Republicans are dead serious about their very strange politics.

Mr. Jeb Bush hasn't got a clue. Does he know where Iraq is? Most Americans don't.

That reality is important. The Bushs seem to think all they have to do as president of the USA is to hand off any problem to the correct cabinet secretary. There is a huge difference between understanding a problem and delegating as the ONLY responsibility of POTUS.

Republicans frequently state a governor has administration experience. They believe governors make better presidents because they know how to delegate. That is not the most important aspect of POTUS. The president has to understand why she or he is delegating other than, "Oh, this looks like war, let the DOD handle it." 

The reality of a governor having administrative experience and being the better candidate for president has to bring to mind the run of Governor Perry and the fact he could not remember the departments he would eliminate from his cabinet as president. That is scary. That is not a joke either. It is not meant to be a joke. 

The statement by Jeb Bush regarding Russia as a country in Europe is really bizarre. Where does that come from? There is no way Russia is going to be a part of Europe. Not in my lifetime. Even geographically Russia is in Asia. 

Bush also made the statement if we don't carry out this agenda of making Russia a part of Europe, then Russia would turn to China. ??????????? Russia and China are already aligned.  This article below is from the Heritage Foundation so there is no excuse of his statements.

On July 16, (click here) the presidents of Russia and China signed a Treaty for Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation in Moscow.¹ This treaty is the first such agreement between these two Eurasian powers since Mao Tse-tung signed a treaty with Joseph Stalin of the U.S.S.R. in 1950, four months before the outbreak of the Korean War. That treaty had been driven by anti-Western sentiments.

I'll tell you where I think this is coming from. Russia during the time H.W. Bush was in the presidency imploded financially. That caused the break up of the Soviet Union. When Jeb Bush sees Russia as a European country, it actually is a dreamscape whereby either Russia implodes again financially and/or surrenders in a war. I think the entire dreamscape is Jeb's way of identifying his strength with his father. Never once does he think such a dynamic will ever happen. I think it is strange.

That statement about Russia is at least is knowledgeable as "You can see Russia from my house." "When Putin raises his head it is Alaska he first sees." It's bizarre how some of these folks think. 

I think Jeb Bush has many deficits to qualify as a nomination for president. He and his family as well as those in his camp think all they need is money. I sincerely hope that is not the case. The President of the United States of America is not figure head appointment by Wall Street.

When the results of the American investigation of Iraq's WMD came out and there was absolutely no reason to invade that country and Saddam Hussein was actually telling the UN the truth, there was this reaction by the White House and Republicans worth noting. Even in the face of the truth otherwise, Bush was believed to acted honestly in defense of the USA. He was completely supported in his decision for invasion and was never demanded to resign his office. I think the reason why there was no demand for his resignation is because Cheney would then move into the presidency and he was more dangerous than Bush. 

The events of the White House is not a comic strip. There is no forgiving thousands of dead American soldiers as well as the UK and the others in their sacrifice. Bush was dead wrong and it was varnished over by the media and the Republican Party. It wasn't as though the UN wasn't on the ground looking for WMD and a reason to invade. There was complete transparency by Iraq during that time. 

When a Bush states there is reason to think in a certain way about any country, that is completely out of line. 

When Jeb Bush stated Russia should be a European country, that is definitely inflammatory and quite possibly stated to build tensions between the USA and Russia while President Obama is in office. Wouldn't it be great if the burgeoning war with Russia was at Bush's doorstep on January 20, 2017? Don't laugh at statements by these folks. There is motivation behind them. They make up their own rules and those rules are backed by lies. 

The circumstances surrounding the prison break in New York is interesting, but, I do not believe this is going to end well for the escapees. They should turn themselves in to a police department to end the danger to them. 

I have to wonder if the FBI has any interest in this problem?

This search reminds me of the one conducted for Christopher Dorner. it didn't end until he was found. Do these convicts have the same potential as Dorner? Who knows? They were clever enough to make the prison break. It is anyone's guess to their capacity otherwise.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Cpl. David Eric Casebolt a member of the McKinney resigned to save the police department more adverse publicity?

There are problems for the police department because of the actions of it's police officer.  The police department is taking a really bad approach to this incident. The people need an apology from the McKinney police department. 

There is a problem with this community. The incident should not have happened in the first place and the conduct of the police was to escalate the incident. This was a public swimming pool. I didn't know 'the public' only means Caucasian people? Where did that definition come from?  

The video shows an 'us and them' relationship between the African American young people and the rest of the people, including the police. The African American young people are coming to the rescue of another African American girl. There aren't any Caucasian people ending the conflict, including that of the officer. 

Retaliation by anonymous persons need to be investigated. It has nothing to do with the incident in McKinney, Texas.  

Mr. Casebolt drew a gun on unarmed young people while he escalated the incident. It is not anyone's problem besides Mr. Casebolt. He could killed someone that day. This is not a minor occurrence. It happened and it is valid.  

Where is the investigation in this incident? Nealy finished, only begun? How long will it take the McKinney police department to conclude the investigation?

The United States of America is not at war in Iraq. Perhaps the Speaker of the House hasn't stopped playing politics long enough to realize that. We aren't going back there.

In my opinion President Obama doesn't need a strategy. The USA is currently involved in supporting a coalition of countries no differently than we support NATO. 

"Training, advising and assisting" is not a declaration of war. Iraq is not the 51st state regardless of the disappointment to the Republicans.

August 12, 2014

The United States (click here) will be finalizing an agreement to increase its military presence in Australia in an attempt to bolster its ties with allies in the Asia-Pacific, where China has been flexing its muscles, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The negotiations will conclude an agreement made between Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott and U.S. President Barack Obama in June....

Is the United States of America at war in Australia?

Having soldiers deployed in Afghanistan isn't enough for the Republican House Speaker? 

April 8, 2015
By Sudarsan Raghavan

KABUL — One U.S. soldier (click here) was killed and at least two were wounded by an Afghan in military uniform when a firefight erupted Wednesday after a U.S. Embassy delegation’s visit in eastern Afghanistan, according to U.S. and Afghan officials.
American soldiers subsequently killed the assailant in a shootout. Officials said one Afghan soldier was killed and two were wounded in the assault.
The attack highlighted the dangers faced by the approximately 10,000 U.S. troops left in Afghanistan after America’s longest war was officially declared over at the end of last year. Those troops, earlier expected to number half as many by the end of this year, will remain in place after President Obama agreed last month to delay their planned exit amid concerns that a resurgent Taliban could escalate its offensives this year....

There are currently 2358 dead American soldiers since 2001. Fourteen years of deaths and for what? That is only the dead military from Afghanistan. Not enough blood flowing from Americans veins, huh, John?

Personal expression is an important American right. I've never heard of a dress code for Muslims alone in the USA.

March 6, 2012
By Cassandra Strand

All Muslim females (click here) whether a kindergartener or a woman finishing a doctorate in college are allowed to wear hijab in school.  It is protected under the constitutional right to freedom of religion.  Any school that violates this right can come under federal lawsuit.  Organizations like the Americans Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) make sure that religious rights in schools are respected as well as make sure that schools do not endorse any religions....

Unless there is a private religious school where a dress code is enforced, there is no doubt a Muslim girl or woman has the right of personal expression of which religion is a part.

The visual component to difference does have extremely effective reaction. In the USA we are seeing incredible discrimination by police officers with African American men. It is obvious there is still racism in the USA. It manifests in some really hideous ways. The recent incident of young black people being harassed by police at a public pool. There were comments made against youth. So, to say the USA is innocent of discrimination would not be accurate.

The discrimination in the USA regarding minority women is abuse. They aren't necessarily dead at the end of a verbal exchange with officers, but, they are abused.

"We fear what we don't understand."  

The discrimination Muslims receive goes beyond understanding. There have been all kinds of attempts to diminish and negate some of the hate speech regarding Muslims in the USA. I can't really speak for Europe. I know Europe believes an outward expression reveals the 'real truth' about a person. It could I suppose.

But, the hate we experience in the USA is more than outward expressions of self. There is a fear that drives many people in the USA. It calls to mind the demonstrations against a Mosque in Lower Manhattan and recent demonstrations in Texas where two men were killed in reaction to cartoon drawing. 

There is something oddly permanent about discrimination in these cases. There is some kind of social reward and I think it aligns with politics. Politics provides access to power. So, if there is a population of people that hate ethnic differences, their numbers can be converted to election results. In this case hate equates to real power regardless of any potential for such a government position resulting in institutional hate.

There is a threat within a political paradigm to bring about institutional hate. Democracies have all kinds of opportunity and one of them is the potential to such problems. 

I think it is an error to believe a young person is subverting democracy in some way by wearing religious clothing. Often those young people express their parents' influence. I'd be more worried about a young Muslim woman wearing Western culture clothing in defiance of her parents. Government can't step in there either unless there is physical or emotional abuse. 

I think the quandary of Muslims to understand the hate they receive is a waste of time. I strongly believe they need to be a part of the American fabric as all others have become. Being visual in the community is a part of tolerance and can lead to far greater understanding than confrontation can achieve. 

Confrontation can have a violent result. Confrontation often is perceived as aggression. But, if there were Muslim women and men wearing their traditional dress while they are grocery shopping that would present a problem for people with fear in their understanding. I think it is the fear that is driving much of the hate. 

Women with India heritage often wear their traditional clothing in public in the USA. The reaction by Western women is usually to say how beautiful they look. There is no fear registered in those interactions. So, it is my understanding the politics of fear actually works and strongly impacts the Muslim community within Western culture.

Fear is a part of a politic that directly relates to national security; ie: the willingness to war. War as perceived by many Americans to mean killing what one is fearful of.

There have been a few Muslims that find fear an effective reason to kill as well. It is not only a one way street. The American expression that would relate to that is; "One bad apple can ruin the rest." I believe that is true. The idea a caliphate could actually result in the year 2016 is delirium. It won't be tolerated and the worst of American and Western aggression has not yet been realized. In that understanding that restraint to the worst case scenario actually does exist and shows a far better picture of other nations that appear to hate.

American policy under President Obama is to act aggressively in war where necessary. President Obama resists defining the USA as a hegemonic power. The USA is not interested in genocide, if anything it is the opposite. So, how does that understanding translate to understanding and acceptance in Western society? It has to be removed from the politics and currently the media of the right wing finds hate a useful tool.

Europe is a world unto itself. To Europe outward expression of a person's character is important. They value art expressions of inward feelings. To that understanding, there has been real aggression by those lost to alienation from Islam. There have been killings by the vicious agenda of some alienated Muslims. These artists are sometimes put under security guards in an understanding the hate will result in death. So, I don't stand in judgement of Europe, but, only defend them in their own understanding of their world.

Can the greater global community contribute to the end of hate in Western culture? I have to say yes, but, there are limits to their influence because of the governments and societies involved. The USA is not going to stop the KKK from organizing and marching in a parade and it is not going to stop hideously stupid people using cartoon drawing as a political tool. That is part of the cultural contract in the USA. 

I think global Muslim citizens have a role in promoting understanding and defusing hate. The idea a political movement involves hate means there is also an opposite. I think it is up to the Muslim communities to pursue that opposite and find a way to express it. I don't know the path that can take, but, it will be welcome in the USA on it's own terms.

An editorial in The Arab News expresses concern for Muslim perception.

June 4, 2015
Sabria S. Jawhar

If I were a betting woman (click here) I’d say the future looks pretty grim for Muslims. I’m no pessimist, but the evidence is a bit overwhelming. In the western world we are witnessing the progressive institutionalization of religious and cultural discrimination against Muslims, and swept along way are other faiths in which individuals that happen to practice their religion by wearing certain clothing and jewelry.

We are not helping ourselves by continuing to kill each other in Iraq and Syria in an effort by some alleged Muslims who seem to think that murder is a righteous path to establishing a caliphate. Many of us living in Muslim countries and in the West sit idle because we mistakenly believe that wanton mass murder has nothing to do with us.

Western societies react to this barbarism in typical knee-jerk fashion. For all of their hyperventilating love to rescue the Muslim woman from the clutches of evil men, Muslimahs (women) are usually the first targets of discrimination. France, a country I once loved for its love of culture, language and beauty, but now I fear, set the tone some years ago by banning the hijab in schools and government buildings and then the niqab on French streets. It implements draconian hate speech laws that target the Muslim community, and ignores hate crimes committed by others....

Four Shi'ite children also citizens of Saudi Arabia need justice in their deaths states the Saudi Foreign Minister.

June 10, 2015
By Arab News 

JEDDAH: The Foreign Ministry (click here) has summoned the Iranian ambassador to express its concern over the deaths of four Shiite Saudi children in his country, and to urge Tehran to speed up its investigation.

Osama Nugali, head of media at the Saudi Foreign Ministry, said there was “deep sorrow” in government at the news that four young Saudis had died and 28 others got sick from what appears to be a poisonous chemical they had inhaled while in their rooms in Mashhad on Sunday.

“The Saudi Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to the Kingdom and expressed its deep concern at the incident, and its hope that the Iranian authorities speed up the investigation and disclose the circumstances involved,” he said.

Nugali said that shortly after the incident occurred, the charge d’affaires and officials at the consulate in Mashhad went to the hotel to check on the Saudis and provide support, including, medical care....

New study addresses income inequality.

June 10, 2015

By Ana Swanson

...High hourly wages (click here) are necessary to afford decent housing in Washington, D.C. ($28.04), California ($26.65), New York ($25.67), New Jersey ($25.17), Massachusetts ($24.64), and other states.

In Missouri, where average rents are significantly lower, you'd still need to earn $14.62 an hour, well above the state's minimum wage of $7.65. 

This data comes from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, an advocacy group for affordable housing, which has published an extensive report comparing the cost of renting with wages in each state.

The group defines housing affordability as paying less than 30 percent of your income to housing, a common standard for the industry, and it assumes a "fair market rent" as defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development....

PDF of report (click here)

From the report:

There is not one state in the U.S. where a minimum wage worker working full time can afford a one-bedroom apartment at the fair market rent. In 13 states and DC the fair housing wage is over $20.00.

There needs to be a follow up study to better define where exactly the working poor finds shelter. The above graph is from a different study. It is appropriate to place it here.

How does any country expect 20% of it's population to move out of impoverishment? Twenty percent of Americans earn less than three percent of the GDP. That is a lot of people. It is nearly impossible in the USA to raise those people out of hopelessness. To ask twenty percent of Americans to do better is not realistic. This is the USA. The place where immigrants come to find a better life.

The criticism of the poor is no longer political capital. There have to be answers.

Women have options when illness could threaten their capacity to become pregnant at a later date.

June 10, 2015
By Laura Donnelly

In a world first, (click here) a woman has given birth after surgeons implanted ovarian tissue that had been removed when she was a child.
The girl was coming up for her fourteenth birthday when she was diagnosed with acute anaemia, needing powerful, ovary-damaging treatment.Before the therapy, her right ovary was removed and frozen in fragments in the hope that it could be used if she ever wanted to become a mother.
A decade later, surgeons in Belgium thawed some of the fragments and reimplanted them. A healthy son was born last November.Several babies have been born from tissue taken from adult women, but this is the first success with tissue removed before puberty, doctors reported in the journal Human Reproduction.
"This is an important breakthrough in the field because children are the patients who are most likely to benefit from the procedure in the future," said Isabelle Demeestere at Erasmus Hospital at Brussels Free University, whose team carried out the transplant....

Why is Donald Rumsfeld giving interviews while Jeb is in Europe trying to make the argument for turning Russia into a European country?

Either Jeb Bush is confused with the identity of Ukraine or he is setting the stage for a nuclear holocaust. I kinda would like to know what happened here. I just think it is really, really odd Rumsfeld and Bush 3.0 are on the same wavelength still yet again. Now, Jeb when in office he can say he already made the argument for nuclear holocaust in June of 2015 before he announced he was entering into the nominating race for the presidency.

June 9, 2015
By Stephanie Condon

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (click here) told the British newspaper the Times that it was "unrealistic" to expect a democracy to emerge in Iraq following the United States' 2003 invasion.

"I'm not one who thinks that our particular template of democracy is appropriate for other countries at every moment of their histories," Rumsfeld said. "The idea that we could fashion a democracy in Iraq seemed to me unrealistic. I was concerned about it when I first heard those words."
In 2003, weeks after the invasion, Rumsfeld dismissed concerns about chaos in the Middle Eastern country.

"It's untidy, and freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things," he told reporters at the time. "They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things, and that's what's going to happen here."

The Bush administration argued ahead of the Iraq war that Iraqis would embrace democracy....

Rotating First Lady.

Interesting.

For a Bachelor President, I like it. I don't think it is sexist.

There were resolutions at the G7.

The Iraq that is suppose to be the sovereign country is nothing less than mission creep.  The UK announced yesterday it is sending 250 more soldiers to train Iraqis. 

This is "The Daily Mail." I think it was the Guardian that stated 250 soldiers. Perhaps a clarification is needed.

Britain is to send a further 125 troops (click here) back to Baghdad to help train Iraqi soldiers in the fight against the Islamic State terror group, the Prime Minister has announced.

David Cameron confirmed that the bulk of the personnel will train local forces in detecting and dealing with roadside bombs and booby-trap explosives used by ISIS in a speech at the G7 summit in Germany.

While Britain’s mission in Iraq has so far been largely focused on the Kurdish capital Irbil, the new troops will be stationed at a number of bases around the country, including Baghdad....

At no point in time should the USA continue to build their numbers of troops in a country with shifting borders. The Bush Iraq is not a sustainable country. I have said and I still say, the USA military was the private militia of Baghdad that fought the inevitable border shift to three sustainable provinces.

And why would those provinces be sustainable? Because they have a much larger sovereign country willing to be a partner to their stability. The Kurds are the only people and region that needs The West to provide military and humanitarian aid. The rest of Iraq is self-sufficient when allied with their neighbors.  

The only reason Iraq's borders haven't completely shifted is because the USA political theme is anti-Iran. So, it is inconceivable for Americans to realize Iran has a legitimate right to enforce the borders it shares with Iraq in which ever way that manifests.

There is a real dynamic in the Middle East related to the Shi'ites. They have been pushed to the periphery of land. The Iranian Revolution brought the land called Iran back to the people. But, there are many other settlements of Shia throughout the Middle East. There are also small populations of other minority ethnicity. The problem is land and sovereign stability of countries in the Middle East. 

The fact Assad was unable to maintain sovereign borders while the war in Iraq raged on should not be a surprise. The growing Shi'ite influence in Iraq was a direct threat to Sunnis. Assad didn't have a chance. He tried every way he knew to maintain control of Syria, including chemical weapons. We all know what happened there. Now, there are occasional reports of Daesh doing the same thing. 

Syria is primarily Sunni. With the rise of the Shia in Iraq it caused instability and then the Ba'athists found influence in Syria and the region was off to the races. 

Iran has a diaspora throughout the Middle East. They are powerful in their own right, but, they do not have control of land masses outside of Iran. They go by names like Hezbollah. They have been classified as terrorist groups because they were always fighting to maintain their existence. Even George W. Bush tried very hard to rid Iraq of the influence of the Shi'ites. They were human rights violations and a sincere attempt at genocide.

But, as to the Shi'ties and Iran there has to be a peace developed that will bring about a civilized society in any country where the Shia find home. Iran has to lead to peace and not further war. This mess in Syria is never going to settle into a country with a single leader and that leader is Assad. There is too much anger and turbulence in the region to expect anything less than a power sharing government being mentored by the United Nations.  

Iran and it's holy men have lead a diffuse nation of Shia before the Iranian Revolution. They have lead a diffuse nation after the Iranian Revolution. Iran has a responsibility to the Shi'ite Diaspora to provide leadership that will bring them peace and prosperity. The war for a place/land in the Middle East is over. Unfortunately, the Shia Diaspora is still unsettled.  

Iran should provide a place for any Shia Diaspora to call home. In that is an understanding the diaspora has to live according to the laws of the country where they find themselves. In Iraq that diaspora has a strong presence and needs to develop their own leadership among their people. The Iraqi Shia need to participate in a central government for as long as it exists. But, the Shia province in Southern Iraq should be considered a sovereign presence within the traditional borders of Iraq. In that Iraq and Iran provides a land where others can call home. 

Iran has to teach the rest of the world outside that of Shia they are a people that will survive and sustain in their land. Iran and Shia will be on Earth forever. There is no threat that anyone can point to as consequential to the lives of the Shia. Iran needs to lead in peace and not aggression. It is one thing to develop a military that defends a country's borders, it is quite another thing to believe a country could take the entire land of the Middle East for itself. The USA under Bush tired and failed completely. Such ideas are that of fools and sets no priority for human life.

The Iranian leadership is capable of providing a stable land where Shia will live forever. The leadership can provide a clear understanding any violence by any Shia group in the Middle East has to end and peace is to replace fear. 

The USA has never brought about a stable government in Iraq and never will. It has nothing to do with the Shi'ites. It is impossible for the USA and The West to provide stability. The people have to provide their own stability. I know for a fact the Shi'ites are capable of a sovereign land. The USA and The West needs to mind it's own business and resolve to protect it's own countries.

Some day, the time will come when there is no more instability and the countries of the Middle East will cherish peace as it's only sovereign. But, there are too many conflicting problems today. Someday, but, I may never see it in my lifetime. Iran has a path to lead in the United Nations to bring about more stability, it should explore that and offer leadership to achieve it.

Former Governor Lincoln Chafee reminds me of the late Senator Robert Byrd.

From 2007 to 2009, (click here) Chafee was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. During this time, he served on the boards of NARAL Pro-Choice America, American University of Beirut, The Foundation for Effective Government (Ukraine), Slater Mill National Historic Landmark, and the Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests.

He is the author of Against the Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President (2008).

Only 23 of 100 U.S. Senators saw the folly of allowing Bush/Cheney to invade Iraq. I am very proud to be one of the 23. 

 

I remember the Gang of 14. It was a relief the country there were cooler heads in the Congress. He understands governance.

 

Rated 75% by APHA, indicating a pro-public health record. (click here)

Chafee scores 75% by APHA on health issue. 

The American Public Health Association (APHA) is the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world, representing more than 50,000 members from over 50 occupations of public health. APHA is concerned with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental health, including federal and state funding for health programs, pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and infectious diseases, a smoke-free society, and professional education in public health.

 

This site recorded his position on issues from previous elections. The information shows a more complicated legislator with his decisions made within a good margin of governance. Basically, what I mean by that is he doesn't practice politics from his seat of government, he governs.

 

How did I ever guess. 

 

March 25, 2015 3:14 pm

Robert Byrd Testimonial (click here)

Governor Chafee should develop a page at his current website indicting policy positions as events have unfolded since he served in office. His previous positions have proven to becomes law more often than not. There isn't much on his wish list from when he was in office. He is moved by the basic needs of life in the USA. He is charitable and cares about those most vulnerable, namely the poor and disabled. He has conscience. A conscience has been lacking in the years of Bush and the Republican extremism since Bush.

I wish him luck. He can be formidable. A man who actually gets out of his chair and researches the issues before him to make an educated vote. That can be very hard to come by.

Marco Rubio's success in gathering expensive assets while ignoring the costs of legal actions against him.

Senator Rubio has a problem. He has spent money like water in purchasing a home and a $60,000 speed boat. His home is the most expensive in his neighborhood. Really? I have an uncle that is a self-made millionaire several times over and he has the most expensive home in his neighborhood. What OTHER income does Senator Rubio have to justify his social status?

Government jobs don't pay all that well. They are good jobs with great benefits, but, they ain't all that. 

Sorry, my mistake, it is a $80,000 for the speed boat.

The Rubios live in a home in West Miami that is one of the more expensive ones in the area. Ryan Stone for The New York Times 

June 9. 2015
By Stever Eder 

...In speeches, (click here) Mr. Rubio, a Florida Republican, spoke of his prudent plan for using the cash to finally pay off his law school loans, expressing relief that he no longer owed “a lady named Sallie Mae,” as he once called the lender.

But at the same time, he splurged on an extravagant purchase: $80,000 for a luxury speedboat, state records show. At the time, Mr. Rubio confided to a friend that it was a potentially inadvisable outlay that he could not resist. The 24-foot boat, he said, fulfilled a dream....

What is exceptionally odd is the fact he owes money to governments for things like tickets. That doesn't make sense. How does a US Senator who has plenty of money to throw around not pay infractions in the law?

...In the past week, he suffered a new loss when he sold his second home in Florida’s capital, Tallahassee, for $18,000 less than he and a friend paid for it a decade ago. The house had previously faced foreclosure after Mr. Rubio and his friend failed to make mortgage payments for five months....

This is a little more than traffic tickets. There are many people that own more than one home and manage them just fine. None of this makes sense. A US Senator has all the amenities as any person with accumulated wealth, but, there are these strange inconsistencies. 

Is Senator Rubio indirectly stating he simply didn't bother with the financial details of his life or does he actually have sincere misunderstanding of the definition of wealth? Wealth occurs when there is a positive balance every year one has to pay taxes from, including state taxes. Mortgages are one of those really good items that stem paying higher tax rates. So, I think Senator Rubio can understand why all this inconsistent financial behavior is more a suspicion to many of the electorate rather than a simple annoyance.

Questionable finances may not worry Republicans. After all US House member Joe Walsh came to office owing tens of thousands of US in child support. I guess anything is possible. 

I am fairly sure boats can be used as a second home. Probably even speed boats.  

Local Product Quality will work. Here is why.

We all know there is a strong history of substandard Chinese merchandise at all levels. This has been a problem for some time now. It isn't to say as Chinese leaders become more sophisticated to market demands it won't change. The Chinese product quality will change as their Middle Class becomes more sophisticated and demands changes in their domestic products as well.

So, the important question is why are local ordinances relevant to import products developed and built thousands of miles away?

The answer is not what most people think. 

You know how Walmart and these big box stores have many, many products made in China? Well, the merchandise could have been imported by your neighbor.  

Let's just say I might have some loose change sitting around and I wanted to make more money with it. The amount is $25,000. Maybe a little more and there is probably at least one other investor. I then take a trip to China with an engineering schematic for bar stools. 

I find a manufacturer in China that can build the bar stools. I then arrange for transportation out of China to the East Coast of the USA through the new Panamax Canals.

I get home and am a hop away from Port Elizabeth in New Jersey where the shipping container has arrived. I have now already talked to my local big box store, made the issue for marketing bar stools due to the impending New Year's holiday. The big box store thinks it is a great idea and accepts delivery to the store of the new bar stools.

I and my fellow investors are making money. There is cheap labor in China, no real government regulation that would increase the cost of the bar stools and China has well organized transportation hubs including cranes in every country. The transportation costs while sufficient to make the average person's hair stand on end is more than reasonable when realizing the profit within each bar stool sold. 

That's right. The products made in China can be ORDERED and bought by purchasers for Walmart, but, they can also be manufactured to an engineering standard and purchased by ordinary people.  

So, the rewards for investors of products from China is enormous. The best way to limit the impact of substandard products is to eliminate their eligibly for sale in the city and town one lives.

This scenario is real. When American investors leave the USA to find a Chinese manufacturer to build their product they have to have certain standards to meet at the POINT OF SALE. If those standards are not understood to every merchant in town, there will be adverse outcomes like that of New Orleans. 

The local economy in the USA runs on QUALITY. Americans want quality, have a long history of demanding quality and expect products to perform within their expectations. There is every scientific reason to demand quality products imported to cities and towns across the USA. The more demand there is from importers, the better the quality becomes at POINT of Manufacture. 

It is the only reasonable way forward with trade agreements most Americans have little to no control over. I know the agreements will assault the standards of Americans in product quality, but, the push back has to be significant and will meet the demands of lawsuits. Local authorities need to understand the challenge before them and begin the process of determining what standards they expect their Chamber of Commerce to meet.

DON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER. 

The life you save may be your own. Home ownership should be protected to insure it's value is never in question. Inferior products cause pollution in landfills as well. The real estate in every town is important, don't mess it up. Don't turn cheap alternatives to American Produced Products into the burden of the taxpayer.

Know the performance of your US District Court of Appeals.

Realize the wall board emitting sufuric emissions into the home environment where children live is the very same District Court as the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. That will provide an understanding of why consumers are war weary of BAD BUSINESS practices!

This has gone on since 2006 because the court system at the appellate level is corrupt. These cases have to make it's way to the Supreme Court if necessary. This is one of the worst performing appellate division in the country and has been for a long time.

Health standards for Americans are well known and has to honored as valid by scientific findings over a century of medical practice and research. This is the level of fraud and misdirection the appellate court for New Orleans exercises on a regular basis. There have to be lawsuits built from the ground up when entering into court actions in this appellate court.

The lawsuits have to be strong, ridiculously strong.  

It would be a really rewarding exercise if law students would carry out an inventory of BAD DECISIONS of this appellate court. It could be used in impeachment and to back up reasons why the lawsuits decided by this court is unconstitutional and a threat to the well being of Americans. 

Think local and nothing else.

Don't be afraid of filing lawsuits against products that violate sound local laws based in verifiable science.

My understanding of the current proposed trade agreements is that it circumvents sound science in applying demands of importers to the USA.

The DEFENSE against these immoral trade policies is to start correctly from the beginning in basing local ordinance in sound scientific principles in product reassurance, INCLUDING ENGINEERING.

This is what gets so ridiculous about these trade agreements, they jepopardize sound principles of product quality in the USA. Kindly pay close attention to the children's products. Americans love to buy products for their children and becomes targets of these agreements. Parents need to demand a quality assurance from those in the practice of marketing for children. Yes, this means "Toys R US" and "Babies R US" have to GUARANTEE every product they sell. Wall Street should understand Americans are putting up with this garbage and they could be faced with lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit that force very bad outcomes to CEO bonuses and the very potential a company no longer exists.

Don't get stressed over this mess. Engage the local government and bring to their attention this one episode in New Orleans. Demand their products in stores are solidly safe. If Americans can't get these reassurance, don't buy the product. Be a label reader for all the products purchased with hard earned dollars.

Demand American made products, preferably produced locally.

Okay. I do not believe this has been going on since 2006. That was right after Katrina. Amazing. There is no valuing human life evidently.

When cities and town accept import products it has to be certified through well known US authority.

 Underwriters Laboratories is a well known certification agency. It is also independent from government.

UL (click here) is a global independent safety science company with more than a century of expertise innovating safety solutions from the public adoption of electricity to new breakthroughs in sustainability, renewable energy and nanotechnology. Dedicated to promoting safe living and working environments, UL helps safeguard people, products and places in important ways, facilitating trade and providing peace of mind.

Quality workmen in the USA that will be working with these products are going to have to rely on their professional organizations to take on this challenge in setting WORK ENVIRONMENT QUALITY. The EPA and OSHA also has to set policy to protect workers. The USA Labor Department is going to have to take on the issue to realize the number of workers who have come in contact with dangerous import products.

Americans are not guinea pigs for some of the worst standards in the world. Our country determined a long time ago what is healthy and what is not. We have PAID THE PRICE for our knowledge and no import mess is going to undo the standards Americans have developed for their own well being.

This is outrageous. This is nothing but outrageous. 

BUSH. He had a motto, "Everything Chinese is wonderful." He pretended not to approve of this exploration of Americans by refusing to have direct talks with the Chinese when they were in town. 

This is a new call for sanity. When politicians refuse contact with foreign governments THINK TWICE about any assurances the USA quality of life will continue!!

continued...

Chinese drywall melts metal? OMG. What does it do to lungs?

NEW ORLEANS (AP) " Thomas Stone (click here) says Chinese drywall has ruined his life, repeatedly corroding fixtures and appliances in the house he bought and rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. A hearing Tuesday will decide how much money he and 3,000 other homeowners can get to replace the drywall made by Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd.

About 1,000 more cases will be tried individually, said Arnold Levin, one of many plaintiffs' attorneys in the case.

"People have lost their homes. Some were put in bankruptcy. Some are living in tents. They can't go into their house and they're living in tents outside," he said.
For some time, Taishan refused to respond to the lawsuits. U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon tried a group of seven cases without the company, ordering it in 2012 to pay $2.7 million to seven Virginia homeowners and their lawyers. Taishan paid up " including about $500,000 in interest " in March, about eight months after Fallon found it in contempt of court.

Another manufacturer, German-owned Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co., and four companies it supplied agreed in 2010 to pay for home repairs. That settlement is expected to total $1.1 billion, attorneys have said....

There is no warranty on Chinese products. This is typical of "The South;" substandar building materials are welcome. It is a cultural thing in the USA South; cheat your way to wealth.  See, the impoverished can't afford quality, so why bother

There is a reason The South receives large amounts of FEDERAL Medicaid money every year.
 
A sample of the Chinese-made drywall ripped out of the Chalmette home of Thomas and Lauren Stone in June 2009. The Stones are in the long process of replacing it all by themselves (Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune archive)

October 9. 2013
By Katherine Sayre

The future of thousands (click here) of homeowners' damage claims against a major supplier of Chinese drywall will be argued Wednesday morning (Oct. 9) in a federal appellate court in New Orleans. 

Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd. -- one of two major manufacturers accused of supplying toxic drywall -- made and shipped 1.8 million sheets of the building material to the U.S. between 2005 and 2009. Taishan has argued that U.S. courts don't have jurisdiction over the company.
As many as 20,000 property owners in Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia installed the material during frenzied building after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and a nation-wide housing boom.... 

This has been going on since 2006 and evidently new trade laws are going to demand more of the same.

Sulfurous? Sulfurous? What kind of conditions are these homeowners suffering from? There air quality was laced with acid. What is going on with the children?

April 11, 2011
By Bruce Nolan

...In federal class-action suits (click here) in federal court in New Orleans, they described how sulfurous Chinese drywall emitted vapors that corroded electrical wiring; ruined the circuitry of air conditioners, appliances, computers and televisions; tarnished jewelry and other metals; pitted mirrors and sometimes made their homes stink of rotten eggs.

Among them were middle-class families pushed into bankruptcy, and in a few cases, notable names including Saints coach Sean Payton, whose expansive Mandeville home had to be torn apart.

But it also turns out that volunteers who came to New Orleans during their spring and winter breaks unknowingly installed toxic drywall in the homes of the poorest and most vulnerable families as well.

As a result, Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Charities’ Operation Helping Hands and Rebuilding Together New Orleans have all launched programs to identify tainted homes, move homeowners out, sustain them for months and make the houses safe for occupancy....

The company should have already been banned from any trade in the USA. What is the BCC certification? 

BCC Certification is "Board Certified Coach?" What the hell is this? A coach? Fraud. Lots and lots of fraud surrounds Chinese products. BCC should be a co-defendant to the lawsuits. 

Taishan Gypsum Co., Ltd (click here) is one of the key enterprises . The headquarters is located in Tai’an Shandong province, the south of the famous Mt. Tai, near to the ancient Dawenkou culture Ruins and very convenient for transportation.

　It is abundant in raw gypsum resources. The products “Taishan” series gypsum board can be used as partition and ceiling material and have advantages: fire-proof, sound insulation, heat preservation, quakeproof and good for health. “Taishan” series steel frame for gypsum board is made of high quality zinc-covered steel belt through advanced technique. The full set of steel frame, with varies specifications and well-fitted, is your first choice for decorations.

The Chinese businesses are being taken for the same ride as the consumers of their products.

The Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE) (click here) created the Board Certified Coach (BCC) credential as a means to independently verify that applicants have met professional coaching competency standards established by CCE and subject matter experts. These standards reflect the common knowledge, skills and abilities of a professional coach.

There are little to no quality assurances with these imports. This wall board is dangerous and will DEFINITELY affect the health of the consumers. This is serious. Very serious. 

There needs to be strong opposition to any trade deal. The opposition will have to be based in QUALITY REASSURANCES. The cost of these products are far higher than their purchase price. Enough. We don't want them. Local economies have to be backed by educated Mayor and Council to set up QUALITY ASSURANCES. 

Quality Assurance standards have to include all products that could come into the city or town. Local ordinance has to become sophisticated quickly. This is the type of service local authority now has to take on, there used to be federal regulations that guaranteed quality to Americans. HERE WE GO AGAIN !!!!!!!!

If there were unions involved in supplying labor with these products their health has to be assessed. This wall board will cause health impacts from it's first contact by workers.