpton interviewed President Barack Obama for his radio show, “Keepin’ It Real With Al Sharpton,” on what Black History Month means to him, rising out of the Great Recession, and the seriousness of the sequester.

Secretary LaHood is not playing around. The USA does not want to bailout the airlines yet again.

...“We are beginning today (click here for video) discussions with our unions to likely close more than 100 air traffic control towers at airports with fewer than 150,000 flight operations per year,” LaHood said....

Recently, US Airways and American Airlines announced intentions to merge. The CEOs stated they would keep all flights in operation and would not be cutting any from their schedule. With announcement by Secretary LaHood, all airlines need to rethink their flight schedules beginning March 1st and they need to do that now rather than risk unhappy passengers.

The End of Cheap Airfare (click here)

The US Airways/American merger will mean fewer flights, higher prices, and worse service. But that’s OK.

By Matthew Yglesias|Posted Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, at 2:47 PM

...American Airlines is a much larger company than US Airways, yet it’s in effect being acquired by the smaller company. That’s because the larger company was bankrupt. The new firm will be owned by a blend of US Airways shareholders and American Airlines creditors, and run primarily by US Airways’ top management. US Airways itself was the product of a similar merger back in 2005. It had filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and then again in 2004, and found itself de facto taken over by the smaller America West Airlines. That merger saw America West’s brand subsumed under the better-known US Airways, but it was America West’s CEO Doug Parker who ran the merged entity and who now, with the American merger, will be CEO of the country’s largest airline....

American Airlines is already bankrupt. The USA is not going to bailout an industry always in contention of their own profitability.

The airline industry needs to put the announcement by Secretary La Hood into practice to prevent 90 minute delays by narrowing their number of flights to eliminate congestion at the airports that remain open. They also need to move any and all fights into airports to be closed after March 1st off their schedules. There won't be any Air Traffic Controllers there to even land a jet in an emergency.

There is a lot to be rearranged and it is time for the airlines to do that now. March 1st is just around the corner. I remind, January 1, 2014 will bring additional reductions in spending and additional contraction of the industry. The only reason this is happening on March 1, 2013 is because Congress instituted a delay last year.

Advanced planning will cause a reduction in the amount of liability to the airlines for accommodating passengers held over when their flights are delayed. One of the problems of the airline industry is that they hand out meals and lodging when their flights are postponed and/or cancelled. 

One other thing, if Secretary La Hood is stating there will be 90 minute delays; that is at one airport. That means a jet leaving NYC flying to Los Angels in a non-stop flight will be delayed 90 minutes. At Los Angels it will be delayed again 90 minutes when it receives new passengers on a return flight to NYC.

For a flight having many stop overs and passenger changes, which tend to be the venues of the smaller airlines, their delays will be compounded by 90 minutes every time they land and take off again. Follow? The delays and costs will be exponential. So, the CEOs need to get their act together. The cuts in funding will not be met with bailouts.

United Airlines - Flight 232, DC-10, Soux City - the crash was due to a crack in the jet turbine.

Don't even try to lie about this wayward program.

Investigators discovered (click here) an impurity and fatigue crack in the disk, and traced this defect all the way back to the initial ingot formation in 1971. Titanium when melted reacts with air which creates impurities; to prevent this, the ingot which would become the fan disk was formed using a "double vacuum" process: the raw materials were melted together in a vacuum, allowed to cool and solidify, then melted in a vacuum once more. Afterwards, the ingot was shaped into a billet, a sausage-like form about 16 inches in diameter, and tested using ultrasound to look for defects. Defects were located and the ingot was further processed to remove them. However, some contamination remained.

The manufacturing of any type of engine is exposed to stress and fatigue. It doesn't matter that the jets don't have the exact engine. It is the metal comprising the engines. The F35 was NOT due for refitting of engines until 2020.

General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136

Rolls-Royce has developed the engine, but, is in production with General Electric.

22 FEBRUARY 2013

The Pentagon on Friday (click here) suspended the flights of all F-35 fighter planes after a routine inspection revealed a crack on a turbine blade in the jet engine of an F-35 test aircraft in California.

The F-35 program office said it was to early to know the fleet-wide impact of the engine issue, but it was suspending all flights until an investigation into the issue was completed.

It said it was working closely with Pratt & Whitney, the United Technologies Corp unit which builds the engine for the fighter, and Lockheed Martin Corp, the prime contractor for the radar-evading warplane, to ensure the integrity of the engine and return the F-35 fleet to flight as soon as possible.

The engine to the F35 was suppose to become a part of the ADVENT program with the USA military. The ADVENT program seeks higher fuel efficiency in their operations and assets. If the F-35 continues to be a part of the USA military we would be throwing good money after bad. It is not reasonable to continue this program. The overruns will extend into the next decade and add huge financial burdens to the USA people. The F-35 contracts need to be closed and ended.

It is over for this aircraft!

Stick a fork in it, it is done.

Rolls-Royce: F136 survival is key for major F-35 engine upgrade (click here)
09:03 11 Jun 2009

By:   STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) could be the beneficiary around 2020 of a major engine upgrade if the F136 is not eliminated, a Rolls-Royce executive tells FlightGlobal.com

The F-35's propulsion system has become the main target for the Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (ADVENT) engine competition managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), replacing the postponed next generation bomber (NGB).

"I think we do have a first point of entry [for ADVENT] identified regardless of what happens with NGB, and that is JSF," said Dennis Jarvi, president of Rolls' defence business in North America....

Rolls is currently a junior partner to General Electric for developing the F136 alternate engine for JSF. Meanwhile, GE and Rolls-Royce are competing for a Phase 2 contract by AFRL for the next round of ADVENT funding.

ADVENT technology, which promises a 25% increase in fuel efficiency or a corresponding boost in thrust, "would fit very nicely into something like F136," Jarvi said....

Don't blame the pilot, he/she was simply doing their job. Pilots know what they go through during aerial combat. It is a requirement they come back alive.

It is more than immigration reform.

What the Republican party does not appreciate is the fact Hispanics have many problems other than just immigration. Not that immigration is not important, it is vitally important, but the majority of Hispanics fall into the Middle Class and actually Lower Middle Class.

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance (click here)

$37,759
The median income of Hispanic households in 2010.

26.6%
The poverty rate among Hispanics in 2010, up from 25.3 percent in 2009.

30.7%
The percentage of Hispanics who lacked health insurance in 2010, down from 31.6 percent in 2009

The point is come 2014 and 2016, the GOP is not going to slide by the issues that still beset the Hispanic population in the USA by addressing immigration reform.

As a matter of fact, as the Hispanic population in the USA takes their place among voting citizens they will demand the disparity between the rich and poor in the USA be addressed.

Why won't the citizens, including Hispanics, address topics such as Chained CPI? Are you joking? With loopholes in the income tax structure that chronically reward the wealthy for purchasing personal gratification items rather than investing in the American workforce? 

Here again the lower income Americans are asked to sacrifice their consumer price index increases to benefit the wealthy.

The answer is no. 

There needs to be income tax reform, too. It has to be meaningful and it has to stop victimizing the poor and lower income citizens in the USA. That is where the majority of Hispanics live. If the Republicans are going to impress these minority Americans, they have to move past immigration reform to making life reasonable for all Americans.

Close the loopholes and take another look at increasing taxes on people earning over a quarter million to a half million a year. The Republicans need to get serious and mean it. Capital Gains needs to be looked at again, too.