Thursday, January 30, 2014

As President Obama travels through the nation to ask support from the people.

The GOP has a lot to review in the bills they noted in their letter to him.

There are a "SKILLS Act" in US Senate as well as House having past theirs. The House bill is egregious.

S.1127 - SKILLS Act (click here)
113th Congress (2013-2014) 

The House Bill (click here) 

The House bill amends an existing law passed during the Clinton Administration in 1998.
WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT OF 1998 (click here)
The House bill seeks to change definitions in Section of 101 of this existing law.
It seeks to remove this paragraph:
(13)  Eligible youth.--Except as provided in subtitles C and D,
            the term ``eligible youth'' means an individual who--
            (A) is not less than age 14 and not more than age 21;
            (B) is a low-income individual; and
            (C) is an individual who is one or more of the following:
                (i) Deficient in basic literacy skills.
                (ii) A school dropout.
                (iii) Homeless, a runaway, or a foster child.
                (iv) Pregnant or a parent.
                (v) An offender.
                (vi) An individual who requires additional assistance 
            to complete an educational program, or to secure and hold 
            employment.
And this definition: 
(24) Lower living standard income level.--The term ``lower 
    living standard income level'' means that income level (adjusted 
    for regional, metropolitan, urban, and rural differences and family 
    size) determined annually by the Secretary based on the most recent 
    lower living family budget issued by the Secretary.
And these definitions: 
 (52) Youth activity.--The term ``youth activity'' means an 
    activity described in section 129 that is carried out for eligible 
    youth (or as described in section 129(c)(5)). 
 (53) Youth council.--The term ``youth council'' means a council 
    established under section 117(h).
All those definitions come out and are replaced with this:
‘‘(1) ACCRUED  EXPENDITURES.—The term ‘accrued expenditures’ means charges incurred 
by re-cipients of funds under this title for a given period requiring the provision 
of funds for goods or other tangible property received; 
services performed by employees, contractors, subgrantees, 
subcontractors, and other payees; and other amounts becoming owed under 
programs assisted under this title for which no current services or 
performance is required, such as annuities, insurance claims, and other 
benefit payments....
And the bill goes on from there. The changes to the Definitions of the original
law is extensive. It seeks to remove child labor restrictions. There is no 
replacement definition for "Youth." There are just additional definitions to 
change the original law into a Republican designer law. 
This is another interesting twist in the house bill:
‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE   COSTS—The term ‘ad-ministrative costs’ means 
expenditures incurred... blah, blah, blah...and both direct and 
indirect.’’; 
Anything goes. That is what that is. Administrative costs have no limit to 
it's definition. It invites corruption as if legitimate activity.
The House goes on to change the definitions in the "Carl D. Perkins Career
and Technical Education Act with is referred to the 1998 law. The definition of
Administration is as follows in the Perkins Law.
(1) ADMINISTRATION
.—The term ‘‘administration’’, when
used with respect to an eligible agency or eligible recipient,
means activities necessary for the proper and 
efficient performance of the eligible agency 
or eligible recipient’s duties under
this Act, including the supervision of such activities. Such term
does not include curriculum development activities, personnel
development, or research activities

This is what the House is doing and why the Senate can't consent 
to the laws they pass. The House bills are corrupt. I am not going 
to read the entire House bill. Why should I? I don't get paid the 
money these legislators get paid. Besides that, these provisions 
of the House bill is enough to throw it out.
The House has no viable legislation. There is too much corruption written in them.

The House or Representative Letter states there aren't enough natural gas pipelines as the reason for the spike in costs. Really? Those paragraphs would be a lie. So, the American people are suppose to build more gas pipelines for jobs because that is what is driving up the price. Let's spend money on political favors to GOP cronies? Is that right?

The U.S. natural gas pipeline network (click here) is a highly integrated transmission and distribution grid that can transport natural gas to and from nearly any location in the lower 48 States. The natural gas pipeline grid comprises:
  • More than 210 natural gas pipeline systems.
  • 305,000 miles of interstate and intrastate transmission pipelines (see mileage table).
  • More than 1,400 compressor stations that maintain pressure on the natural gas pipeline network and assure continuous forward movement of supplies (see map).
  • More than 11,000 delivery points, 5,000 receipt points, and 1,400 interconnection points that provide for the transfer of natural gas throughout the United States.   
  • 24 hubs or market centers that provide additional interconnections (see map).
  • 400 underground natural gas storage facilities (see map).
  • 49 locations where natural gas can be imported/exported via pipelines (see map).
  • 8 LNG (liquefied natural gas) import facilities and 100 LNG peaking facilities (see map).
Then there is the mention of SOME words the President spoke:

"A woman deserves equal pay for equal work. She deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job. A mother deserves a day off to care for a sick child or sick parent without running into hardship - and you know what, a father does, too. It's time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a Mad Men episode."

Those words are taken out of the context of the entire paragraph:

"Today, women make up about half our workforce. But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns," he said. "That is wrong, and in 2014, it's an embarrassment. A woman deserves equal pay for equal work. She deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job. A mother deserves a day off to care for a sick child or sick parent without running into hardship - and you know what, a father does, too. It's time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a Mad Men episode."

Then the letter goes on to quote a 1938 prohibits private sector compensation time instead of overtime pay. Then the option of 'comp time' was provided to for government workers in 1985.

The House bill overlooks The Family and Medical Leave Act passed during the 
Clinton Administration in 1993.

The problem is NOT compensatory time. The problem is that when employees take time off they LOSE their jobs. "She deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job." The President's statements are not about compensation time. The President's statement is far more serious than that. The compensation time isn't going to make a darn bit of difference if a parent doesn't have a job to go back to.

The problem citizens face is that the laws that are suppose to protect them and their families require litigation when they are broken. With the poor wages citizens receive there is no room for lawyers. The majority of Red States don't have consumer agencies that take these complaints. In other words, the employers get away with it. I am quite sure the politicians that receive their funding from these same employers like it just fine the way it is.

I wrote about the Gabrielle Miller Kids First Research Act. It takes money from election funding, DRAINING a cash reserve for elections, and assigns it to this purpose. The CDC and NIH already does this research. And that is the other thing, it isn't just a reserve of cash for campaign funding that would disappear, the NIH would be defunded. 

There are reasons why these bills were never taken up by the Senate. They are corrupt, assault well established institutions the USA cannot replace should another venture prove a failure. What I thought was laughable is removing campaign finance monies to this purpose. Evidently, the US House believes the Presidency will continue to escalate in cost. Odd. I would expect the opposite. 

There were four signators to this letter, the Speaker, Cantor, McCarthy and Rodgers. I assume they read this letter by their signators. In that case, they are guilty of attempting to corrupt the USA government. I do believe it is at least an ethics complaint and quite possibly impeachable. 

The activities of the US House since 2010 has been detrimental to the country, used for political purposes, nearly bankrupt the country and have been hostile to the well being and improvement of the lives of our citizens. That is completely impeachable. The problem is there aren't enough members in the House that would actually vote for impeachment of all these people. That is where the weakness in our government results in obstruction. President Obama and the US Senate would have to consent to the corruption in order to work with the US House.

I thought it was really convenient for Republicans to postpone the debt ceiling increase until after the State of the Union speech.

They are taking hostages, AGAIN.

House Republican leadership sent a letter to President Obama on Thursday morning outlining the areas of his State of the Union speech where they have found “potential for agreement.”

Governments are corporations. They would like to have everyone believe they are simply people like those that election them. NOT. They are responsible for the people that elect them.

I suppose this is just one of those "Oops" moments, right? What
difference does it make thirteen people died. That is just 13 less
voters. Right? No big deal.

GOVERNMENTAL LIABILITY FOR NEGLIGENCE
Act 170 of 1964
AN ACT to make uniform the liability of municipal corporations, political subdivisions, and the state, its agencies and departments, officers, employees, and volunteers thereof, and members of certain boards,
councils, and task forces when engaged in the exercise or discharge of a governmental function, for injuries to property and persons; to define and limit this liability; to define and limit the liability of the state when
engaged in a proprietary function; to authorize the purchase of liability insurance to protect against loss arising out of this liability; to provide for defending certain claims made against public officers, employees,
and volunteers and for paying damages sought or awarded against them; to provide for the legal defense of public officers, employees, and volunteers; to provide for reimbursement of public officers and employees for
certain legal expenses; and to repeal acts and parts of acts.

Why does Georgia have a liability attorney? Just to take up space? Her office is in Atlanta, the state government should check to see if she is still alive.

Governmental Liability & Transportation (click here)

Susan Levy has defended the Georgia Department of Transportation in personal injury and wrongful death cases for almost two decades. Originally as an Assistant Attorney General and currently as a Special Assistant Attorney General, Susan has defended the State of Georgia against allegations of negligence in such areas as road design, construction, maintenance, signalization, work zone traffic control, guardrail installation, and numerous other transportation issues.
Through Susan's representation of the Georgia DOT and several other large public and private entities, she has developed a proficiency in the principles of accident reconstruction and the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, as well as numerous publications of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

The emergency response to protect the lives of citizens is well established law. Governments cannot volunteer to protect and save lives. They are required to protect the lives of their citizens. Instituting some of the BASIC understanding of government in their role to protect life is required. Government action is not optional.

Was the response to September 11, 2001 optional? Come and help when their ready? There were hundreds of emergency response police and fire personal that died in that disaster. Responding is not an option.

If cities and states are going to accept FEMA money it means they understand and value emergency response.  The USA spends billions and billions of taxpayer money to insure the safety of citizens. This is not optional. This is not Oops. This is NEGLIGENCE.

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster (click here) Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Public Law 100-707), signed into law on November 23, 1988; amended the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-288). The Stafford Act constitutes the statutory authority for most Federal disaster response activities especially as they pertain to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and FEMA programs.

SECTION 202 of this law demands the relationship by the federal government with state and local governments to save lives

Section (a) Readiness of federal agencies to issue warnings to state and local officials

If the state and local governments are UNABLE to issue these warnings, there is Section (b):

Technical Assistant to State and Local Governments for Effective Warning 

The reason section b exists is to insure the federal government isn't simply existing without reason. What good does it do if the federal government can protect lives, but, there is no infrastructure to receive the warnings? That is why laws exist

Section (c): Warnings to Governmental Authorities and Public Endangered by Disaster

You know those annoying interruptions in the media services? They are required by law. This is not an option. This is not Oops.

Section (d ): Agreement with commercial communication systems for use of facilities.

The public takes all the news that effects their well being seriously. Sometimes there are people that don't, but, when that is a one or two or even a few people that isn't the same thing as to what happened in the south yesterday. The governments involved didn't have a clue. Not a clue.

This is criminal. There are 'at least' 13 people dead.

I can't imagine, "Hi, honey I am caught in a traffic jam and may not be home ever again."

Really?

I know the national weather service is not the problem. They broadcast over emergency radio 24 hours. There is no lack of prediction anywhere. I know that for a fact.

It is lack of leadership in their willingness to admit they have a climate condition that is dangerous and unpredictable. The Polar Vortex was all over the news. To dismiss this as weather was the most deadly thing anyone could have done. There should be no watering down of the seriousness of this and the lack of leadership to be ready. This was well known to the weather services before it arrived. The leadership in the south is pathetic and to think over 13 people have died and now everyone is suppose to dismiss that because a baby was born on the highway? You've got to be joking? 

I have family that lives there. This is about as lousy a government structure as it gets. Thank God they don't live in Atlanta.

The governments in the South are about the most stupid people one can ever meet. This is not the ONLY problem. I could understand it if this was the only problem, but, the legislatures and town governments are simply incompetent. There are problems across the range of government in any of the southern states of this country. This is just the latest.

By M. Alex Johnson
Staff Writer
NBC News

...The National Weather Service (click here) wouldn't comment, but other experts were quick to leap to its defense.

"Wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong," Marshall Shepherd, president of the American Meteorological Society, said of critics who alleged that the weather service botched its forecasts.

In a post on a blog he set up Wednesday specifically to defend the performance of forecasting services this week, Shepherd pointed out that the weather service issued watches and warnings well before the storm arrived, providing plenty of time for Georgia officials to make the right decisions.

"Yet, as soon as I saw what was unfolding with kids being stranded in schools, 6+ hour commutes, and other horror stories, I knew it was coming, I knew it. Some in the public, social medial or decision-making positions would 'blame' the  meteorologists," Shepherd wrote in a post titled "An Open Thank You to Meteorologists in Atlanta."

NBC News meteorologist Al Roker agreed.

"The mayor and the governor got on TV yesterday  and said all this wasn't expected, and that's not true," Roker said Wednesday on TODAY.....
...

I never thought I would appreciate Mark Sanford.

I liked what he said. I realize he is a conservative. But, the most interesting aspect of his comments is that they were sincere. He pulled punches. If anyone was suppose to return to the House as a measure to it's deterioration, it was him.

He appears at 10:21.

State of the Union Statuary Hall Interview, January 28, 2014 (click here)

...The erosion or destruction of what was once called regular order...

"Is there a change in partisanship?" 

"The easy answer is yes..."

Climate Change is real...what is the cause. Rep. Sanford doesn't know any scientists within NASA and NOAA? He needs to become familiar. They could easily answer that for him.

Sanford is a traditionalist while believing compromise can be found to avoid Executive Orders. I hope he can persuade his colleagues to do exactly that.

I have never witnessed 'standard lying' until I heard Rep. Kevin Brady speak. He doesn't speak the same language of America. "...I think there is common ground there...."

-International Trade
-Increase training to poorly prepared American work force
-Speeding up the benefits for Disabled Veterans

"The Stimulus failed and all the spending went to Wall Street instead of the Middle Class....

That is beautifully manipulated language. All the spending of government, especially the Stimulus, has gone to Wall Street. Well, I knew there was a reason why there was so much poverty in the county. The US government created the greed of the wealth class. I'll be darn.

"I think we need a change in course." I suppose that means no more spending since Congress does it so poorly.

"Trade issues, to expand our ability to sell around the world." Sell what? The USA doesn't manufacture anything to sell. And if the TPP is passed and signed into law, we won't have a viable car manufacturing sector in the USA either. So, I don't know what the USA is storing in bulging warehouses that we are going to sell. I guess the trade deficit will be well served, right? NOT! It will make it worse.

"The ball is in the President's Court..."  If Rep. Brady continued his thought openly he would have stated, "...to compromise most of what he stated and do what the US House demands." 

All his words following that comment is nothing more than rhetoric.

The President of the USA made an address to the country to IMPROVE the circumstances of the American people and Rep. Brady threw out the entire speech and inserted his own agenda. That is amazing. Why was he at the speech at all?




Two weeks ago I discovered, (click here) to my surprise, that I had line-edited an early draft of Glenn Beck’s new novel, “Agenda 21.” Glenn Beck! At the time I was working on it, the manuscript belonged to its actual author, a woman named Harriet Parke, who lives a few minutes from my aunt. But a year and a few lawyers later, Glenn Beck purchased the right to call himself its creator, and Ms. Parke agreed to be presented as a ghostwriter....

Why anyone would want to put their name on this book is beyond my imagination. It is not only poorly written, but, it was intended to play on every fear the rightwing drummed up about Democrats. Was Glenn Beck responsible for divisiveness? No. He was responsible for hate mongering.

June 9, 2013


Glenn Beck has apparently (click here) realized that for years he's been one of the most politically polarizing figures in the nation.

This week Beck has admitted although he regrets the way that some of his incendiary opinions have caused division in the country over the last several years, he's still right about them.
It was his tone, not his content, that he sometimes regrets he says.

Claiming that he wasn't aware his his comments like  President Barack Obama having 'a deep-seated hatred for white people' could have ended with people 'at each other's throats,' Beck said he was puzzled by activists who go on to organize boycotts of people who say things they disagree with....


To spare moral people from actually have to read this hate book; it places animal rights ahead of human rights. Americans are now in servitude to a dictatorial 'authority' with a supreme leader of sorts. They have to 'walk the board' to produce the energy the country needs. The humans receive food cubes and rations of water in exchange for energy. They are basically starved and die as adults. Women are objects of reproduction purposes and are mated with men that suites the authorities. Children are removed from their mothers to live in a Child Compound. There is no privacy of anyone. The humans live in communal quarters where they have a mat to sleep on. Women wear headscarves with colors and stripes the denote their fertility and married status.

The book objectifies every aspect of life. It is a horrible read, the paragraphs have all kinds of holes in them to define the events in clarity. It is poorly written and a lousy read. It is nothing more than hatred. All of it.

Glenn Beck is an overtly praying entertainer, but, his covert identity is full of hate. 

The third execution in Missouri since November.

 Updated at 10:45 p.m.
 

...Smulls' attorneys (click here) were challenging among other things the state's refusal to disclose where it obtained its lethal injection drug. The state says the name of the compounding pharmacy isn't public record, because it's considered part of the execution team....

...Missouri had used a three-drug execution process since 1989, until the drug makers stopped selling those drugs for executions. Missouri eventually switched late last year to pentobarbital. Pentobarbital was used to execute two Missouri inmates late last year, and neither showed visible signs of distress.

Compounding pharmacies custom-mix drugs for clients and are not subject to oversight by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, though they are regulated by states.

On Tuesday, Pilate said previous testimony from a prison official indicates that the state stores the drug at room temperatures, which could taint the drug and potentially cause it to lose its effectiveness.

Pilate also said she and her defense team used information obtained through open records requests and publicly available documents to determine that the compounding pharmacy is The Apothecary Shoppe, based in Tulsa, Okla. In a statement, The Apothecary Shoppe would neither confirm nor deny that it makes the Missouri execution drug....

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Obamacare only received 4 minutes in the State of the Union?

Why rub the GOP noses in it?
Larry Kudlow says income inequality is the result of Women's Liberation. Women lost their foothold on wealth when they went to work.

He had two compare the difference between the 1950s and today. Smart women in the work force are marrying smart men and there for it increases the income inequality gap. I didn't know that statistics regarding income inequality was based on Joint Returns. "Divorce rate impoverishes." Divorce dominates the lower income classes in society. "...Marriage is a tool to reach wealth."

These are the three myths of income inequality according to Larry Kudlow:

- inequality is at an all time high and rising 

States the Kudlow Report, the all time high was 2007 and not 2014. Really? Before the 2008 crash and while the housing market bubble was deflating.

- rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poor

The Kudlow Report's propaganda about this states it is only the 0.1% that is causing the gap. Wow, that was a genius statement if I ever heard one.

- permanent plutocracy

Supposedly the plutocrats are moving in and out of wealth acquisition all the time. I suppose it is like the market today as they moved from stocks to bonds to cover any losses in the so called emerging markets that all the propagandists played up as a great happening in the world while the 0.1% did so well. Mutual funds across the board had increases.

Larry states the President doesn't get the wealth message. He further stated Bill Gates, the Late Steve Jobs and Mark Zukerberg have created more millionaires in recent years. Larry states all those millionaires that these men created will put that money back into the economy.

I am trying to figure out if the new millionaires created by all those folks were at all in the USA. I think it is very sad when propaganda is all one hears when it should be sound fiscal advise. No excuses. 

Rebecca Graebner

August 7, 2012 at 4:30 pm

The only positive out of this program was about immigration. Kudlow states immigration reform is a pro-growth economy. It amounts to more consumers of local economies when their pay rate is better and they are Americans. Right now immigrants locked out of good wages live and breath at Walmart.

The winners in the US stock market today were primarily electronics, digital, semi-conductors of well standing companies. The softer consumer stocks such as McCormick, Avon, of course Boeing, the troubled Yahoo and computer storage stocks all were losers today.

Atlanta.

People are on foot.

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Motorists need to pull to the side of the road where they are. Not drive down the side of the road, but, pull to the side. If the traffic is reduced by 75% the roads will become passable. 

CAR POOL WITH STRANGERS to warm storm centers.

Once again. If three out of every four cars are pulled to the side of the road, the road will become passable. If needed tow trucks can recover the cars at the side of the road later. 

Get them out of the cold!  

The State Police and National Guard has to start at one end of the traffic and work toward the middle. It won't take long provided every car has fuel. The police might want to call in tow trucks for those without fuel. A 'gas can' convoy to get them moving. 

What a flyin' liar this man is.

He stated, in response to President Obama's veto, that the USA has been in negotiations with Iran for years, with SOME through the European Union.

SOME?

The talks through the EU resulted in an Iranian President hell bent on returning to the Holocaust.

I do believe the Iranian President that returned to the Holocaust was evident under Bush and this idiot.

John Bolton, the Ambassador of War. He has been and remains completely laughable. At one point, the UN never wanted him to make a speech on premises. He finally was able to secure a room for one speech. OMG. He couldn't even make in roads with the United Nations, yet alone Iran.

John Bolton should have been so lucky to actually know the country code for Iranian telephones. I have never laughed this much in my life. I'll be back later. 
Report: US and Iran laying framework for first direct talks in  over 30 years

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS 
09/12/2013

US President Barack Obama (click here) has exchanged letters with his new Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in recent weeks, and the two leaders may hold a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York later this month, The Los Angeles Times quoted US officials as saying.
According to the Thursday report in the Times, Washington and Tehran have been discussing the situation in Syria and tentatively laying the framework for direct talks over Iran's disputed nuclear program...

This is Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT)

The beautiful part of VAWT is that is can be used SINGLY by anyone. The turbine can be any size. It doesn't take a wind farm to produce electricity. It can be set at heights of twelve feet depending on the wind patterns. These can be set up at docks where the wind is reliable and supply electricity to boats.

There are a million and one places for this form of wind turbine and it doesn't have to cause bird deaths. It can be placed in heights and locations that do not interfere with migration routes. It is completely resistant to snow and icing. 

The USA's wind turbine industry in Michigan should investigate the potential of market share and manufacture them domestically.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT)(click here) are a type of wind turbine where the main rotor shaft is set vertically and the main components are located at the base of the turbine. They have their main rotor shaft arranged vertically. The main advantage of this arrangement is that the wind turbine does not need to be pointed into the wind. This is an advantage on sites where the wind direction is highly variable or has turbulent winds.

Employing Darrieus wind turbine, Giromill, Savonius wind turbine & Twisted Savonius vertical axis sub-techniques yields power generation with good efficiency.

These types of installations can be packed closer together in wind farms, allowing more entities in a given space. They require less wind, thus allowing them to be closer to the ground. They can be easily maintained with less operating costs....
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) are a type of wind turbine where the main rotor shaft is set vertically and the main components are located at the base of the turbine. They have their main rotor shaft arranged vertically. The main advantage of this arrangement is that the wind turbine does not need to be pointed into the wind. This is an advantage on sites where the wind direction is highly variable or has turbulent winds.

Employing Darrieus wind turbine, Giromill, Savonius wind turbine & Twisted Savonius vertical axis sub-techniques yields power generation with good efficiency.

These types of installations can be packed closer together in wind farms, allowing more entities in a given space. They require less wind, thus allowing them to be closer to the ground. They can be easily maintained with less operating costs.
- See more at: http://www.preranaenergy.com/windpower.html#sthash.eWq7k2RM.dpuf
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) are a type of wind turbine where the main rotor shaft is set vertically and the main components are located at the base of the turbine. They have their main rotor shaft arranged vertically. The main advantage of this arrangement is that the wind turbine does not need to be pointed into the wind. This is an advantage on sites where the wind direction is highly variable or has turbulent winds.

Employing Darrieus wind turbine, Giromill, Savonius wind turbine & Twisted Savonius vertical axis sub-techniques yields power generation with good efficiency.

These types of installations can be packed closer together in wind farms, allowing more entities in a given space. They require less wind, thus allowing them to be closer to the ground. They can be easily maintained with less operating costs.
- See more at: http://www.preranaenergy.com/windpower.html#sthash.eWq7k2RM.dpuf

I don't know how many times I stated in meetings with panel after panel for years, "The price of natural gas will skyrocket."

TRAVERSE CITY — A “perfect storm” of conditions (click here) is causing propane prices to spike, hitting families hard during the coldest winter in recent years.
Propane prices rose to a statewide average of $2.73 per gallon on Jan. 20, according to the Michigan Public Service Commission, although propane providers said prices are now even higher. Some propane customers locked in prices through price-set plans at the beginning of the winter, but others are now footing the bill of higher prices due to cold weather, shortages of propane and other factors.
“Some people have described this as a perfect storm of multiple factors coming together at the same time to create this supply problem,” said Judy Palnau, a media and public information specialist for the Michigan Public Service Commission.
Scott Overholt, the owner of Traverse City based Tri-Gas Distributing Company, said propane prices rose an average of 85 cents in the last week, bringing costs up to around $3.46 per gallon. Matt Stevens, owner of Buckley-based Stevens Propane, said prices have spiked dramatically....

This time last year the same community paid $1.85 per gallon for propane. In order to extract propane, methane has to be refined.

...Propane is in fact a different fuel from natural gas, (click here) though the two are closely related. So what’s the difference between these two fossil fuel cousins?
Chemical Makeup
Natural gas that is drilled out of the ground is actually a mishmash of several gases. Methane is the biggest component of unrefined natural gas, and is the one gas left at the end of the refining process. So when someone uses natural gas for cooking or heating in their home, they are essentially burning methane with an odorant (added for safety, it makes gas leaks more easily detectable) and a few other additives. Other components of unrefined natural gas include butane, ethane, and propane. That’s right, propane is actually a part of unrefined natural gas that is separated out during the refining process sold separately. Both refined natural gas and propane are hydrocarbons (nature-formed compounds made up of hydrogen and carbon). Propane’s chemical formula is C3H8 and methane’s is CH4....

The Speaker was looking for jobs and the President gave him some.

PHILADELPHIA, January 9, 2014
PHILADELPHIA 
January 9, 2014

PHILADELPHIA, January 9, 2014
The City of Philadelphia (click here) was one of three cities and a total of five areas selected for a Promise Zone designation, a federal initiative to accelerate revitalization efforts in targeted areas. The Promise Zone initiative is led by the White House with support from federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice.
 
The new Promise Zone initiative, first described by the president in his 2013 State of the Union Address, marshals a range of resources to meet the challenge of revitalizing some of the nation’s most persistently poverty-stricken communities. The West Philadelphia Promise Zone is one of five across the nation designated this year, with 15 more to follow over the next four years....


The City of Philadelphia was one of three cities and a total of five areas selected for a Promise Zone designation, a federal initiative to accelerate revitalization efforts in targeted areas. The Promise Zone initiative is led by the White House with support from federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice.
The new Promise Zone initiative, first described by the president in his 2013 State of the Union Address, marshals a range of resources to meet the challenge of revitalizing some of the nation’s most persistently poverty-stricken communities. The West Philadelphia Promise Zone is one of five across the nation designated this year, with 15 more to follow over the next four years.
- See more at: http://www.drexel.edu/now/news-media/releases/archive/2014/January/Philadelphia-as-a-Promise-Zone/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed#sthash.3mPkkGFR.dpuf
The City of Philadelphia was one of three cities and a total of five areas selected for a Promise Zone designation, a federal initiative to accelerate revitalization efforts in targeted areas. The Promise Zone initiative is led by the White House with support from federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice.
The new Promise Zone initiative, first described by the president in his 2013 State of the Union Address, marshals a range of resources to meet the challenge of revitalizing some of the nation’s most persistently poverty-stricken communities. The West Philadelphia Promise Zone is one of five across the nation designated this year, with 15 more to follow over the next four years.

The people are fine. The city is on a water access and the water is warmer than the air.




By Erik Ortiz
Staff Writer
NBC News

Grocery store shelves are stocked, (click here) express mail is on its way, and additional flights and ferries are available.

As life in Valdez, Alaska, marches on after an avalanche cut off the tiny port city’s only highway, transportation officials are monitoring another hazard: A half-mile-long lake now pooling behind the avalanche that has the potential to cause flash flooding and damage to homes.

Officials say there isn’t an immediate danger in the Keystone Canyon area, although an updated report is expected Tuesday.

“There are just too many unknowns at this point,” statewide maintenance engineer Mike Coffey told the Anchorage Daily News....

There are many planes flying in Alaska. It is preferred transportation in some areas.



The President is reacting to decades old dialogue. Most probably from the petroleum industry and political mindspeak.

It is too late for transitions fuels. I just is. Scientists have discovered a way to roll back time. Building more natural gas power plants are a mistake. The industry will fight any and all regulations from now to the end of time. The petroleum industry does not care about human life. I doubt they care about any form of life at all

There is new soldier in the fight. She is Erin Brockovich and her fight against industry pollution of water. Shehas  a map of the severe damage conducted by the petroleum industry by fracking across this country. She was on Bill Maher. She is very serious and a good friend to the American people. 

Let's face it the laws passed by Cheney during the Bush decade are egregious and do not take into account any current science. The laws are extremely corrupt. 

 By Joanna M. Foster
 January 9, 2014 at 12:48 pm

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has, (click here) at long last, published its rule to limit carbon emissions from new power plants. The proposed rule appeared Wednesday in the Federal Register, four months after EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy announced it back in September.

The regulation mandates that all future coal plants can emit just 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour. An average U.S. coal plant currently dumps over 1,700 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for every megawatt-hour of energy it produces. The rule also covers new natural-gas fired plants. Natural gas plants, 100 megawatts or larger, will be limited to 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour, while smaller plants could emit no more than 1,100 pounds.

Modern combined-cycle natural gas plants are essentially already able to meet this standard. The rule, will however, make it very difficult for new coal-fired power plants to be built in the United States. Utilities will only be able to build new coal plants if they are able to capture 20 to 40 percent of the carbon they emit and store it underground. This technology is known as carbon capture and storage (CCS). Many coal advocates in Congress and fossil-fuel industry leaders have argued that the standard is designed to nix new coal plant construction, claiming that the CCS technology needed to meet the standard simply isn’t ready for commercial deployment...

The State of the Union Speech was interesting enough if one was paying attention.







...Sergeant 1st Class Remsburg, (click here) who has been awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama at the Capitol. As Obama detailed Remsburg’s progress, Congress—and the Joint Chiefs of Staff—roared their approval.

The commander-in-chief and Sergeant 1st Class Remsburg go way back, at least as far as presidents and grunts can go. They first met on June 6, 2009, in Normandy, during the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. “He was a strong, impressive young man, had an easy manner,” Obama told Congress, and the nation, on Tuesday night. “He was sharp as a tack.” That was the first of their three get-togethers before Tuesday....

On April 2nd in the East Room of the White House, (click here) President Obama announced the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. He began his remarks by emphasizing the importance of scientific research and innovation and how the resulting technology and knowledge have contributed to our country’s economic growth and changed our lives. Computer chips, GPS, the Internet and the human genome were a few of the examples that he gave. The BRAIN initiative, and President Obama’s concept of this as “one of the Administration’s Grand Challenges of the 21st century,” presents an extraordinary opportunity for the neuroscience community and for patients with brain disorders. There is no accurate accounting for the toll that brain diseases exact but estimates are that more than 1000 brain disorders affect 100 million Americans and that the cost exceeds $5 billion....