US Senator Bernie Sanders announces his run for President of the United States of America.

US Senator Bernie Sanders has the message that so many Americans feel as well as believe. He's right; now is the time to reclaim our country. We have to come together.

"We are going to build a movement of Americans to stand up and fight back."

"This campaign is about the needs of the American people." 

Issues:

Income and wealth inequity. "It is the greatest issue of our time." 

Childhood poverty. 

The Middle Class is disappearing. It is disappearing in record productivity.  

Real unemployment is closer to 11 percent and youth unemployment is higher with young African Americans' unemployment off the charts. 

Citizens United corrupted the politics of the USA. As an example: The Koch Brothers plan to send more than the Republican or Democratic Party in 2016 to buy the rights to the US Congress.

The Climate Crisis. It is real and causing devastating problems in the USA and globally. The USA must lead in regard to the Climate Crisis to stem the global effects of an Earth physics that effect us all. 

In 2014 the majority of Americans and 80 percent of the young generation did not vote. This is due to the alienation of the governance in the USA that victimizes the majority of citizens.

A Progressive Agenda with a vision for Americans. 
   - Jobs, jobs, jobs
   - Create meaningful jobs by creating deteriorating infrastructure
   - 13 million good paying jobs with Senator Sander's proposal

Oppose Trade Policies to protect the American jobs already within the sovereign borders of the USA. 

Raise the federal Minimum Wage to bring Americans out of poverty. It begins with an increase to $15.00 per hour. A forty hour work week has to bring about a living income.

Pay Equity for Women. 

Bring back the multiplier of "Time and a Half" for any overtime worked.

His campaign is a message to billionaires that "They can't have it all."  "Your greed has got to end." The billionaire class cannot take advantage of America to simply victimize it's citizens. 

If Banks are too big to fail, then they are to big to exist.

A constitutional amendment to end Citizens United Supreme Court decision which undermines American democracy. Public funding of elections is to be pursued.

Complete Energy Restructuring to bring on more alternative sources.

Strengthening the rights of Senior Citizens to be sure they face hunger or poverty. Protect SSI and increase it. 

The Fifth Circuit is calling on their own previous decision to impair the Executive Order regarding the Undocumented.

Texas v. United States, Civ. No. B-14-254, 2015 WL 648579 (S.D. Tex. Feb. 16, 2015) (click here)

President Obama needs to move this to a more neutral court for a decision based in any constitutional context. The President is caught in a rut. 

It seems very obvious to me the Fifth Circuit is attempting to reroute the US Constitution. The citations in this decision would choke a horse. 

Is the Fifth Circuit citing paragraphs that would challenge best editor?

The Fifth Circuit is an activist court. That is known. They are the problem in so many of the BP claims it calls to mind malpractice of the court. 

What does the memo from Former Janet Napolitano have to do with disregarding an Executive Order? (click here) 

This memo was written in June 2012. This statement by the Former Secretary clearly outlines exemptions from prosecution and calls these young people as "Low Priority" leading to prosecution. Why do these young people have to live in fear of the only government they have ever known including their familes, whom they love very much.

"...additional measures are necessary to ensure that our enforcement resources are not expended on these low priority cases but are instead appropriately focused on people whom  meet our enforcement priorities...." 

This entire memo speaks very clearly to the fact THE CONSTITUTIONAL USA is very interested in protecting those that live a life in respect to the law, lives a productive life and is not at all a risk to the USA's security. 

This decision is out full of problems, including, disregarding the actual context of the memo which protects this CLASS of people within the sovereign borders of the USA. Of course this court was going to rule this way, they got it wrong the first time, why not now?

This single citation disqualifies the decision. This memo does not call for prosecution, it calls for discretion of prosecution. There is nothing within this memo that supports the court's decision.

We know for a fact Deferred Action is constitutional. These decisions by the Fifth Circuit have to be removed. 

This court is a disaster. There is no critical thinking and what is sides with unconstitutional content.

The court in this case states:  

 ... the DACA Memo purported to“confer no substantive right, immigration status or pathway to citizenship.” Of the at least 1.2 million persons who qualify for DACA, approximately 636,000 have been accepted through 2014.

Does the Fifth Circuit believe everyone in the USA are morons? Seriously. The Secretary of Homeland Security cannot confer citizenship by a memo.

President Obama needs to take the 'buloney' by the horns and get this over with. The Fifth Circuit is basking in it's own glory and without constitutional content. 

The new AG needs to get on with this mess and get the decision out of the Fifth Circuit. 

This decision assumes the people falling under both Executive Orders are not eligible for citizenship. That's nonsense. The Fifth Circuit built a political dreamscape that isn't anchored in law or precedent. 

It is all nonsense. It is legal engineering and not sound principle of law and precedent. This decision has to be vacated. 

The fact of the matter is the CLASS OF PEOPLE within the sovereign borders of the USA would be eligible for citizenship other than being currently undocumented. The fact is any people of this CLASS has significant proof of their worthiness and participation in American society. They are not only living here but contributing to the overall prosperity of the private business sector. The arguments are many and too numerous to count that testify to the well being of the USA due to their presence and employment. 

The decision of the Fifth Circuit is wayward and that is being polite. The USA needs to submit THE BENEFITS this CLASS has brought and continues to bring to the country. There has to be a reason for deferred status and the reason is highly benevolent for this CLASS of people. It is harmful to the USA and it's future to expel any of these people. 

If at all possible, the US Attorney General should ask for complete discharge of this decision on an expedient basis. 

The fall in petroleum prices alone will dictate changing school funding to the general fund.

The Texas GLO may have been around for a long time, but, it's abusing power. The GLO can remain intact as a sub agency to the Texas Department of Commerce. But, the funding of schools should be under the Texas Board of Education. Yes, Texas has a Department of Education.

There is too much power in the Texas GLO. It should not exist in it's present form. There is huge conflict of interest. Candidates can obtain monies by RECOGNIZING the need for intervention at the GLO to cronies. It is just too powerful an agency. The monies paid by the oil and petroleum industry directly effect children. All that has to be housed under the Department of Education in Texas.

The monies collected by the GLO, which might have a basis for having the agency exist. Texas has a large petroleum component to it's economy. But, the monies should be deposited into the general fund at the Texas State Treasury.

I didn't realize why people were opposed to "Common Core" until I knew about the power within the Texas GLO.

I really didn't want this to be an attack on a Texas insitution, but, it is looking rather corrupt actually. This is just the truth. The Texas GLO should be disbanded.

October 28, 2014
By Neena Satija

"I sued them over price, (click here) I sued them over environmental issues, I sued them over royalty payments,” said Garry Mauro, a Democrat who was land commissioner from 1983 to 1999.
  
Patterson told State Impact Texas in 2012 that he (still yet another Bush) is negotiating with two oil companies that may have underpaid royalties by upwards of $100 million. The agency would not name the companies, and has been tight-lipped about such disputes. It named one lawsuit it is involved in regarding royalties but did not provide details. 

An oil and gas investment consultant, Bush raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from Texas-based energy magnates before even announcing what office he would seek. The contributions provided campaign fodder for his Democratic opponent, former El Paso Mayor John Cook, who pledged not to take money from companies doing business with the GLO. (In the latest campaign finance filings, Bush had more than $3 million in cash on hand, while Cook reported just over $3,000.)

The latest Texas Tribune/University of Texas poll has Bush leading Cook by 18 points....

If politicians are cutting cronies a break in exchange for campaign funds, there needs to be an investigation. The Texas GLO is obviously a place where leveraging of power can take place and evidently may be taking place. 

The only role a state education agency should have in curriculum decisions is adopting "guiding principles and standards." The state also distributes funding for schools as well.

The state can offer examples of those standards in pointing to certain books and curriculum, but, ultimately it should be given it's final nod by local authorities. 

I don't believe Common Core is a bad thing. It can be a change from current curriculum, but, it does provide a strong basis for learning the basics and understanding the basics. Memorization isn't necessarily the best way to learn and Common Core attempts to provide 'the understanding' behind the learning. 

If I lived in Texas and the state were taking over young minds with curriculum that didn't give parents a voice, that may very well be an underlying example of the fear of Common Core. 

Learning has to provide a direction for young people to be successful. Parents and local school boards should have a say in the QUALITY of that education. The primary funding for schools is property tax. That tax is justified. So, the parents should be making decisions along with educators and the state standards and guidelines. 

The best way for parents to have a voice about curriculum is for a "Working Group" to be assembled on the local level with some funding from the state or federal government. That is the best way to decide curriculum. Such a role of a parent should require an orientation to what exactly comprises curriculum and a state convention of parents could be a great place to do that.

That "Working Group" should be comprised of a representative number of School Board members and the Teachers Association. I think that would solve a lot of problems in the states right now. Children are important to their parents. Parents are a voice to be recognized and respected. Bring parents to a level of understanding through local organization which carries brevity to curriculum the school system is then a stable and respected part of a child's life.

I think local school boards, teachers and parents should be on common ground in the education of children. Parents have to believe in it, otherwise, why enforce "homework time."

Land use can be unconstitutional. Texas has this odd paradigm in it's government regarding Land use.

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders should speak out about discrimination laws causing the Undocumented a great deal of worry.

One has to consider the profound severe weather and where exactly the Undocumented it suppose to claim shelter.

May 21, 2015
By Carl Takei, ACLU National Prison Project

The Dilley "South Texas (click here) Family Residential Center" tries to mask its nature with summer-camp-inspired euphemisms. When I visited Dilley last week along with other nonprofit representatives, we were told that the "residents" live in "neighborhoods" with names like "Yellow Frog" and "Red Parrot," which come with matching cartoon animal labels, and are watched over by "residential supervisors."

But Dilley is no summer camp.

Opened in December, it is a 50-acre secure detention facility estimated to cost $260 million per year and is owned and operated by the Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's biggest for-profit prison company. Dilley's purpose is to detain families who fled violence in Central America, came to the United States seeking protection, and are waiting for the courts to decide their claims for immigration relief.... 

The Mission Statement of the Texas General Land Office is very deceiving. It sounds as though priority is placed on serving the average citizens of Texas, but, the last few words is the sincere purpose of the agency.

Mission Statement (click here)
The Texas General Land Office serves the schoolchildren, veterans, and all people of Texas by preserving their history, protecting their environment, expanding economic opportunity, and maximizing state revenue through innovative administration and prudent stewardship of state lands and resources.

One of the reasons there is concern on the labeling of land as if in service to the public is the fact the Texas General Land Office also handles monies that fund schools in the state. Supposedly, the GLO (Texas General Land Office) uses income from the public lands in oil and gas revenues to support schools throughout the state.

The idea there is misuse of this label of public lands is a grave concern. And what happens to land in Texas if it doesn't fall into the category of industrial or child land use?

The Undocumented have children and the protections of these people fall into the category of child protection.  

Considering this agency is suppose to distribute monies in the state of Texas one has to realize the growth of charter schools in Texas.

The reason such concern for the number of charter school in Texas is because they are not diversified into percentages that reflect the states minority and impoverished families. For the most part African-American and Poor families are grossly under represented in the Texas charter school system. So, there are many questions regarding this agency. 

Waiting lists abound. This is somewhat dated material if one is looking to bring a reverent issue forward. Obviously, considering the place where the longest waiting lists exist are in large metropolitan cities where minorities are known to be in larger share of the populous.

December 9, 2015
by Brian Thevenot

...The waiting list total, (click here) for the 2008-09 school year, was amassed by the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, which published a similar study a year ago that put the prior-year number at nearly 17,000. The waiting lists grew even as the state added charter schools, boosting enrollment from nearly 114,000 to 128,000.

The demand was concentrated almost entirely in Houston, Dallas, the Rio Grande Valley and Austin and their surrounding regions, which include high-poverty areas — more likely to have both an entrenched charter school community and failing traditional public schools that parents might seek to escape. Only about 3,000 families signed up on waiting lists outside those areas....

So, while the State of Texas has this unique, one of a kind agency to render monies to school, there is obviously a concern for minorities, the Undocumented and the Poor. The monies may not be used equitably.

"Texas Education Agency" (click here) 

The concern of the parents in the concentration camp in Texas regarding asthma and other ailments may be valid considering they are primarily Hispanic.

There are many Fact Sheets at this website. This is on a PDF from this site (click here) under the title:

"2012 Child Fact Sheet for Texas and All Health Service Regions Combined (updated 2014)"


...Each morning at 5:30 a.m., guards wake the children up with shouting and lights. For a place with so many young children, there are no toilets or showers inside the housing units — only communal restrooms accessible through hallways exposed to the elements. On one occasion, a young girl was forced to pee her pants during a detainee count because a guard refused to let her leave to use the toilet. It is not surprising that many children start each day with tears....

There is simply no respect for the children and their status as children. The guards are terrifying them. It is a concentration camp. It is regimented, doesn't take of the needs of the people there and provides added danger to the health of young lungs.

...By rendering parents as helpless as their children, the camps both undermined family structures and created a constant undercurrent of anxiety. In the claustrophobia and lack of privacy of the barracks, nobody could escape from the arguments and tears of other families. Even after they left the camps, children struggled to recover from early experiences of living as child prisoners....

The children have been observed to suffer long term effects from this emotional abuse. 

The ACLU cites President Obama's change in the treatment of families of the Undocumented. 

...Between 2010 and June 2014, Immigration and Customs Enforcement generally did not detain families seeking asylum protection in the U.S. However, starting in the summer of 2014, ICE responded to increased numbers of Central American migrants by taking the position that Central American families should either be denied release or released only if they could post enormously high bonds....

That observation is not exactly accurate. There have been children from the Summer of 2014 released to relatives in the USA and also sent back to their country of origin whenever possible.

September 30, 2014

WASHINGTON — President Obama(click here) has approved a plan to allow several thousand young children from Central American countries to apply for refugee status in the United States, providing a legal path for some of them to join family members already living in America, White House officials said Tuesday.

The program is aimed at helping to discourage many children from making a long, dangerous trek across Mexico in an attempt to cross into the United States and join their parents. The idea was first presented to Mr. Obama at the height of the summer’s border crisis, when tens of thousands of young children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were pouring across the border from Mexico and presenting themselves to American border patrol agents as refugees fleeing from rape and gang violence....

This particular camp may be an anomaly the President is not aware of to the extent of the mishandling of the Undocumented and their children.

Since Jan. 1, (click here) more than 43,000 unaccompanied minors have been placed with sponsors, usually parents or relatives. They remain there while their cases are being processed. The majority of the children are in states where immigrants have traditionally settled, like Texas, New York, California and Florida. A large number have also been sent to Maryland, Virginia, Georgia and Louisiana....

I sincerely believe the ACLU needs to move forward with a strong case on behalf of the Undocumented in this camp and other camps if they exist, but, a concentration camp is not suppose to be the final destination for these people and children.

Ten percent of the American population is under threat of severe weather today.

May 26, 2015 
By Alexander Smith, Shamar Walters and Henry Austin
Flash-flood watches and warnings (click here) were issued across seven states early Tuesday as an unprecedented downpour of torrential rain triggered "extremely dangerous and potentially life-threatening" conditions in Houston. 

More than 30 million Americans were told to brace for dangerous thunderstorms — including flooding, hail and possible tornadoes — as meteorologists warned the weather that has centered on Texas and Oklahoma since Saturday could expand to other areas. 

In Houston, more than 80,000 people were without power and the flood waters closed roads including Interstate 10 and Interstate 45. Houston was among 24 counties where Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster on Monday.... 

And what does the biggest clown in the anti-climate conspiracy circus have to say? He obviously doesn't value human life, only political money. Inhofe didn't value the lives of the Oklahoma bombing until it fit his politics.

April 27, 2015
Republican Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe’s (click here) tenuous grip on reality is no secret. When the Alfred E. Murrah building in his state’s largest city was bombed at 9:02 in the morning on April 19, 1995, Inhofe said on national television that there wouldn’t be many casualties because most government workers would be out drinking coffee at that time. He’s also said that President Obama is supporting enemies of the United States.

But much of his criticism is directed at those who say that climate change is real and is a danger to our planet. Inhofe is now the chairman of the Senate’s Environment Committee. He celebrated the first day of his second shot at this position by speaking for 13 minutes claiming that human-caused climate change is a fake concept. He’s even written a book entitled The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future....

400 homes were lost. That has to be a record. The dam broke due to the flooding. One life was lost.

All these storms are breaking records. 

From the Houston Chronicle. The paper states home delivery will experience problems. The Houston Chronicle is still publishing. That is called dedication and sincere concern for the community they serve. 

May 26, 2015
By Eric Berger
What a night. (click here)
There was wind. Gusts of 50, 70 and even 100 mph were reported around the Houston metro area.
There was hail. Sizes as large as three-quarters of an inch fell in Houston, particularly in the Sugar Land and Bellaire areas.
But mostly, there was rain. Especially in southwest Houston, where a large swath from the Sugar Land area to the Katy Freeway and Beltway 8 area received 7 to 10 inches of rain in just a few hours....

Australia believes a mother of two have abandoned her children to join Daesh.

How stupid is this charismatic movement going to get? What are those children going to think as they grow up? 

Mahmoud Abdullatif left Melbourne late last year for Syria but now is believed to be dead.

May 26, 2015

Counter-terrorism police (click here) have launched an investigation into a Sydney mother-of-two who has reportedly flown to the Middle East to join Islamic State.

It is feared Jasmina Milovanov, 26, left her home in Sydney's west earlier this month to fly to Syria, leaving behind her two young children, aged seven and five....

Prime Minister Abbot is correct, this is a Homeland Security problem from hell. Perhaps The West needs to build a way for their mosque Clerics and Imams to report concerns of their congregation. I would think parents, friends and spiritual leaders should be able to determine when their young people are being radicalized. 

A clearinghouse for that information may be helpful. Such an effort could become overwhelmed very quickly on a national level, but, the information can be supplied to local sheriff or investigator offices. Basically, something that could assess a local dynamic reportable to the FBI if the local authority needs greater clarification. Such an effort may have stopped the Boston bombings.

...On Monday, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said 100 Australians were engaged in fighting in the Middle East with various extreme terrorist organisations, and that another 150 Australians in this country were known to be actively supporting them. That has ASIO investigating about 400 cases files, he said.

He warned Australians that home-grown terrorism was "getting worse not better" and now represents "a serious threat to our safety as a people and as a nation".

Attorney-General George Brandis branded Islamist terrorism in particular "the greatest national security challenge we are likely to face in our lifetimes".

The trial is closed ot the public. The USA State Department needs to be in the court room to observe the proceedings.

May 26, 2015

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) " An Iranian security court (click here) on Tuesday held the first hearing in the closed trial of an American-Iranian reporter for The Washington Post who has been detained for more than 10 months, the official IRNA news agency reported.
It said Jason Rezaian is being tried in a Revolutionary Court on allegations of "espionage for the hostile government of the United States" and propaganda against the Islamic republic, charges that could send him to jail for up to six years.
The report did not provide further details, but initial hearings in Iran usually see the prosecutor spell out charges.
Rezaian, his wife Yeganeh Salehi and two photojournalists were detained on July 22 in Tehran. All were later released except Rezaian, who was born and spent most of his life in the United States, and who holds both American and Iranian citizenship. Iran does not recognize other nationalities of its citizens.
U.S. officials have repeatedly pressed Iran to release Rezaian and other jailed Americans, including during talks on the sidelines of negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program. Iran and world powers hope to reach a comprehensive agreement on the program by the end of June....

According to The Washington Post an editor cannot even receive a visa attend the trial.

May 25, 2015
...Martin Baron, (click here) executive editor of The Post, said in a statement released Monday that both Rezaian’s mother and his wife, a journalist who also faces related charges and will be tried separately, have been barred from attending. The Post tried to obtain a visa for an editor to be in Iran during Rezaian’s trial, but its inquiries were not answered, Baron said....

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

The latest conspiracy theory FOX hopes will stick to the wall is that Hillary Clinton's campaign seeks to take over all women's magazine to insure the election.

Well, heck, then let's get started. How many women's magazines are there? 

From here the real challenge to Americans this political season is to be on the watch for all magazines and their pages that contain the Former Secretary's paragraph. Scapbookers will have a field day COLLECTING a complete set. The value of a complete set could go through the roof at Southeby's. 

Good NIght, Moon

The waxing crescent

6.8 day old moon

44.2 percent lit










May 21, 2015
By Tim Kelly

A view of the trailing hemisphere of Jupiter’s ice-covered satellite, Europa, in approximate natural color. Long, dark lines are fractures in the crust, some of which are more than 3,000 kilometers (1,850 miles) long. Image via Galileo spacecraft in 1996, via NASAPhotoJournal

...Researchers (click here) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) mimicked conditions on Europa’s surface. They now say that the dark material is discolored salt, likely sea salt from below the moon’s icy crust. The journal Geological Research Letters published their study on May 15, 2015.
The scientists say this new insight is important in considering whether this icy moon might be hospitable for extraterrestrial life. The life question is a key one for Europa, since this world is believed to have a liquid ocean beneath its crust. The presence of sea salt on Europa’s surface suggests the ocean is interacting with its rocky seafloor.
Scientists have been intensely curious about Europa since Galileo discovered it in 1610....

There is a lot information about President Clinton and his foundation. Basically, he inspires people.

This is all old news. This is Bill. Hillary has yet to build her own library and ambitions.

May 7, 2015

Like countless people before him, (click here) Frank Giustra's first meeting with Bill Clinton was a life-altering event indelibly etched in his memory. "We hit it off right away," Giustra recalls. "We hit it off for a whole number of reasons. We had a very similar upbringing. We had similar interests in books. Pretty soon, we were having a great conversation. I think he liked me."
Giustra was experiencing the famous Clinton connection, the tractor beam of personal magnetism that Clinton has deployed to pull people into his orbit since his earliest days in Arkansas. Back then, they were people like Mack McLarty, the well-to-do kindergarten classmate who became Clinton's first White House chief of staff, and Jim McDougal, the local banker and real estate investor who was the Clintons' partner in the Whitewater land deal and eventually wound up in jail. In Arkansas the stakes were comparatively small. Clinton had little money, and his admirers didn't have a whole lot more. Today, in his post-presidency, Clinton has built up a multibillion-dollar family foundation with a global reach. He may soon be back in the White House. The people he solicits are the sort who gravitate to Davos, not Little Rock—people like Frank Giustra....

I don't have any problem with this. Hillary's private emails were NOT on Google, but, as Saddam was not al Qaeda, what difference did it make, the American people were nudged on that path and many of them still remain there.

I do, however, have a great deal of problems with illegal and immoral wars conducted by the government and military of the USA.

The West went to a great deal of trouble to understand the people of Iraq. They were personalized to us and some have immigrated to The West, including the USA. But, the course of their existence has been horrible and no one can dispell that. The cultures of these people keep them going and The West has no right to interfere. This is a Shi'ite family that lived in Sadr City. That particular city was impoverished under Saddam Hussein, but, the Shi'ites persisted. 

If the people of Iraq don't want to fight the former Ba'athists, it is somewhat understandable. I am sure they are as tired of war as any people on Earth. The dreams for their children were never their reality and even The West could not deliver them from that reality. If anything, The West deepened their hopelessness for a future that is always clouded by others priorities for their land and people.

Adnan Hamid held his son, Hassan, as his wife, Zainab, held their daughter, Benin, in May. Hamid’s brother Kaiss (R) also lives with the family in Sadr City. (World Picture News File Photo / Scott Nelson) 

July 4, 2005
By Thanassis Cambanis

BAGHDAD -- Benin Hamid, (click here) now a coquettish 4-year-old, swings the stuffed yellow duck that has been her constant companion in a short life punctuated by an invasion and two uprisings that forced her and her family to flee their home in Sadr City.

She has never named the duck, and it is not clear how well she remembers her older brother and her two sisters, who were killed with her aunt, on the catastrophic day in April 2003 when a mortar struck the house.

Life goes on in the Hamid household, a two-story jumble of rooms that contains four scarred families whose uneven progress since the US invasion mirrors the struggles of many in the Shi'ite Muslim slum where they live.

The Hamid family has survived, but just barely, over the past 26 months.
Repeated visits by a Globe reporter offered a view of an extended clan whose members have inventively kept themselves fed and clothed, but who have a decidedly mixed record at keeping their spirits up....

If Iraq is to have a future as a sovereign country, it has to be the will of the people. I do not believe a sovereign Iraq was ever the plan of the Iraqi people. They didn't mind trying, but, with the invasion of a strange group of violent extremists across the border from Syria, it was simply one more insult to people who have been pushed to the brink of existing rather than thriving. Their religion is their solace and we have no right to judge them. 

I heard some talking head today state, the USA has to pull itself up by the boot straps and invade North Africa, Libya included, Syria and retake Iraq. It'll never happen. The only successful attack that ever dominated North Africa was the Third Reich and their Panzer tanks. At the time there was no resistance. North Africa was not organized to fight wars of such magnitude. 

Somehow the delusional Bush element in the world believes the Middle East and North Africa would be the same if the USA had left ten thousand troops in Iraq.

All I can say to that is, "Really?" 

Just a word about presidential libraries. I am sure there are foreign donors to most of the presidential libraries.

"The Clinton Foundation" is housed within the Clinton Presidential Center. (click here)

This is President Clinton's Presidential Library.

Southern Methodist University in Dallas (click here) announced last week that the university will be home to President Bush’s $200 million presidential library. Bush’s library, however, will be shrouded in secrecy. 

An executive order Bush signed in 2001 “gives presidents and their families more control over presidential papers” and “could result in material being censored” from the library. The order also gives Bush “the right to veto requests to open any presidential records.”

The secrecy efforts are already beginning. In a press conference yesterday, President Bush admitted that his library would likely take foreign donations but said he would consider keeping the donors’ names confidential...

21 April 2013
By Melissa Repko

More than 300,000 donors (click here) from around the world gave $500 million to take the George W. Bush Presidential Center from concept to reality.

And about half of the money came from Texans.

The Bush Center will be the state’s third presidential library. The LBJ Presidential Library and School of Public Affairs opened in 1971 at the University of Texas in Austin at a cost of about $18 million....

...The names of donors who gave more than $1 million are etched on an entryway wall. Other donors are listed in the “Freedom Registry,” which visitors can scroll through on computer screens.

Not all donors will be publicly recognized, however. While the Bush Foundation must release general financial information as part of its nonprofit status, it is not required to disclose donors’ names. Some Bush Center donors have asked to be anonymous.

“Some people don’t want their name on a wall so that they get bothered by others,” Langdale said....

You know how the media indulges any reason as a good reason to war? Think NUDGE.

China is currently building artificial islands that will not stand up to scrutiny at the United Nations. It will be viewed as aggression. Passive, but, very aggressive especially if fishing rights are lost to countries with a known culture of such food in their society.

So, it wasn't enough for there to be territorial disputs because of unoccupied islands that serve no purpose, except, to define international borders. But, then I ran across this article in the "Sydney Morning Herald" and one word stuck out like a sore thumb.

NUDGE. Not fudge, nudge.
 
A US Navy landing craft air cushion amphibious vehicle storms the beach at Bellows Air Force Station on Oahu, Hawaii. Photo: AP

May 21, 2015
By Tim Kelly

US-Asian amphibian forces gathering signals nudge to China's containment (click here)

Hickam FIeld, Hawaii: Military commanders from Japan, Australia, the Philippines and 20 other mostly Asia-Pacific nations huddled around a large tactical map, poring over satellite images in readiness for an amphibious raid on Hawaii's most populous island Oahu.

Although only a drill, it represented a glimpse of co-operation and integration among non-Chinese amphibious forces in Asia that the United States is belatedly encouraging.

A senior US official told Reuters the-first-of-its-kind gathering also signifies a nudge towards containing China, as Beijing grows increasingly assertive in pushing its territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The shift has left supporters of engagement with China "under pressure", said the source, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media....

China is not invited on these ventures because it was outlawed by Congress. There is a long history of tensions between China and the USA. It never resulted in war, but, the relationship between the US and China is far from encouraging. The tensions were evident in the late 1870s and continued for several decades. 

There are plenty of books about the economic relationship between China and the USA. This paragraph above is only one. (click here)

Shaped by War and Trade: International Influences on American Political Development (click here)

Given the relationship of the USA and China for more than a century there may be reason to reassess the military relationship of the two countries as well.

But, back to 'nudge.'

"Path dependencies of nudging, and how to overcome them." (click here)

..Overall,  the  unique  potential of  nudging  to combine  libertarianism  with  paternalism  reveals  the  potential  for  the  dynamic  interaction  of  social  and  organizational  learning,  and  shows  how  learning  can  improve  the  design  of  legal interventions  and  institutions.   It  is  the  design  of  the  specific  nudges  that  can lead  to  their  legitimacy.   If  nudges –and   nudgers– could  learn,  then  they  could  also polarize  less....

This article is short, but, it exposes the reader to the idea of nudging in government and economics. If a country is aware of such miniscule maneuvers occurring in their politics and national dialogue, the nudges can be seen and viewed for their PATH rather than their words.

It is a concept. I think it is an important concept. It is real, it exists and it has context and definition. 

And one other thing, this should realize the USA and China had a relationship long before George H. W. Bush was Ambassador. They don't hold the corner on understanding China.

But, getting back to the reason Memorial Day was called a national holiday.

Summer is synonymous with Memorial Day. Summer so much over shadows Memorial Day a law was passed to bring, if only for a brief moment, the real reason for Memorial Day to the minds of Americans. 

December 28, 2000 (click here)
  
Today I am pleased to sign S. 3181, the "National Moment of Remembrance Act," which designates 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day each year as the National Moment of Remembrance, in honor of the men and women of the United States who died in the pursuit of freedom and peace. The Act also establishes a White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance, to coordinate and encourage commemorative events on Memorial Day each year, and a Remembrance Alliance, to assist the Commission in promoting the observance of the Memorial Day holiday and organizing an annual White House Conference on the National Moment of Remembrance....

Take a moment on Memorial Day at 3:00 PM to remember all the brave women and men who have defended the USA, our homeland.

Just a few reasons to keep pubic hair.

The hairless ideal (click here) sought by so many people is in truth both unattainable and probably not entirely healthful. Body hair will always grow back (even laser hair removal will only subdue hair growth and thickness by 50 percent or so with repeated treatments), and each time you remove the hair you're causing some damage to your skin. Plus, hair does serve important functions, including in the genital region, such as:     
- Protection: helping to prevent foreign particles like dust and pathogenic bacteria from entering your body

- Temperature control: hair captures the air surrounding your body to reduce the loss of heat

- Reducess friction, which prevents skin irritation, abrasion and injury

- Promotes touch reception

So there are some arguments for keeping your pubic hair, and it’s likely that a reduced risk of sexually transmitted infections is one of them. Of course, the best way to prevent the spread of STDs is to follow safe-sex practices, or wait to have sex until you’re in a committed relationship. Then, keep your immune system in tip-top shape, and it will be better able to fight off any viruses that do come its way. That said, if you’re in a committed relationship in which the threat of STDs has been removed, then there is probably little harm in shaving your pubic hair, if that is your preference. (And there is one potential benefit that we haven’t discussed: a much lower risk of pubic lice.)

      

There is the train of thought that says, shaving the pubic region invites STDs.

 Molluscum (click here) (muh-luhs-kum) contagiosum (kən-tā-jē-ō-səm) is a common skin disease. It is caused by a virus. This virus easily spreads from person to person.
People can get molluscum by sharing towels and clothing. Wrestlers and gymnasts may get it from touching infected mats. Skin-to-skin contact also spreads the virus.
Often the only sign of molluscum is pink or flesh-colored bumps on the skin. These bumps can appear anywhere on the skin. 

According to a recent survey, (click here) a large percentage of US college students remove some or all of their pubic hair,¹ as does a sizable portion of the rest of the population. It’s a growing trend that may actually have ancient roots, as pubic hair removal was thought to have been practiced among women in ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome....

In modern times, both men and women use a variety of methods (shaving, waxing, clipping, lasers) to remove pubic hair, and describe various motivations for doing so. 

Among women, the most popular reasons include the belief that it looks better in a bathing suit, increases feelings of attractiveness, feels more comfortable and the belief that it’s cleaner. 

Ironically, this latter reasoning may be contradictory, as new research suggests shaving your pubic hair may actually increase your risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD) known as molluscum contagiosum. 


Outbreaks have been reported in (click here)

• swimming pools, saunas, and steam baths,
• wrestling matches,
• during surgery, by a surgeon with a hand lesion (sore),
• getting tattoos (rare).

Despite its prevalence, molluscum contagiosum is one of the lesser-known STDs. A type of pox virus, molluscum is actually most common in children, although it also affects adults with weakened immune systems and can be spread through sexual contact. The virus causes firm, pearl-like bumps on the skin, which, though painless, can become easily red and inflamed.  

If the bumps are scratched, the infection spreads easily person-to-person as well as through contaminated objects. Shaving over the bumps can also cause the virus to spread. In most cases the infection will resolve within six to 12 months with no treatment, so keeping your immune system strong is important. The bumps can also be removed to help prevent spread of the infection....