This is another mess.

The Russian economic alliance rages forward in the face of death of former colleagues. There is no conscience in Moscow or any other former Soviet state that have aligned economically with Russia. 

Fighting raged in Ukraine (click here) on Friday (Feb 13), throwing doubts on a ceasefire deal due to take effect over the weekend, as the US said Russia was still deploying heavy arms and Kiev warned that shelling of civilians had intensified....

 Where is the voice of reason in any Russia affiliations? 

...Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the continuing bombardment of civilians in eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian separatist rebels was already undermining the peace plan reached in Minsk on Thursday. At least 28 civilians and soldiers were reported killed in the latest upsurge in fighting.... 

The so called Pro-Russia rebels have no conscience. They continue to kill innocent people for what purpose? This is hatred. 

There is no going back to the Soviet Union. Russia hasn't gone anywhere. The economic sanctions by The West were leveraged when the treaty protecting the lives of Ukrainians fell into question. Russia did this to itself.

Russia was accepted as an important member of the international community among many levels of economic opportunity. Russia had power internationally through influence, not just military arsenals. Russia needs to prove they have influence with the rebels to come to a peaceful end. If Russia cannot rein in the rebels it only proves this is about a regime intent on killing because of hate. 

If Russia has no influence and a ceasefire doesn't occur, other countries have to make decisions about how to continue to protect Ukrainian lives in the face of rebels of anarchy.

January 29, 2015
The AP 

MINSK, Belarus - New cracks emerged (click here) Thursday in a Russia-led economic alliance, with the president of Belarus warning that his nation may opt out of it.

Alexander Lukashenko also sternly warned Moscow Thursday that his nation of 10 million will never be part of the "Russian world," a term coined by the Kremlin that reflects its hopes to pull ex-Soviet nations closer into its orbit.
"Those who think that the Belarusian land is part as what they call the Russian world, almost part of Russia, forget about it!" Lukashenko said. "Belaru=s is a modern and independent state."

Lukashenko, who has been at the helm since 1994, has relied on Russia's economic subsidies and political support but bristled at Moscow's attempts to expand its control over Belarusian assets....

If Russia is unable to stop the rebels in Ukraine, there is no guarantee such forces in neighboring states will manifest to destabilize them as well. Moscow has to stop this. It's reputation as a valid leader to economic opportunity is dissolving. I do not believe any First World leaders wants to dissolve Russia into nothing but a war profile. Russia has to come back into the fold. It is a safe place for citizens of all nations.

Any ethnic hatred anywhere in the world is a crime. Every ethnic nation has a right to exist. Any human rights violation has to be brought out of the shadows to stop it. No major country should look the other way in the face of ethnic cleansing even if it is not globally known. Transparency in the reporting of such heinous acts is heroic.

Destroying an ethnic group cannot be tolerated and should never be viewed as victory in war.

From the Moscow Times:

January 19, 2015
By Yulia Zhuchova

...By contrast, (click here) the CSTO was established as a voluntary organization with seemingly clear objectives. But what result do we see now?

Over the last 10 years, the organization conducted more than 15 large-scale joint military exercises aimed at combatting terrorism and extremism, but where was the organization when, for example, Kyrgyzstan came to the brink of a full-scale civil war in 2010? 

Did a contingent of CSTO troops deploy to Osh to prevent the massacre of civilians? No. Did the CSTO member states at least formulate and agree on  a common position regarding the Kyrgyz problem? Again, no. 

In recent years Russia twice deployed its troops to the territory of neighboring states — in 2008 to South Ossetia, then a part of Georgia, and in 2014 to Crimea, then a part of Ukraine. Borders changed, but did any of Russia's allies officially recognize those changes? Not one.... 

Beat ISIS?

The only way to beat ISIS is genocide. This is not new. The only thing new about this tragedy in Syria is that it is Syria instead of Iraq.

Since the Iraq invasion the region has been destabilized. There is a reason why The Green Zone in Baghdad has multiple rings of blast walls.

The vast charismatic movement is new and it can possibly be attributed to the hatred spewed by Glen Beck and his caliphate scenarios. It probably teased out an opportunity for the Ba'athist they hadn't entertained before. 

This level of killing and ? culture ? has existed a long time and I am not talking biblical. The Taliban has been a roll model of ISIS.

Why this was different? Because it occurred after the USA left and was a complete surprise. I don't know why, those supplying weapons to so called rebels provided to be sadly mistaken. 

No one is going to say Assad was a saint, but, he was also no different than any of the other dictators. It was the way it was. It was all too easy to be an enemy of the state in the Middle East, that is what triggered so much of the intense unrest among the people of the region and north Africa.  

The region has to come to conclusions about the influence of ISIS and the potential to violence and death of their citizens. This is as much a culture war as a war of forces. The clerics in the region, even Nasrallah, realize the threat of the faux faith of IS.

Every American has to feel badly for these people. Their faiths are under attack and the war zealots of the Ba'athists have cleverly mastered a message that rings loudly among average citizens. There is even international penetration to the IS message.

I don't know why the people of these countries have turned against their faith. It is somewhat surprising. Mecca is a permanent icon to the Muslim faith, yet the people have allowed their imaginations to entertained by radicals that have no affiliation to the practice of any faith, they are heretics. That is the part of this that makes no sense to me. 

It has to be the fact IS reaches back in time to violent movements after the death of Mohammad. There is nothing concrete in the real world to dispute that. I doubt the language of the modern day Muslim includes teachings and discussions of any caliphate. It isn't necessarily a proud time to the life of the faith over centuries. The caliphates became very violent. One can even discuss the fact the caliphates lost their faith and it's innate generosity.

The Muslim people already have a modern day caliphate. They go on pilgramages without interruption. They travel the entire region in praise of their religious leaders. What do they need am imagined caliphate by people that want to kill them? It is strange. By every measure this potential should never have existed. IS should have been laughed at for it's violent message. No citizens within the influence of IS is guaranteed their life. If they trip up over a rule that is obscure to them, they are killed in a public methodology to terrify everyone else in the population. That is not the mind of Allah.

The Muslim faith is not alone in it's history of violence, most faiths in the world have had their dark times. IS does not practice faith, it practices human rights violations and a lot of them. There is constant threat of death within the reach of IS. That is not a benevolent god, it is the god of heretics.

Stop blaming the woman as if Kitzhaber was under a spell,.

It would have been more prudent to have the FBI investigate before his resignation. Amazing. As long as there is a woman that goes along with a political scandal a career is over.

February 14, 2015

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (click here) announced his resignation Friday over a deepening influence-peddling scandal surrounding his fiancée and on the same day the U.S. Attorney's Office issued a subpoena demanding records and electronic communications pertaining to the pair....

Does she own a broom? Calderon maybe? No. Just Al Gore and an effort to address the climate crisis. 

Oregon's Lady McBeth (click here)

...On Thursday, outrage over Hayes’ multiple scandals reached its conclusion. Her fiancé, Gov. John Kitzhaber, resigned, putting an end to his more than three-decades-long career in Oregon politics, 20 years of which were spent in the governor’s office.
“I am in love,” Kitzhaber said when asked about Hayes’ alleged wrongdoings at a press conference on Jan. 30. “I have no regrets over my personal relationship with Cylvia Hayes. She is a wonderful lady.”...

...her National Governor’s Association profile, that she was “a policy advisor to Governor John Kitzhaber on the issues of clean energy and economic development.”
All of this was made more complicated by the fact that Hayes’ consulting firm was doing work for the state....

I am still looking for 'the big sin.' It would be a real scandal if she hadn't been involved in her consulting business before she became involved with the governor. She was involved in politics and climate work since the early 2000s.

...In October 2014, while Kitzhaber was in the midst of his reelection campaign, the Willamette Week uncovered a curious detail about Hayes’ third failed marriage, which took place in 1997, to an 18-year-old Ethiopian immigrant. “Public records raise questions about whether the marriage was legitimate or whether it was a way to help the young man with his immigration status.”
The marriage ended after 4 years and 3 months....

OMG, she was a cougar. When 18 seemed to young, the older man was more her taste.

...Worse, still: Governor Kitzhaber had no idea the green-card marriage had ever happened before it was reported by the press....

Poor man. He must have been attracted by her youth and the love was a lie. That is really radical.

The only thing the story misses is the chance there is a love child.

...“There was somewhat of a leader/follower there, and she was leading and the gentleman was following,” Patrick Siemion, who sold the property to Hayes and the man, told KOIN 6 News. Not long after the purchase, according to Siemion, Hayes and the man stopped making payments on the property, and by 1998 they “gave up their interest” in it, reported KOIN 6 News....

I've got to hand it to her; men went out on a limb to get her attention. Infatuation was her specialty. She needs a good girlfriend to tell her she should become "Permanent marriage curious." A friend who would challenger her to make it to the tenth anniversary. She had no problem making a commitment, only her commitment was short lived.

I like her. Teach me what you know, darlin'. 

ESPN is covering the 2015 Cricket World Cup (click here). It is being broadcast online live.

After eight hours, Arctic Granny apples, right, do not brown like unmodified Granny apples. Credit Okanagan Specialty Fruits    

February 13, 2015    

The government (click here) on Friday approved the commercial planting of genetically engineered apples that are resistant to turning brown when sliced or bruised.... 

...According to the USDA's (click here) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), biotechnology plantings as a percentage of total crop plantings in the United States in 2012 were about 88 percent for corn, 94 percent for cotton, and 93 percent for soybeans. NASS conducts an agricultural survey in all states in June of each year....

In competition with Monsanto, Dow AgroSciences has developed a system of genetically engineered seeds that can be bathed in herbicide and any other kind of ...cide and the plants will grow unthwarted.

What's next for the Enlist^™ (click here) system Dow AgroSciences will launch its innovative Enlist Duo^™ herbicide  for the 2015 crop season. It will be launched in conjunction with a stewarded introduction of Enlist^™ corn, and seed production of Enlist soybeans. Regulatory approvals are pending for Enlist cotton.

Just think, human beings can be ...cide resistant, too. How special is that, huh? If Dow Agroscience really wants to compete against Monsanto, grow heritage seeds in large batches that are already drought resistant. 

Put Monsanto out of business with the sale of real crops rather than pretend crops. 

Now those are root systems I can live with. 

September 17, 2014


...Approval of the specialty corn and soybeans (click here) to be sold as part of a branded "Enlist Weed Control System" means the traits could be on the market for the 2015 U.S. planting season, according to Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical.
Dow is still awaiting approval from the Environmental Protection Agency for Enlist herbicide, which the genetically altered Enlist corn and beans are designed to tolerate. Like the popular Roundup Ready system developed by rival Monsanto Co., farmers who plant Enlist crops can spray their fields with Enlist herbicide and kill weeds but not the crops....

When will the US government FINALLY get the information they need to know the American people don't want this junk.

After eight hours, Arctic Granny apples, right, do not brown like unmodified Granny apples. Credit Okanagan Specialty Fruits 

 

February 13, 2015 

 

The government (click here) on Friday approved the commercial planting of genetically engineered apples that are resistant to turning brown when sliced or bruised....

...According to the USDA's (click here) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), biotechnology plantings as a percentage of total crop plantings in the United States in 2012 were about 88 percent for corn, 94 percent for cotton, and 93 percent for soybeans. NASS conducts an agricultural survey in all states in June of each year....

There was something that didn't click right when this satellite was launched. I know what it is now.

NOAA's DSCOVR satellite launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Feb. 11, 2015. DSCOVR will provide NOAA space weather forecasters more reliable measurements of solar wind conditions, improving their ability to monitor potentially harmful solar activity.

Image Credit: NASA

February 11, 2015

A new mission (click here) to monitor solar activity is now making its way to an orbit one million miles from Earth. The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 6:03 p.m. EST Wednesday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
DSCOVR, a partnership among the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA and the U.S. Air Force, will provide NOAA space weather forecasters more reliable measurements of solar wind conditions, improving their ability to monitor potentially harmful solar activity.
NASA received funding from NOAA to refurbish the DSCOVR spacecraft and its solar wind instruments for this mission. The work was completed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, where a team developed the command and control portion of the spacecraft’s ground segment, and manages the launch and activation of the satellite....

What would it take to stop a drone war?

July 31, 2014
By Peter Kelly Detwiler

...The effects were bizarre (click here) and almost entirely unanticipated.  One effect was an electromagnetic pulse, but nobody knew it was going to be anywhere nearly as large it proved to be.  They had all this data and they didn’t understand very much of it, including the EMPs that had been observed and the effects produced…all kinds of electrical disturbances were seen over 1000 kilometers away in Oahu. The Air Force brought in a bunch of us…and asked us to explain it.  With the leadership of scientists from Los Alamos, we figured it out.  It was a fairly subtle piece of physics.  At that time we were worried it could be used as a precursor attack on the U.S. and suppress our retaliatory capability.  Since the effect wasn’t really understood before 1962, our military systems hadn’t protected against it up to that point....

The only way drones can be justified is if they are as fool proof as a human military. They can be stopped. Drones are the worst investment the USA military can make. When they fail due to electromagnetic pulse the war is lost. The advantage the new satellite will provide is silly. All that will do is provide a time frame to the loss of the war.

The satellite is funded by three branches of government, NOAA, NASA and the Air Force. Now, what interest does the Air Force have in the sun? 

NASA already has a lot of information about the sun. This satellite will probably measure 'the climate' of space. The reason space climate has to be measured is because the ambitions of the country is to put human beings on a mission to Mars. Such a crew would not be returning to Earth. The solar winds are dangerous to human beings. NASA would be interested in understanding the radiation, emissions of same from the sun and if there is a predictability to it. 

And NOAA is going to be responsible for Space Weather as well as Earth Weather. I hope they don't get the two confused.

As part of the Space Weather Prediction Center's (click here) rollout of our improved website, the content from Space Weather Now is being provided in a new way.

 

When is the spending for a computerized military going to be finished? It is the biggest waste of money this country has ever had. The F35 and now the US Air Force is worried about electromagnetic fields. Amazing. 

 

THEY CAN BE STOPPED. DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS. 

 

Best reason for peace yet.

There were three people murdered from the same family dressed in traditional clothing and this isn't obvious?

Ms. Deitle: “They do, (click here) and I think some of the states that have passed hate crime legislation are different than the federal statute. Probably the biggest difference that we have in the federal system is that our statute has a requirement that we need some type of force, some type of force or threat of force as part of the crime for the FBI to be able to investigate it. So for example, if you have an action which is forceful where somebody is trying to interfere or intimidate with the victims’ right to engage in a certain activity—like for example, trying to eat at a restaurant, trying to enter a movie theater—and that person is prohibited from doing so because of his race or religion or national origin, that could be considered a federal hate crime. So we’re a little bit more limited than a lot of the other state statutes which are similar.”

Mr. Hicks may have threatened a lot of people, maybe the entire neighborhood, but threats are not the issue here. He murdered three people that were overtly Muslim. The fact these people were Muslim IS evidence.

When Trayvon Martin was killed Mr. Zimmerman was following him as 'ONE OF THOSE, AGAIN.' One of those meant he was following a black man and the federal government states it wasn't a hate crime? Excuse me! 

Mr. Hicks stated he hated all religion. How convenient three Muslims wore their religion on their sleeve. 

This is a hate crime. Just because he didn't kill a Christian and Buddhist in equal opportunity doesn't mean these people weren't targeted. The three Muslims BECAME an object. They became an object of hate. There isn't anything cerebral about hate. 

These people were living their lives in peace. They didn't seek him out that day to rub his nose in hate, he decided when they came out of their home they were easy targets. Parking was a convenient excuse. What else is there to understand? Nothing.

I am grateful for the resolve of the father. He is a rock to the truth. He is magnificent.

All to familiar was the oppressive language of North Carolina law enforcement. As soon as the deaths occurred the law enforcement immediately came out and stated it was not hatred that caused the deaths of three wonderful young people. It is the voice of oppression that is well practiced in the USA south.  

While that oppressive voice is easily notable, what surprised me more than any police officer and/or sheriff was the US Attorney sounding off in the same oppressive tone and words.

Hicks is another Zimmerman. There are plenty throughout the country. They purchase guns and take way territorial rights from citizens to call that land their own. There is a social movement within the gun enthusiasts owners. They are their own law enforcement. "I (the male voice) am the sole protector of my family."

This is a hate crime. There needs to be truth gathering by everyone moved by this level of hate in this North Carolina community. Those gathering the information now are looking for methodology and law to suppress as much of the truth as possible.  

My deepest sympathies to the family who knew these young people so well. From what I can see of them now in the social media is incredible. We don't even know how much we miss them. It is obvious the three were nothing short of pure joy.
  

The coffin of one of three young Muslims who were shot in Chapel Hill, N.C., this week was carried to a funeral prayer service on Thursday in Raleigh, N.C. Credit Travis Dove for The New York Times.

February 12, 2015
By Jonathan M. Katz and Michael Paulson

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Neighbors (click here) knew Craig Stephen Hicks. He was the angry man on Summerwalk Circle, they said — irritated about noise, irascible about parking, hostile to religion. And armed.

Mr. Hicks was such a disruptive presence in the Finley Forest condominium complex that last year, residents held a meeting to talk about him.

None of them, of course, could have foreseen that he might be charged with murdering three people in a neighboring apartment on Tuesday: two sisters, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, and Yusor’s husband, Deah Shaddy Barakat — all of them Muslim. But some neighbors felt threatened by his behavior....

   

Do something on Valentine's Day

Come to the "Traverse City Winter Comedy Arts Festival." (click here)

Forget the flowers, they wilt in a week.

Forget the candy, it only messes up the diet started on January 1st. 

Do something ! 

This is that crazy festival that brings everyone out of hibernation in Michigan. It turns the main street also known as Front Street into a carnival. Literally, even with a ferris wheel that is taller than any building can guaranteed to freeze anyone's face at the top of the wheel.

Joining the celebrity list is Sinbad and Bill Maher is headlining. It is going to be one of the best comedy arts festival yet. Oh, by the way, it is it's fifth anniversary.

The new investigation in the UK of HSBC is not a reason to hold Ms. Lynch appointment.

February 12, 2015

...The UK's Treasury Committee (click here) is to examine allegations that HSBC's Swiss private bank helped clients evade tax.

Whistleblower Herve Falciani has said the UK government should have known about the scandal in 2010.
Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie said the committee was concerned about the allegations and had decided to take oral evidence from both HSBC and HMRC.
Meanwhile, the BBC understands the Treasury is preparing legislation to tighten the tax evasion laws....

This is a convenient excuse for the southern Senator David Vitter to attempt to taint Ms. Lynch's spotless record.

February 12, 2015

...Senators submitted dozens (click here) of additional questions to Lynch in writing about her differences with Attorney General Eric Holder, the immigration order, and a range of granular topics related to the Justice Department, which she responded to in a 220-page document earlier this week. 

Grassley said on Thursday he was unhappy with some of those responses, and wanted time to press her further. 

The Republicans pulled this last minute anxiety methology when Secretary McCarthy was nominated as well. Same exact methodology to instill fear of their power over any nominee.

"I know that there's a lot of pressure to answer these questions quickly but that doesn't excuse the incomplete answers," he said.

Louisiana Republican David Vitter said he had asked for Lynch's nomination to be held while he examined a 2012 agreement her office entered into with HSBC Holdings Plc. The agreement required the bank to pay more than $1 billion, but allowed it to avoid charges it failed to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal drug money from flowing through the bank and the U.S. financial system.
That settlement has received renewed attention after media reports of a second investigation into the bank's Swiss unit, which allegedly helped wealthy clients evade taxes in their home countries by hiding money in Switzerland.

The committee is expected to take up Lynch's nomination again at its next business meeting later this month. 

The issue with HSBC was a record setting fine. There was so much wrong with the case it would have probably put a real dent in their assets which ultimately could have caused a loss to consumers for the size of the actual fine. There is no other bank that were assessed one billion US. I don't think she was being nice to them. Seriously.

This new case is a new case. The international community is taking a look at the practice of banks and their offshoring habits because their customers have so much money in their banks they basically own the bank.  

The ability of banks to enforce the law they live within is becoming more and more difficult because there are few and few million-billionaires.

I am sure the attorney that follows Ms. Lynch after she is made Attorney General will give the case as much attention and careful consideration as Ms. Lynch would. She is needed in Washington, it is time for her to assume her place in the Obama cabinet. 

While we are on the subject of Pope Francis...

March 13, 2014
By Ed O'Keefe
 
Congressional leaders (click here) have invited Pope Francis to address a joint session of Congress during his expected visit to the United States next year....

Stay tuned.

December 11, 2015
Vatican City

Here is a translation of the Message that Pope Francis sent to the Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Peru, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal,...

...Together with my greetings to you (click here), Mr. President, and to all the organizers and participants in that Conference, I wish to express to you my closeness and encouragement, so that the work of these days will be carried out in an open and generous spirit. What you are going to debate affects the whole of humanity, in particular the poorest and future generations. More than that, it is a grave ethical and moral responsibility.
It is significant that the Conference is being held on the coasts adjacent to the Humbolt maritime current, which unites in a symbolic embrace the peoples of America, Oceania and Asia and which has a determinant role in the climate of the whole planet. The consequences of environmental changes, which are already felt in a dramatic way in many States, especially the insular ones of the Pacific, remind us of the gravity of negligence and inaction. The time to find global solutions is running out. We will only be able to find adequate solutions if we act together and in agreement. Hence, there is a clear, definitive and ineluctable ethical impetrative to act.
The effective struggle against global warming will only be possible with a responsible collective answer, that goes beyond particular interests and behavior and is developed free of political and economic pressures.... 

I have never heard a Pope address the actual oceanography of Earth. I feel respected that Pope Francis is interested enough in the urgency of our planet's plight that he actually came to understand Earth's dynamics. He is amazing. He loves Earth the way I love Earth. 

The heating of Earth is no minor matter to Pope Francis. He has decided for himself the degree Earth is pushed beyond it's physics. God's gift to us is being ignored and taken for granted; abused even. There are many more that live on this planet than simply those in the First World that can't seem to adjust to reality.

Review: The Humboldt Current: (click here) Nineteenth-Century Exploration and the Roots of American Environmentalism

...Rather, Humboldt's importance lies in having given expression to an important environmental ethos, for having given voice to a sensibility. What von Humboldt saw wherever he explored was "the chain of connection" between all things. As he himself put it: "In considering the study of physical phenomena. . . , we find its noblest and most important result to be a knowledge of the chain of connection, by which all natural forces are linked together, and made mutually dependent on each other."... 

He is mimicking the Pope while there is little the two have in common.

Scott Walker saw some of the most draconian cuts to state employees than ever before in Wisconsin history. It would be almost admirable if the cuts in the budget resulted as an economic benefit that increased jobs in other sectors of the Wisconsin economy. It didn't.

Wisconsin had the second lowest GDP growth in the region. It wasn't even close to the USA economy. The graph is from a Wisconsin study. (click here)

After listening to Walker in Great Britain it is fairly obvious the Republicans are worried about losing any segment of the Catholic vote they had before Pope Francis. His words are nearly identical to the controversy caused by the Pope when he spoke about evolution.

The Republicans are going to be hard pressed to mimic Pope Francis when it comes to the 1 percent. I haven't heard how they intend to raise the minimum wage or support health care for everyone. Did I miss something?

I believe the Republicans are adding words to their dictionary because they are concerned about losing Catholics as Pope Francis seeks change within his papacy. The Republicans have had no rush of conscience. It is still all based in greed and deception. They are the same ole', same ole' Republicans. 

February 12

This is Lincoln’s last portrait, purportedly taken on April 10, 1865—one week before his assassination. It’s also one of the few portraits that shows Lincoln grinning.

It’s Abraham Lincoln’s 206th birthday today, (click here) but you wouldn’t know it by watching the number of states that observe the day as a paid holiday....

...So on February 12, Lincoln’s real birthday, there are a handful of celebrations on a state level, along with a ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. There is also a wreath ceremony at Lincoln’s birthplace in Kentucky.

Lincoln really was born in a one-room log cabin, on Sinking Spring Farm near present-day Hodgenville, Kentucky. (The original cabin was destroyed by the time of Lincoln’s death in 1865.)
There were efforts right after Lincoln’s death to get this birthday recognized as a holiday, but there has never been a federal Lincoln-birthday holiday.

By 1890, Lincoln’s birthday was observed as a paid holiday in 10 states. According to one blog that tracks the holiday, in 1940 24 states and the District Of Columbia observed Lincoln’s Birthday.
Now, after the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was passed in 1971 and states moved toward considering the federal Washington-birthday holiday as Presidents Day, there are just a handful of states that honor Lincoln directly.

President Obama has been accused of micromanaging the US military.

Ever since Cory Gardner jumped in to the US Senate race he chose to leave his cronies behind and find mainstream America. He still is unable to answer questions that actually requires a solid understanding of the issue.

President Obama has come out with his request for authorization to war. He made his case. He didn't spoon feed Congress because he actually expects Congress to know what is happening in the world. I suppose their demand for fund raising doesn't leave much room for understanding what they are legislating. As that is the condition of Congress, they need to pass the legislation as written by the President. The only other valid path than authorization is complete withdrawal.

Putting the words, "We are to win," is not a strategy either. It is obvious Senator Garner needs to do his homework since he has no idea how to address the speech by the President. The Speaker doesn't either. 

The Middle East isn't as complicated as some would like to make it; but, it needs attention to detail and response from governing bodies to protect their sovereignty. 

The problem in enlisting commentary from the media or Congress is that they do not accept the FACT the USA military is muscle bound and that there are two wars whereby the deaths of innocent people have been astronomical. The USA military doesn't accept the fact they can't simply launch an aggressive campaign and kill people. That same aggression has closed the US Embassy in Yemen. Reflect on that awhile.

Figure it out yet?

The USA military destabilized the government in Yemen. Where has that happened before in recent history?

These are Third World countries with multiple ethnicities and their governments have a toe hold on power. What is the USA's military response? It arrives and starts annihilating people. What does anyone expect to happen? I suppose the average Yemeni takes it on the chin in their Lazy Boy to watch Monday Night Football, right?

These people will respond to USA violence. I guarantee you The West won't like what happens next. The question is what happens to the safety of Western nations when the USA military carries out this so called war on terror? The USA military is the problem. 

I tell you what. The USA military should be taking humanitarian aid to the people of Yemen, not USAID. Maybe then the people will forgive the USA and relate to generosity which is one of the pillars of Islam. The USA military doesn't FIRST live with the people, they only seek to kill the perceived enemy. The USA military has to regroup and stop crashing drones in Iran.

The Yemeni people only understand there are planes that come in the skies and people die. The first outcome the USA military has to accomplish is to know the people in any country accept their leadership to the point where a coup is not an answer sought as a remedy to people dropping in the street from drones.

And. Oh. By the way. Don't destroy mosques or close newspapers belonging to people who are still learning the impacts of communication over killing and blowing up infrastructure. 

AND THE SHI'ITES are not the enemy just because Iran removed the Shah when Iranians were dying in the streets from starvation. And then the USA doesn't communicate with Tehran for decades. 

The USA military needs to consider dropping humanitarian aid into these countries with messages that will mean something to them. We did that in Afghanistan and the people were fine with it. It was an attempt by the USA to COMMUNICATE it's purpose in coming into their country. Try enlisting the people toward a peaceful purpose when they understand who the military is seeking to carry out defense of our borders. The people and their well being has to be paramount to any Western defense strategy. This is not hand holding, it is about bringing First World defense to a Third World country to stabilize the region. Get them to understand completely why the alarming events occur and why their government is blameless and a good government on an international stage. 

Get it right, please. We are attempting to secure their country as well as ours. Their boots on the ground are even more important than our boots on their ground. Their military will protect the country, define it's borders with hopes to stabilize their day to day lives. The people need to listen to their leaders while carrying out pilgrimages and economics.

Yemen is a tough one. There was boy killed without reason because he called his father frequently during the day. There is a lot of pain over such attacks. The people of this region have to accept governance rather than surviving by the gun.  

March 21, 2015
By John Ingold

Congressman Cory Gardner, (click here) who has been hammered for his position on social issues ever since he jumped into the U.S. Senate race, dropped a political bombshell Friday with his revelation that he was wrong to have supported previous personhood efforts.
He said that after learning more about the measures, which would have had the impact of outlawing abortion, he realized the proposals also could ban certain forms of contraception, a prohibition he does not support.
"This was a bad idea driven by good intentions," he told The Denver Post. "I was not right. I can't support personhood now. I can't support personhood going forward. To do it again would be a mistake."...

Most of the people Scott Walker will seek to regulate through policy are better educated than he.

April 2, 2012
By Raymond Neupert

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) – Schools (click here) will begin this fall evaluating how well kindergarteners can read under a bill Governor Walker signed into law today.
The goal of the “Read to Lead” initiative is to ensure students can read at or above grade level by the time they reach the 3rd grade. The legislation will spend up to $800,000 on the reading assessment.
Walker returned to Franklin elementary school in Wausau to the sign the legislation in the same library where he read last May to third graders from the Dr. Seuss book “Oh! The Places You'll Go!”...

This is a bit off topic since we all know how intimately important Dr. Seuss is to the US Congress; but, the former chancellor of UNCW, Dr. Leutze was admired by all on campus. Why? Because he respected research. Research is conducted across any discipline that exists. He understood research because even though he was chancellor he conducted his own research. He was one of the most prolific chancellors within the UNC system. In many ways, it was he that was demanding of the university that drove it to being seventh in the world in marine biology and ninth in the USA for business. 

There are leaders and then there are people by which leading comes as second nature to the person they are. 

As a matter of fact, long before a water supply was of concern to the country due to global warming and drought, Dr. Leutze took the warnings of his scientists seriously and formed a committee to explore what global warming meant to North Carolina. I think the documentary regarding the initiative of this committee appeared on public television. Their findings and recommendations were implemented quite some time ago. North Carolina has done well considering the drought Georgia has experienced. The Leutze policies have sustained for decades, that is because he knows good research and is able to articulate it and document it to benefit the people of North Carolina. 

Maybe it seems like decades. The video came out in 2003 after their work was completed. 

Troubled waters [videorecording] : the illusion of abundance (click here) 
Narrator: James R. Leutze 

Dr. Leutze didn't believe in handing off important work to a hired hand, he conducted it himself. One has to know what one is talking about in order to narrate a documentary such as this. The author has to be able to formulate a premises before any research can be conducted and concluded. 

How well published is Scott Walker to date?

What is Russia going to do to stop the rebels to end their killing?

February 12, 2015
By Anna Sorokina

After a16-hour-long negotiation in Minsk, (click here) the capital of Belarus, the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement to bring peace to the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine.
The parties to the conflict have agreed to begin a ceasefire at 00:00 on February 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters after the meetings ended.
"[They] have managed to agree on the main things," Putin said. "First of all, it was agreed to cease fire at 00:00 on Feb. 15....

Russia can't simply sign a paper and walk away wishing it holds. Russia has to enforce the ceasefire. That means Russia troops take on the resolve to stop the rebels from killing anyone. If Russia cannot or will not enforce the ceasefire that is a constructive consent for others to be sure it holds.

If this is what the Mueller family is upset about, it is nothing to consider as a character flaw.

If she was in the presence of a IS commander, her life was in danger. That is all that is important. She loved her family and wanted to come home. Anything else is survival.

February 10, 2015

She may have been an unwilling bride of ISIS. (click here)
Kayla Jean Mueller, the Arizona aid worker whose death was confirmed Tuesday, was “given” to an Islamic State commander after she fell into their clutches, ABC News reported.
“ISIS didn't see her as a hostage or a bargaining chip,” a counter-terrorism official told the network.
Mueller had been spotted “in the company” of an ISIS leader who was being tracked by U.S. intelligence and some officials believed she was in a “forced marriage.”
In a handwritten letter that Mueller’s parents released Tuesday, the 26-year-old captive insisted she was being treated with “the utmost respect + kindness” and that she was “unharmed” and even put on a few pounds....

Let me get this out of the way. I am quite sure there are political agitators worried about an American woman carrying the fetus of an IS commander. I can only imagine what is being said. I am not interested in details.

These same people are the ones causing so much of the mess with immigration reform. These political hacks are on patrol for any child being born in a way that is not between white American people. If they had their way every child without roots back to the founding fathers are aliens that need to be deported. This is nonsense.