Thursday, February 05, 2015

February 5, 2015

Investment guru Warren Buffett, (click here) the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, said it would be "very tough" for the Federal Reserve to lift interest rates this year because of the stronger US dollar.
"That would exacerbate the problem," Buffett said in an interview on the Fox Business network. "I don't think it'll be very feasible to do."

US economic growth, outperforming most industrialised counterparts, has helped push the world's largest economy's currency close to the highest level in more than a decade, making it cheaper for Americans to buy imported goods and helping to lower inflation that's already below the Fed's goals.

The US Dollar Index, which the Intercontinental Exchange uses to track the greenback against currencies of six trade partners, climbed 5 per cent last quarter.

The dollar's strength is pushing long-term US Treasury yields to record lows as overseas investors look to profit from the rising currency.

With Fed policy makers weighing when to raise rates which they have kept near zero since December 2008, Buffett said risks still lurk for investors who accept those yields....

A Quotable Quote by Warren Buffet

“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

August 14, 2015
Op-Ed by Warren Buffet

OUR leaders (click here) have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.
While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.
These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places....
Americans tend to think of their middle class as being the richest in the world, but it turns out, in terms of wealth, they rank fairly low among major industrialized countries,” said Edward Wolff, an economics professor at New York University.
Globally, middle-class Americans are only the 19th richest in the world with a median net worth of $44,900 per adult. The U.S. falls below Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, and a slew of European nations. Super-affluent Americans skew the average wealth upwards creating the large discrepancy between America’s average and median net worth.

“The U.S. has 42 percent of the world’s millionaires and 49 percent of those with more than $50 million in assets,” CNN Money adds.
If anything, the drastic gap between the two measures point out the big elephant in the room: The growing wealth inequality in Americ
- See more at: http://madamenoire.com/437769/wealthy-think-18-countries-richer-middle-class-u-s/#sthash.kUhWhTE6.dpuf
Americans tend to think of their middle class as being the richest in the world, but it turns out, in terms of wealth, they rank fairly low among major industrialized countries,” said Edward Wolff, an economics professor at New York University.
Globally, middle-class Americans are only the 19th richest in the world with a median net worth of $44,900 per adult. The U.S. falls below Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, and a slew of European nations. Super-affluent Americans skew the average wealth upwards creating the large discrepancy between America’s average and median net worth.

“The U.S. has 42 percent of the world’s millionaires and 49 percent of those with more than $50 million in assets,” CNN Money adds.
If anything, the drastic gap between the two measures point out the big elephant in the room: The growing wealth inequality in Americ
- See more at: http://madamenoire.com/437769/wealthy-think-18-countries-richer-middle-class-u-s/#sthash.kUhWhTE6.dpuf

Union leaders need to make themselves to the public. There will be praise along with the critics, but, it is good for the country to define one of the best unions in the country.

The UAW needs to talk about the recalls and how they occurred in the first place. The UAW wants the American people buying their products. The union needs to develop an open dialogue with the people that count on them to make safe products by American labor. The American public needs to understand why these safety issues occur.

There is a very good chance, honesty would bring about better relations between unions and their prospective members. We know the Middle Class is dependent on unions to maintain its status. Unions need to speak to that reality and how to maintain it. 

February 5, 2015
By Bill Vlasic

Despite reporting a sharp drop in earnings because of its safety crisis last year, US car giant General Motors plans to give its union workers profit-share payouts of up to $US9000 ($11,582).
GM, America's largest automaker, said it would give each of its 48,000 union workers in the United States the payouts, based on North American earnings last year, without factoring in the big charges it had to take for its more than 80 car recalls.
In reporting its fourth-quarter results, GM said it earned pretax profit of $US6.6 billion in North America last year. But without the cost of the recalls, the pretax earnings were $US9 billion.
The automaker's union contract calls for it to pay about $US1000 in profit-sharing for each $US1 billion earned in pretax profit in North America....

...There was no immediate comment from the UAW, which had been in discussions with GM about not penalising union members for recalls and safety costs, which an in-house investigation last year attributed to failings by management over several years....

Magnificent! The second most dangerous militia can be beaten!

The most beautiful thing about this victory is the fact Chad can hold this land and not have it return to any other influence after the USA leaves. They are incredible. Only when native military is successful will stability endure. Now, this military is able to stabilize their region and sovereignty and the security of their people. The more secure a region is, the sooner their economy can grow.

When President Obama instills the need for native militaries to be strong and successful it is because it lasts. No more Wack-a-Mole. No more Ba'athists waiting their turn to violence. The reasons are real. It isn't because the left political wing of American politics is hiding under their desks to practice "Duck and Cover." 

Chadian troops have claimed victory over Boko Haram after a fierce battle.

 4 February 2015

Chad's army (click here) says it has killed more than 200 militant Islamists and lost nine men during a battle to recapture a key town in north-eastern Nigeria.
Boko Haram militants killed about 30 people after fleeing from the battle to Cameroon, a resident said.
It was the most intense battle known to involve Chadian troops since they entered the conflict in Nigeria.
Chad and Nigeria are also bombing the vast Sambisa forest, where the militants have bases.
Boko Haram fighters were suspected to have taken to the forest more than 200 schoolgirls it abducted in April from the north-eastern Nigerian town of Chibok.
It is not clear whether any of the girls are still there. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has since said that the girls have been married off....

Wednesday, February 04, 2015

The IS video would be rated XXX for the level of violence in it.

The media IS uses is about power. It is not about God. It is not about Allah. It is about the power a man has over the people. Not God, but, a man.

I haven't seen the video. I don't care to.

I saw four Buddhist monks light themselves on fire in Vietnam. I don't need to understand the pain and loss there is in such a horrific act.

When is the Seante putting him in office. It has been too long already.

February 4, 2015
By Helen Cooper

WASHINGTON — Ashton B. Carter, (click here) President Obama’s nominee for secretary of defense, told senators on Wednesday that he would consider increased American military assistance to Ukraine, including the sale of lethal arms, as part of the country’s effort to fight Russian-backed separatists in the east.
Mr. Carter’s comments, which came as he cruised through a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, echoed those of senior administration officials, who have indicated in recent weeks that the White House is rethinking its opposition to arming Ukraine in what is turning into a proxy war with Russia....

The United Nations needs to come up with diplomatic measures between Russia and the USA in regard to Ukraine. There are plenty reasons for the USA and EU and Russia to talk even outside Ukraine.

There needs to be a United Nations diplomatic measure with Assad and the USA and Russia. Everyone has to be at the table and if that means France, Great Britain and China then do it. If Assad needs more Arab representation at the table, then ask Saudi Arabia or any other stable government that wants peace in the Middle East. 

The United Nations needs a diplomatic measure between the USA, Israel, Palestine and Hamas. This ridiculous. It's been decades and the Palestinians are losing ground every day. If the UN needs to have reality come to the Palestinian issue with the World Courts stating the paths open to that nation of people then it needs to be said and plans made. 

These can't be minor diplomatic measures. They move from the United Nations to the leadership of the countries involved. 

The new Secretary of Defense has to be briefed on all these issues as well as the arms problem coming out of Libya, too. The United Nations has a lot of intelligence on these issues. For the part the USA plays in many of these theaters, the Secretary of Defense has to consult with them. Let the new secretary bring US military intelligence with him.

Solutions have to be found in regard to all these issues and the US has to have a legitimate reason to act in any of this mess. I sincerely believe the uprisings in places like Yemen occur because of the high number of deaths by drones. The UN Security Council needs to come to terms with drones and bring resolutions to their use. The stress level among these people have to be outrageous. My take on drones. They might be good as spies IN A WAR THEATER, but, this mess they have now is way out of hand.

I don't know when I shed as many tears as I did this evening.

The Robert's Court walked on the lives and graves of these people. We need a minority congress and it has to be the Democrats that do it in 2016. The Dems need to run as many Hispanics as possible, where that is not possible then African American, where that is not possible then Asian Americans, etc., etc., etc.

We need our country back. At the end of every week, I am going to look at the monies in my accounts and I am going to make a donation to the Democratic National Party. No nonsense. No silly devotion to issues that won't win the elections.

We already know the lady that is going to win the White House. She needs a minority Congress to bring about the change this country needs. It is time to get serious. 

I don't know what is wrong with Hollywood. Maybe it isn't time for Brad Pitt to be Producer of the year, but, they are wrong. There may not be a lot of gadgets and whistles in this picture, but, there is a profound human story being told. This is the USA. This is a story about the one most important and precious power we can give our citizens. There isn't anything more important. Go figure.

I think the NTSB does a through job, but,...

...in this case they need to start with the type of car on the tracks and it's level of repair. Americans aren't necessarily purchasing new cars to protect from poor condition and needed repairs. The Americans working for poor wages purchase what can be called a clunker. What kind of repair are cars in in the USA?

It doesn't sound as though she was interested in suicide if she was outside the car attempting to move it off the tracks.

This tragedy was caused by a car that stopped crossing railroad tracks. Unless there was malfunction of signals there is only one reason why it happened. Velocity is velocity, unless commuter trains are suppose to crawl along every crossing with roads there needs to be different interaction between the train and the cars. Put the trains on elevated railways and then the infrastructure for magnetic electric trains will exist.

But, part of the issue here is the car and why it stopped on railroad tracks. 

SUVs are tough cars. This is a true story. A friend had a problem with his 4 wheel drive truck. He was crossing a minimally marked railroad crossing along a dirt road when a train hit him. No lie. He lived to tell the story. The truck had balloon tires and literally bounced along tracks in front of the train. The train stopped and the truck was undrivable but the driver lived. Some of the vehicles on the road are tough. This isn't about manufacturers. These vehicles can be modified by their owners. 

In this case the SUV caused the fast moving commuter train to leave the track. When a train takes flight there is no blaming anyone except the driver of the SUV. Trains move fast. They were designed to move fast. No one within the train industry could be held responsible for this.

Start building elevated rails and crossings are a good start because our infrastructure is sadly outdated. Eliminate this potential into the future.

February 4, 2015
Theresa Juva-Brown, Matt Spillane, Khurram Saeed and James O'Rourk

VALHALLA — The National Transportation Safety Board (click here) has taken control of the train-SUV crash scene where six people died and 15 were injured Tuesday.
"We've got several busy days ahead of us," NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt told reporters at a Wednesday morning briefing. "We intend to find out not only what happened but why."
The investigation will include experts in fire science, signals, and crossings, to name a few. The team will review events recorders that monitor the Metro-North train's speed and brakes. They will also have access to video from the crossing....
The Transasia jet was pilot error. It stalled. It didn't have enough air speed to continue it's flight at take off. We saw this once before in the private contractor carrying large and heavy equipment from Afghanistan. The jet didn't have high enough air speed to carry it's freight.

The jet that previously crashed into the sea should have been allowed to turn around to return to the airport for the level of air turbulence in the area. Indonesia has a problem with storms all the time, but, it's aviators need to discern severe storms and air turbulence from those that are navigable. 

Statistical Loads Data for the Boeing 777-200ER Aircraft in Commercial Operations (click here)

The lost Air Asian jet was probably cabin failure. These jets have been flying at altitudes of 45,000 feet. 45,000 feet is the stratosphere. The outside air pressure doesn't even come close to the inside air pressure. The jets are probably experiencing too many extremes in pressure and cracking. Eventually, as in the case of the lost jet it gives way and the cabin fails. That is what I think occurred. 

The airlines are taking the super-jumbos to higher altitudes to increase the number of jets able to fly over one spot on Earth. If commercial jets start to take on higher and higher levels in the atmosphere, the jets can be stacked thick.

Let's say a jet was allowed to occupy airspace every mile in altitude. That means at 45,000 feet there can be eight jets/planes below it. Now, how cheap can airfares become if an airline can operate on a per hour rate with nine jets piled into the same geographical spot. I really think the characteristics the commercial airline industry is taking is beyond dangerous. Ask oneself how many 'near misses' are there with these jets per day. 

One other thing. If ANY crack is noted in the inside cabin of the jet, report it and start a online site to report each crack of each jet. The community needs to start a site for each jet in the commercial industry and report any problem at that site be it service to the customer and/or any physical defect in the cabin. People have a right to know.

The Undocumented Community has a problem. The Gay Community succeeded, but, it started in Massachusetts.

The electorate has it wrong about electing any Republican as president in 2016. What is the sense in electing a Republican president when the legislature won't pass any Immigration Reform? That's the problem. The electorate if focusing on any potential a Republican president could pass immigration reform. That isn't the issue. 2016 needs a Democratic president to sign the bill, but, Congress has to be majority Democratic in order to first pass the bill. The Undocumented Worker community has a huge task before them. It isn't enough to have a president friendly to them, it takes an immigrant community friendly Congress. And not just immigrant friendly, but, also Undocumented Worker friendly.

I am astounded the hatred that is leveraged against any Democratic initiative. Healthcare is now under attack by Republican lawyers. These lawyers have systematically gone through every word of the ACA to find a flaw based in the words "state exchange." Two words, not even an entire sentence. That is unbelievable. The hatred of any Democratic initiative is unbelievable. 

The majority Congress today is trying to mask itself as friendly to Democratic values in order to appear to be 'good people,' yet before their majority they were completely hostile to Americans. They were willing to bankrupt the government in their tirade over their minority status. 

Republicans live to destroy Americans ability to be wealthy. That emphasis extends back to the post Civil War era. The Republicans that create a hostile environment for the Middle Class is a direct attack against local government. If no one owned property where would the local governments be? Would there be any service from local governments? 

Republicans are a problem for the majority of the country.  

Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Where have the anti-aircraft guns come from?

This was one of the pictures of his capture. I know why I wasn't paying attention to it, it was Christmas Eve. I was with family from early afternoon.

December 24, 2015
RMC published a photograph (click here) said to be of the pilot who appeared wearing a white shirt as he was surrounded by 11 fighters, some of them masked. Another photograph published by the group showed the man — naked from the waist down and soaking wet — being captured by three gunmen as he was taken out of what appeared to be a lake.
RMC later posted a photograph of the Jordanian military identity card of the pilot identifying him as Mu'ath Safi Yousef al-Kaseasbeh who was born on May 29, 1988.
In Jordan, the pilot's cousin Marwan al-Kaseasbeh confirmed by telephone with The Associated Press that the photos are of his cousin. He added that the Jordanian government has so far not contacted the pilot's family.
There was no immediate comment from Jordanian authorities....

His parachute landed in a lake. He was trying to prevent himself from drowning and was getting out of his flight suit because it was filling with water.

March 11, 2014
By Michelle Nichols

(Reuters) - Shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles (click here) have been trafficked out of Libya to Chad, Mali, Tunisia, Lebanon and likely Central African Republic, with attempts made to send them to Syrian opposition groups, according to a U.N. report on Tuesday.
An independent panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions on Libya, that include an arms embargo imposed at the start of the 2011 uprising that ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi, reported that the weapons, known as MANPADs, that were found in Mali and Tunisia "were clearly part of terrorist groups' arsenals."
"Despite efforts by Libya and other countries to account for and secure MANPADs in Libya, Panel sources state that thousands of MANPADs were still available in arsenals controlled by a wide array of non-state actors with tenuous or non-existent links to Libyan national authorities," the experts said in their final report to the U.N. Security Council....


Libya. How did I guess? They have to be destroyed. 


The USA took out the main batteries of missile launchers, but, no one bothered with this. Gaddafi had stockpiled huge amounts of munitions. The rebel groups in Libya are not only arming every other radical group in the region they are making money that is sustaining their fight against the government.

..."Over the past three years, Libya has become a primary source of illicit weapons," according to the U.N. report.
The U.N. experts said Libya has been a key source of arms for Syria opposition groups due to "popular sympathies for the Syrian opposition, large available stockpiles of weapons, the lack of law enforcement and a new generation of domestic arms dealers who appeared during the Libyan uprising."
"Sources indicated to the Panel that the Syrian Arab Republic is also becoming a source of onward proliferation itself, including to Iraq and Lebanon," according to the report, which covers the past year....

The UN is harboring the intelligence. No wonder Assad is out gunned.

US Senator Paul sets an example. Well done.

No one else is getting publicly vaccinated to motivate parents and adults alike.

February 3, 2015
By Jerry W. Peters

Senator Rand Paul, (click here) facing a backlash over his comments that cast doubt on whether he believes vaccines can pose a health risk to children, asserted on Tuesday that he believes vaccinations are indeed safe and that all parents should have their children inoculated.
To prove his point, Mr. Paul invited a reporter with him to watch him get his booster vaccination for Hepatitis A.
“It just annoys me that I’m being characterized as someone who’s against vaccines,” Mr. Paul said as he settled into a chair in an examination room in the Capitol physician’s office.
“There’s 400 headlines now that say ‘Paul says vaccines cause mental disorders,'” he added. “That’s not what I said. I said I’ve heard of people who’ve had vaccines and they see a temporal association and they believe that.”...
This is the woman Jordan has as a prisoner. The suicide bombers claim to be martyrs as well. Evidently, the Islamic extremists use propaganda without an understanding the meaning of martyr.

The event in Amman is on the blog.

November 13, 2005
Police in Jordan (click here) say they have arrested a woman suspected of having wanted to blow herself up in a series of suicide bombings in Amman.
Police say the Iraqi woman is the wife of one of three Iraqi male suicide bombers who attacked three hotels on Wednesday, killing 57 people.
Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said she was also the sister of a dead key aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Zarqawi's al-Qaeda in Iraq group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The three Iraqi bombers, who died in the attacks, were identified as Ali Hussein Ali al-Shamari, from Anbar province, Rawad Jassem Mohammed Abed, 23, and Safaa Mohammed Ali, 23....

Muath Safi Yousef Al-Kasasbeh is a martyred hero in defense of his country and faith.


I had no idea martyrdom was recognized by the Catholic Church. But, then there is Jesus, right?

Francis is a great Pope. 

February 3, 2015

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis (click here) decreed Tuesday that slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero was killed in 1980 out of hatred for his Catholic faith, approving a martyrdom declaration that sets the stage for his beatification.
Francis, the first Latin American pope, approved the decree honoring one of the heroes of Latin American Christians at a meeting with the head of the Vatican's saint-making office.

Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was gunned down by right-wing death squads March 24, 1980,...

Archbishop Romero was internationally recognized.

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (August 15, 1917 - March 24, 1980) (click here) was a prominent Roman Catholic priest in El Salvador during the 1960s and 1970s becoming Archbishop of San Salvador in 1977. After witnessing numerous violations of human rights, he began to speak out on behalf of the poor and the victims of repression. This led to numerous conflicts, both with the government in El Salvador and within the Catholic Church. After speaking out against U.S. military support for the government of El Salvador, and calling for soldiers to disobey orders to fire on innocent civilians, Archbishop Romero was shot dead while celebrating Mass at the small chapel of the cancer hospital where he lived....

He was a post humerous Nobel Peace Prize winner. Not to give the wrong impression of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Romero was saving lives. He was ministering to the poor in El Salvador during a time when government corruption, land abuses and combat altercations between those that were powerful. The USA was backing the official government in arming the troops when El Salvador was in civil war. El Salvador had been in conflict for decades. But, this was different this time.. 

The problem arose that the poor became homeless. Land was taken over to insure the standing government had control. The removal of El Salvadorians from the land was named "The Football War." The people were nameless and faceless and they literally had no place to be. It was a four day maneuver with wide ranging impacts including adversity in the El Salvador and Honduras. The years was 1969. The poverty of the people became institutionalized and was permanent from that time forward.

The Archbishop placed himself at the center of the poverty and asked for help. He asked the Vatican and when the Vatican had no answers, he criticized the USA to end the conflict that was being fueled by munitions coming from USA contractors. He didn't have help from anyone. He was at the center of the poverty and his only ally was the poor.  He took his position and told the people where they were in the eyes of God. He instilled faith in their hearts, but, also talked about the reality of their conditions so they knew this was not their fault, but, that of the government and powers they had no method to act against. He made people with power angry. Their anger ended his life.

...1979
Oscar visited the Pope in Rome (click here) and outlined to him, with evidence, the injustices which were part of life in El Salvador. He did not have much support within the church, and was under threat from those outside it. He spoke out against the USA-financed security forces, and became too much of a threat to the government.
1980
He was shot dead while celebrating mass. His last words were: 'May God have mercy on the assassin.' 
1981
Oscar Romero was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (having been nominated in 1978). 

There are many lessons from the death of Archbishop Romero. His frustrations were obvious and his power vacuum too much to bear. He was in a country he loved that had been removed from it's moorings. No one listened, except, the people he ministered to and they were powerless to change their outcomes. Did his life count?

...Just weeks before his murder, (click here) Archbishop Romero published an open letter to President Jimmy Carter in the Salvadoran press, asking the United States not to intervene in El Salvador’s fate by arming brutal security forces against a popular opposition movement. Romero warned that U.S. support would only “sharpen the injustice and repression against the organizations of the people which repeatedly have been struggling to gain respect for their fundamental human rights.” Despite his plea, President Carter moved to approve $5 million in military aid less than one year after the archbishop’s murder, as Carter was leaving office in January 1981.

Included in the posting are documents reporting on a secret, behind-the-scene effort by the United States to enlist the Vatican in pressuring Romero over his perceived support for the Salvadoran left; an account of the archbishop’s powerful March 23, 1980, homily, given the day before his assassination; a description of the murder by the U.S. defense attaché in El Salvador; and an extraordinary embassy cable describing a meeting organized by rightist leader Roberto D’Aubuisson in which participants draw lots to determine who would be the triggerman to kill Romero....


The Archbishop was completely disregarded among any authority that influenced the civil war. The Archbishop wanted the violence to stop. He was actually seeking a power sharing government, but, that concept wasn't considered a valued aspect of any peace settlement. In those years there was war or no war; but, nothing in between. The Archbishop wanted the killing to end and in his own way without official definition was calling the people to come together and for the powerful to have mercy on the poor.

... In 1980 a series of failed military juntas took power, (click here) but none were able to quell the violence. By 1981, leftist guerrillas and political groups jointed forces, forming the FMLN. Then, throughout the 1980s civil war was waged between the FMLN and the U.S.-backed Salvadoran military forces. Increased international attention to the fighting led to an investigation by the U.S. Congress into the conflict and, eventually, the UN intervened to help mediate a resolution upon request of the two warring parties. The Commission on the Truth for El Salvador was mandated by the January 16, 1992 U.N.-brokered peace agreements that ended the war. The commission was set up in July....

From the peace agreement. This was the military the USA built. I was dismantled into a peaceful force to protect the sovereignty of the country that insured the well being of each citizen.
 


Reduction (click here)
The new situation of peace shall include the reduction of the armed forces to a size appropriate to their doctrine and to the functions assigned to them by the Constitution within the framework of the constitutional reform resulting from the Mexico Agreements. Accordingly, pursuant to the New York Agreement, the Government has submitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations a
plan for the reduction of the armed forces, which the Secretary-General
has made known to FMLN. The implementation of the plan must have the pr
actical consequence of making reductions in the various branches of the armed forces.
 
Chapter 2 established a national civil police, Chapter 3 and 4 are not in the digital record, Chapter 5 addresses the problem with the land and how farmers needed to work the land to feed the people, Chapter 6 recognizes the political party FMLN and removed all political prisoners to a citizen status and Chapter 7 ends the conflict. Chapters that follow outlines the enforcement of the peace agreement by the United Nations.
 
Did life matter? Ultimately the Archbishops demands were met by intervention of the United Nations. He gave his life to bring awareness and urgency to the need for peace. His life mattered. His impact is immeasurable. He deserves the recognition by Pope Francis. 
 
Archbishop Romero is among the modern day recognition of a martyr that changed the face of an entire country. He is a controversial figure, because he took the challenge of the poor to a higher level than simply supporting them through faith. He is no less a saint for the life and passions he had against a superpower and the government it backed that caused the deaths of innocent civilians in El Salvador.  
 

This is the right wing of the GOP. Wackos. North Carolina has a wacko Senator for the next six years.

See, market pressures take care of everything. Certainly the country knows that, right? So, Tillis is a flyin' genius. The private sector doesn't need government and regulation; they need to be left alone. Did I get that right? The only thing the private sector needs is freedom to completely do what they want. Like, "No Blacks May Enter" or "No Single Women Allowed." Right? So, this time it is handwashing.

Children are going to be asking "What's Soap?" Even the vaccinated ones. 

February 3, 2015
By Colby Itkowtz

Once we’re done debating (click here) whether children should be vaccinated, we can move on to other pressing public health questions, such as whether eateries can force their employees to wash their hands after they use the bathroom.
At least one freshman U.S. senator thinks, “nah.” Because freedom.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), at the end of an appearance Monday at the Bipartisan Policy Center, volunteered a story about “his bias when it comes to regulatory reform.”...

Mr. Tillis is a moron. Merrium Webster defines a moron as a very stupid or foolish person.

What Mr. Tillis never bothers to realize is that if one restaurant doesn't require employees to wash their hands, there will be others that don't require their employees to wash their hands. As a matter of fact, McDonald's would save millions of dollars in hand washing soap to add to their profit margin to pay Mr. Tillis a higher stock dividend. 

So, there you have it. The Republicans obsess about government regulation and how it robs Wall Street of profits. They don't care about people. 

I have a better idea. Why not federally mandate all employees everywhere have to supply their hand soap to wash their hands. Not bad, right?

But, is the federal government going to monitor the employer to be sure they are washing their hands and does the federal government allow the employer to fine an employee if they don't wash their hands? Is the employer federally mandated to file the collected fines with the federal government in their taxes or are they actually a tax credit for being good girls and boys?

Barbaric. The Islamic State has no value of human life.

Muath al-Kasaesbeh was a POW. He was protected by the Geneva Conventions. IS can't be tolerated as they assassinate POWs.

A Jordanian girl holds a poster of pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh earlier this week. Kasaesbeh has purportedly been burned alive by his ISIS captors. (Muhammad Hamed/Reuters) 

The Assad forces have been hitting IS hard. One strike was just outside Damascus. 

February 3, 2015
By Thomson Reuters

A video released (click here) by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Tuesday purported to show captive Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh being burned alive.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the video, which showed a man resembling the captive pilot standing in a black cage before being set ablaze. Kasaesbeh has been in ISIS captivity since his plane crashed over Syria in December.
The head of the Jordanian armed forces told his family he had been killed, a member of the family told Reuters....

I think he is leaving some areas in the region to the Kurds and other groups such as Hezbollah. It would appear his military is primarily stripped of any conventional forces and are relying on IEDs. Whether or not that is a wise decision by The West is questionable. Assad was not capable of this level of cruel killing. I know there are many stating he is a cruel and dangerous dictate. That doesn't appear to be the case. No one is saying he is a Boy Scout, but, he isn't IS. He was cooperating and then abandoned. 

February 3 ,2015

...Another 17 people were killed (click here) and tens of others were injured when regime planes attacked the Casim region in Deraa.
Yusuf Bustani, a local activist, told The Anadolu Agency that regime planes attacked residential areas in Douma, about 10 km north-east of the capital.

Bustani said that among the dead were many women and children. Houses, commercial buildings and vehicles were also destroyed in the attack.

Syria has been gripped by constant fighting since the regime launched a violent crackdown in response to anti-government protests in March 2011, triggering a conflict, which has spiraled into civil war....

The voice heard round the world.

Appeared in The New Zealand Herald this morning.

The Homeless are people, too. It isn't unusual to find artists among this community.

Saved by a cat named Bob, James Bowen now has a movie portraying his life starring Daniel Radcliffe.

February 4, 2015
By Linda Morris

Ten years ago, James Bowen (click here) had a methadone habit, no fixed address and no real job. He is now the co-author of five books, a children's book series and, in a film of his life story, he is set to be played by Daniel Radcliffe, the one-time boy wizard.
The life-changing transformation comes down to the unlikely pairing of Bowen with a wily green-eyed tom cat named Bob. Together, they must count as the oddest of London literary couples.
Bob was a stray Bowen adopted in 2007 after finding him curled up on a doormat outside a ground-floor flat in Covent Garden, malnourished and with an abscess on his back leg.
After spending all of his busker's wages to buy a course of antibiotics, Bowen brought the cat home and named him after a character in his favourite television series, Twin Peaks.
The two became local celebrities selling The Big Issue outside Angel tube station, eventually coming to the notice of literary agent, Mary Panchos.
"If I was to go busking now I would probably cause a street hazard," says Bowen on his first publicity tour to Australia, where he once lived....

The Russian separtists have called for a large number of troops to escalate the war.

The conflict is beginning to take on a problematic tone. The negotiations are worth anything because the rebels doesn't listen to Russia. I never thought they did actually. The Russian military on the border with Ukraine have proven an ineffective influence with the rebels.

February 2, 2015
Bloomberg -- Eight top former U.S. officials (click here) urged the White House to start sending lethal weaponry to Ukraine in its battle against pro-Russian rebels, adding to the pressure on the administration as fighting there has escalated again. Administration officials say they are focused on a diplomatic solution but are examining all options.
The call by the eight former officials came in a report on Monday that urges the administration and NATO to send $3 billion of military aid, including anti-armor missiles, to bolster Ukrainian forces over the coming three years... 

Now, the rebels want fresh recruits. The events in eastern Ukraine are completely out of control. If there was ever a major confrontation it would destabilize the region. There are currently at least 5000 dead. That is a burgeoning crisis with major powers in the middle of it.

February 2, 2015

...Mr. Zakharchenko, (click here) the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said mobilisation was "urgent" and that the call-up would take place in the next 10 days.

"This is to increase our army to 100,000 people," he said. "It does not mean we will take in 100,000, but the joint army of Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics' army should be 100,000."

However, the rebels' ability to raise large numbers of forces is unclear...

If Russia enters Ukraine with troops they will keep on going. They won't some at the western Ukraine border either. There is always the possibility the people in Kiev and other cities will suffer unbelievable outcomes, if the rebels prove successful.

This was never a matter of if, it has always been a matter of when does The West send Ukraine the armaments they are looking for. We always hope there will be a break through with talks, but, Russia has no influence with the rebels. 

Strike Two, Third Strike and the Airlines will be looking for a bailout.

February 2, 2015
By Ben Mutzabaugh

...More than 4,560 flights (click here) had been canceled through Monday. Additionally, most big airlines had issued weather waivers that allowed passengers flying to airports in the storm's path to change their flight plans without paying the standard change fees. Carriers issuing weather waivers included American, Delta, JetBlue, Spirit, Southwest, United, US Airways and Virgin America. Details, dates and cites covered by the waivers varied by airline....

Right now, the House Speaker and the Senate Majority leader is trying to find a way to define a storm as a terrorist to cover everyone in terrorist insurance.

It doesn't get easier from here.