The avian flu has impacted the USA economy.

July 9, 2015
By Catherine Hawley

BALTIMORE - The avian flu (click here) has killed more than 48-million turkeys and chickens, mainly from an outbreak on farms in the Midwest.

But locally, there's other fallout from the flu.  Custard sales at Rita’s Italian Ice locations nationwide are being halted because the company can’t get enough eggs.  They’re a main ingredient in the frozen treat.  Until egg numbers are back up, the custard machines will churn out soft-serve ice cream instead.

"We love Rita's, we love the custard,” said Dina Wientge.  “But we'll probably still give the soft-serve a try and see how it is."...

See, local economies rock. I just love those words, "I told you so." You can tell you have the correct eggs in your refrigerator if they all aren't white. I remember the first eggs in the house with green shells. I think it was Ted Cruz that read Green Eggs and Ham. I never knew he was a big organic food guy. 

July 9, 2015
By Forum News Service

ST. PAUL -- Nearly one-fourth (click here) of the farms struck by the highly pathogenic avian influenza now have agreements in place to restock, according to the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.

It reported Thursday that 25 farms have restocking agreements in place. They include two farms in Kandiyohi County, seven in Stearns, five in Meeker and one in Lac qui Parle.

There has no new infected flocks in Minnesota since June 5, the board reported Thursday....

Free range chicken eggs.

Reports (click here) have been mixed on health benefits of free-range chicken. But some smaller studies indicate that pastured chickens may be healthier. A 2003 study by Penn State University researchers found that eggs from pastured hens have higher levels of omega 3 fatty acids and vitamins A and E (see References 3). For the greatest health benefits, purchase poultry and eggs from a trusted source so you know the chickens ranged freely on pesticide-free grass.

July 9, 2015

MADISON, NE (KTIV/US92) - (click here for video) Because of the avian flu outbreak, you won't find chickens at many county or state fairs in Siouxland. That list includes Madison County, Nebraska's Fair.
But, that didn't stop the fair from having poultry-related events for it's 4-H kids. Kids could compete for awards in "showmanship". Using either a stuffed animal, or video of a live chicken, they could do a personal project display, or an educational display. 4-H officials say one of those options was clearly the most popular. "The personal project display because it was giving them the opportunity to their love for what they had at home," said Polocek.
Turnout was down slightly this year, but the poultry events still had strong turnout from the 4-H kids. Many of the projects have already been completed, and some are already displayed at the fair through Saturday.

Iowa farmers not happy with President Obama. Was there something in the Farm Bill that was overlooked by Governor Branstad?

July 10, 2015
By Olivia Mancino

Iowa lawmakers and farmers (click here) are upset after President Obama has denied Governor Branstad's disaster declaration for avian influenza.
Branstad sent a letter to the Obama Administration asking for unemployment assistance, disaster case management, and crisis counseling for the counties affected heavily by the avian flu.
He also asked for a tonnage waiver on federal roadways so poultry carcasses can be disposed quicker.
But again, Obama has denied all  those requests.
In a conference call Thursday, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said she was deeply disappointed by the administration's decision. 
Iowa farmers echoed her statement.
In a hearing Tuesday, turkey farmer Brad Moline spoke about the hit his farm took.
"I have over 40 hours o paper work that needs to be done, that time could have been better spent cleaning buildings and disinfecting," said Moline.

There is still some meetings and the like going on with the USDA. I would expect Congress to take this up in a separate bill. They did with Hurricane Sandy. This might have the same trajectory because infrastructure has to be addressed for the future, too. 

This isn't something FEMA is responding to. Senator Ernst should bring a bill to the floor of the Senate.

June 15, 2015
...Based on an analysis by APHIS, (click here) environmental factors may also play a part in transmitting HPAI. APHIS found that air samples collected outside of infected poultry houses contain virus particles, indicating that the virus could be transmitted by air.  In addition, preliminary analysis of wind data shows a relationship between sustained high winds and an increase in the number of infected farms approximately 5 days later.  APHIS is conducting additional analyses to better characterize environmental factors that may contribute to virus spread.

While USDA has always worked with States and industry to promote biosecurity, it has continued to step up this collaboration throughout the outbreak, including meeting with industry representatives, producers, and federal, state and local government officials on to discuss the importance of biosecurity.  Moving forward, APHIS plans to continue sharing what it learns with State and industry partners through regular conversations and meetings, including an Industry/USDA/State Animal Health Meeting in July where the agency will focus specifically on biosecurity.... 

See, the USDA has been handling all this. There is already a lot of federal money in play. The USDA is handling a lot of this.

May 29, 2015 -- As part of its ongoing response (click here) efforts to the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) disease outbreak, USDA is seeking the assistance of contractors in several areas.  In order to be eligible to receive a federal award, contractors need to register with the System for Award Management website.
Areas where assistance is being sought include: landfills, carbon sources (compost, wood chips, etc.), transportation, heavy equipment, and environmental disposal/hazardous materials handling.  USDA’s contracting office is seeking quotes from contractors in these areas through the request for quote process.  Contractors may be contacted directly based on their type of business (NAICS code).  Opportunities are also posted online at www.fbo.gov .  Interested firms can search “agency” using “Animal Plant Health Inspection Service” to see a list of current opportunities....

Oh, forget it. This is a multi-state emergency. There has to be a comprehensive approach. That is why the USDA is coordinating all this. The pathogen is throughout the Midwest; Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan and Kentucky.

A state of emergency in one state isn't going to solve the problem. There has to be identical outcomes to insure there won't be reinfection into new stock. I have a hard time believing Iowa has a problem meeting the unemployment needs. It isn't as though thousands upon thousands are effected. 

This is one large emergency. It is a matter of a comprehensive effort. These states don't have emergency counseling for these folks? The communities have had to know what is going on. There might be some underlying trauma that government wants to address. But, everyone knew there were problems. There area all kinds of APHIS announcements during this time. I saw them.

There has been significant federal help with these states. They weren't going it alone. 

On to something human. I think the approach of Sanctuary Cities is important. BUT...

July 10, 2015
By Al Weaver

In a statement Friday, (click here) former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley defended sanctuary cities in the aftermath of the death of Kate Steinle, who was murdered in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant who was deported five times previously.
“It’s lamentable that the senseless and tragic act of violence that occurred in San Francisco is prompting a rush to judgment and finger pointing: we can and should do better,” O’Malley said in the statement.
“Local governments should not be blamed for the Federal Government’s inability to fix our broken immigration system nor should they be held responsible for doing the Federal Government’s job,” he added....

This episode of over 20 years with a man that could not be contained by either governments is a concern. It is a growing concern as the First World approaches the reality of home grown terrorists. We know up to now the majority of our illegal population are from Mexico. There can be a minority of dangerous people in that other percentage. I also remind the men of September 11th were in the country legally. They were also known to the FBI. 

Moussaoui thinks he has something to say, too. 

February 3, 2015
By Scott Shane
WASHINGTON — In highly unusual testimony (click here) inside the federal supermax prison, a former operative for Al Qaeda has described prominent members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family as major donors to the terrorist network in the late 1990s and claimed that he discussed a plan to shoot down Air Force One with a Stinger missile with a staff member at the Saudi Embassy in Washington....

But, this episode in San Francisco, as tragic as it is has provided a window of reality no one was counting on. It has to be approached and reviewed. I still haven't heard the particulars of how Mr. Sanchez stole a gun, a substantial gun, from an Interior Department employee. I want to know what happened here. It is all too convenient to have an illegal immigrant of 20 years in the same place of an agent's gun. 

THE GUN is a large part of the problem. Mr. Sanchez is a study all to himself, but, the idea he was able to get a gun from a federal agent is exceptionally worrisome. 

Sanctuary Cities provide a greater safety for the community. That is a known fact. But, there are limits and to examine this episode is very important to the country's national security.

The Elephant Awakening has caught some zoos pondering the future of their elephants.

Currently, a 35 year old Lucky has two organizations fighting for the best retirement. Lucky's long time home of San Antonio Zoo vs The One World Conservation.

"We Love Lucky" is San Antonio's webpage and where this video appeared. (click here) 

"We Love Lucky More" is One World Conservation (click here) webpage for Lucky's advocacy to retire in Tennessee with other elephants.

This may be a way the Chinese can move away from appreciating ivory to appreciating ivory on the hoof.

Zimbabwe sent them. They did make money from exporting live elephants. 

It would be better if the Chinese were working with zoos and international zoo organizations to bring the most humane outcomes to these elephants. The Chinese are very much aware of animal rights organizations. They covet the well being of the Panda, both, in zoos and in the wild.

All these elephants should be viewed as an uptick to the genetic viability of the species in captive environments. But, people need to be clamoring to help the Chinese better maintain these live elephants. They are very important. The international community can help China develop advocacy for live elephants over the idea of poaching for ivory.

The international community also needs to work with Zimbabwe to decide about their movement of young elephants. Those youngsters might enjoy a transplant into another group of elephants. There is the issue of acceptance, but scientists should already have clear ideas about that.

July 10, 2015

(Beijing) – China has imported (click here) more than 20 baby elephants from Zimbabwe, and activists have expressed concern about the conditions in which the animals will live.

The elephant calves arrived at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport on July 6, said Hu Chunmei, an animal rights activist. Other activists learned of the elephants' arrival from airport employees and a cargo company.

Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe's environmental minister, also told the Associated Press on July 6 that the animals had been shipped to China.
Activists had tried for weeks to stop Zimbabwe's government from allowing the export.

Zoos in Taiyuan, in the northern province of Shanxi, and in the western Xinjiang region imported four elephants from Zimbabwe in 2012, Hu said. One died shortly after arriving in the country and two others have not been seen in a long time.

Trade of elephants was banned under a 1989 UN convention that China signed. However, some recovering populations of the animals, including those in Zimbabwe, were listed as eligible for trade in 1997.

Officials in Zimbabwe said the elephant population in that country is getting too large, and they have been looking for buyers to pay US$ 40,000 to US$ 60,000 for each calf. It is unclear how much the Chinese buyers paid or who they are.
Animal rights campaigners around the world have said they are concerned about how the elephants were taken from the wild and kept in captivity. They also want to know how the animals will be treated once in China....

This is the characteristic elephants exhibit that brought activists to realize how socialized they are.

Ungulates. Sorry, hippos.

There is another entry on this blog about this exact elephant. There was also a video that picked up his mimicking of his handler during the nighttime hours they were separated. I think of the behavior as a human equivalent of sucking his thumb. This elephant was making the same sounds he heard during the day from his trainer to comfort him. He was lonely. He was exhibiting stress to his aloneness. 

The understanding of elephants deep social structure is not simply found from one example. There are scientists that have studied locations in the world, now protected, where elephants meet to breed and comfort each other. Elephants have a very integrate language exhibited in very low frequency that is nearly out of human audible range. 

This same behavior, oddly enough, is seen in whales, too. The humpbacks are the best example. They have 17 distinct sounds they make to communicate with each other in the pod. Why oddly? Because whales are proven to be mutations of Pakistan elephants as they entered the sea in adaptive behaviors over time.

I do not lie. It is all true. Pakistan has been the country with a wealth of knowledge regarding the mutation of whales from larger land mammals. This research has been known a long time. This is not a new discovery.

The best domestic example of how a species developed to be very different than it's ancestors, is the modern day horse. There are many species in the world that have adapted to their environment over time to have a very different genetic outcome than their ancestors. 

This elephant is precious. He provided a window into his social needs. His handler is as precious, too. I noted the chain on the elephant's back leg. That is in place for the purpose of the video. The socialization is so strong with his handler he would engage in play rather than making a teaching video. If I recall correctly, the elephant has a large outdoor paddock where his handler communicates from outside the fence. He is a very big elephant, sweetheart that he is.

"World Elephant Day" (click here)

The poaching rate in 2014 remained virtually unchanged compared with 2013. . . elephant populations remain in decline.”'

The Asian elephant, whose habitat ranges over 13 countries across Asia, is an endangered species with less than 40,000 remaining worldwide – less than a tenth of the African elephant population.

There are significant losses of individuals across the species lines. It doesn't matter the species of elephant they are poached heavily for their ivory. Everything has been tired including armed park rangers. There are too many poachers and while some are caught, others are not.

Ivory is still marketed in Asia.  

China is upping their requirements for Panda leases.

With the climate crisis and changing weather patterns, the zookeepers may not have seen this coming. This extreme during winter is new to both northern and southern hemispheres. The Panda breeding center might want to keep that in mind in their new program. Monitoring weather for zoos is as much as the daily routine as feeding and cleaning.

As hard as it is to believe, New Zealand is receiving frigid cold temperatures it has never seen before. Not only deep zero temperatures, but, also snow. There were Main Streets to clear and electrical infrastructure to repair in New Zealand they never had before. 

Who can resist that face?

10 July 2015
Written by Mark Elliot

...Breeding centres in Sichuan province (click here) have lent almost 100 pandas to more than 40 zoos across China, some of which have died.
Earlier this month, two pandas went on display at a zoo in Changchun, in northern China’s Jilin province, where winter temperatures can dip as low as -30⁰C. This is the furthest north a panda has ever been displayed in China.
“There is a set procedure to follow, but we have seen violations where the enclosure, keeper, veterinarian or food supply chain did not meet the required standards,” Xinhua reported Zhang Zhihe, head of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, as saying.
Under new rules, zoos applying to borrow pandas will have to send their keepers and vets to the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan province for three months of training, and the reserve will send inspection teams to the zoos every year.

Two more rare onagers successfully join the world.

July 9, 2015

...The onager (click here) is an Asiatic wild ass and belongs to the equid family of hoofed animals, once found in abundance across the deserts of Mongolia, China and Iran. 
 
Now, they are found in just two protected areas and over the past 16 years their numbers have declined by more than 50%.
Tim Rowlands, curator of mammals at Chester Zoo, said: “Onagers are the rarest equid species in the world and one of the rarest animals that we have here at the zoo, so we were absolutely delighted to have two foals arrive - one male and one female - during same night.
“Both youngsters are doing very well and mums Jamila and Zarrin are doing a great job of nurturing and bonding with their new charges.
“We hope the foals themselves will one day go on to contribute to the international breeding programme for the species, which is working to ensure there’s a sustainable population in zoos.”
The species is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), after suffering at the hands of illegal poaching, overgrazing and disease passed on from farm animals.... 

This makes a third onager to join the world.

ČTK

10 July 2015

Ostrava, North Moravia, July 9 (CTK) - A young onager, (click here) an endangered Asiatic wild ass, has been born in the Ostrava zoo, its spokeswoman Sarka Novakova told CTK Thursday, adding that the rare offspring is a female.
It is the first young to be born in "Persia," a newly established enclosure with several animal species.
The onager group in it is comprised of a male and four females.
Novakova said the onager is the most endangered of the five Asian ass subspecies. Its wild population is estimated at a mere 500, and the world zoos keep some 80 of them.
Out of the Czech zoos, the onager can be seen in Ostrava only.
The onager's natural habitats are lowlands, deserts and semi-deserts. Originally, it lived in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, but it survives only in Iran now, Novakova said.
Outside nature reserves, people often tend to eliminate onagers in order to save the pastures for cattle.

For zoos, poo can be a challenge.

July 9, 2015

By Tom Demeropolis

...The Walnut Hills-based (click here) general contractor is building the $7.3 million hippopotamus exhibit, which will be the final piece of the zoo’s $34 million Africa expansion. Mark Fisher, senior director of facilities, planning and sustainability at the Cincinnati Zoo, said the new hippo exhibit will be twice the size of the zoo's manatee exhibit, which also required significant technology and engineering.

“This is the most sophisticated project in the history of the Cincinnati Zoo,” he said. 

The reason? Building a hippo exhibit with an underwater viewing area comes with a unique challenge: keeping a nearly 70,000 gallon exhibit pool clean enough for visitors to see the hippos. That’s really tough when a single hippo can generate about 400 pound of waste per day. The Cincinnati Zoo will have two....

The other challenge even zoos are facing is their security. Not just the gates and railings, but, computer insecurity plagues them, too. Zoos' budgets are tight the way it is, but, when money is stolen it makes management that much more an issue.

July 9, 2015
By Robert Abel
 
The Detroit Zoo along with eight other zoos (click here) across the country announced that Service Systems Associates (SSA), a third party vendor that handles retail and concession payments, experienced a point-of-sale (POS) breach that affected customers between March 23 and June 25 of this year. 

How many victims? Unknown.

What type of personal information? Customer names, credit and debit card numbers, expiration dates, and three-digit CVV security codes.

What happened? Malware was detected on SSA software in nine zoo gift shops that compromised information of customers at the Detroit Zoo and eight other zoos across the country.  

What was the response? The malware responsible for the incident was identified and removed. SSA has notified the credit card companies of the situation and is working with law enforcement and the forensic investigator firm Sikich to investigate the breach....

Yes, indeed, poaching is a problem.

Aren't they beautiful. Well, poachers obviously think so, too.

Madagascar is a tropical region. The description is from the World Wildlife Fund (click here).

Approximately 95 percent of Madagascar’s reptiles, 89 percent of its plant life, and 92 percent of its mammals exist nowhere else on Earth.

Madagascar can be an interesting place. It is known for it's primates. There are species that have turned up in a Madagascar forest no one knew existed. The citizens of Madagascar are impoverished. Impoverishment leads to poaching. The poaching leads to attractive consumer products or a food product and the animals bring significant monies to poachers. 

This tortoise can be a lesson in understanding the strategies of species to survive in a world where predators play very important roles in containing populations. The markings on the shell must blend with the jungle floor. Over time species adapt to their environment. This tortoise has a hard shell, moves slowly, has a sharp beak and markings that blend with it's environment. That is the case with most species. Their strategies for survival include their ability to blend with their environment and mask their presence from predators. 

Harmony with the environment in small countries like Madagascar can bring more than lives of subsistence farming. Ecotourism is known to be beneficial to species, but, also the people that run the hotels, tours and care of the environment that supports the species. Additionally, proper management of tropical hardwoods can bring significant monies for some of the most beautiful wood in the world.

Species don't have to be in danger. The people don't have to be impoverished, but, it takes talented ecologists to bring the entire picture together to work and benefit all.

July 11, 2015

By Charlotte Hamlyn

Fourteen critically (click here) endangered tortoises destined for the illegal wildlife trade have been rescued and are now in quarantine at Perth Zoo.

The distinctive shell of the radiated tortoise makes it a prized target for wildlife traffickers who sell the animals on the black market to be used as ornaments, pets or for their meat, which is said to have aphrodisiac properties.

The animals were intercepted by officials in Hong Kong two years ago.
After a long period of negotiations they were transferred to Perth where they have spent three months in quarantine in a temperature controlled enclosure.
Senior vet at Perth Zoo Simone Vitali said the tortoises, which are native to Madagascar, were bound for the black market in Asia.

"We know very little about where these animals came from in the first place except they were probably taken from the wild and so they may well be related to one another," Dr Vitali said.

"They're very popular in the illegal wildlife pet trade because they're very charismatic little animals, they're very easy to care for and they're long-lived....

From the "Brisbane Times."

I am sure many zoo goers have seen the animals that "pace the cage." These enrichment programs for the animals is to increase their quality of life. It is not a trick or taught under fear of punishment. No one is feeding the animals treats. They have an opportunity to occupy their minds with other activities they find fun. Obviously, the chimp feels good playing his melody. It hasn't discovered higher level composition at this point.

Elephants have been painting for years. 

July 9, 2015
By Stephanie Brownlee

An enrichment program (click here) for animals at Rockhampton Zoo - and in particular a ukulele-playing chimp - is pulling at heartstrings on social media.
The zoo has returned with gusto since reopening in April after repairs following Tropical Cyclone Marcia.
Images and videos featuring the zoo's animals benefiting from an enrichment program have found thousands of fans via Facebook with Holly the chimp and her ukulele notching almost 16,000 views alone on the zoo's page....

Certifications for zoos are very important. It's a public facitlity. There should be no question about the proper operation.

"Gulf Breeze Zoo" (click here)

With this being tourist season across the country; zoos need to have consultants on their payroll for this type of emergency. An injured animal is an emergency. The only people licensed to treat animals are veterinarians. 

Megan Mogensen should have quickly called the veterinarian on consult to the zoo to receive information as to the best way to euthanize the animal in question. Quite frankly, when an animal is euthanized, a record to it's treatment and death should be on hand for inspectors to read. 

July 8, 2015
By Will Isern

...Mogensen (click here) led a reporter on a tour of the Gulf Breeze Zoo Wednesday morning. To be sure, the zoo facilities today are impressive and don't show any obvious signs of the kind of abuses alleged in the federal complaint. Still, the complaint stands and Mogensen will be made to appear before an administrative law judge. He says he has refuted each of the government's accusations in writing and intends to fight the complaint in court....

...If found guilty of any or all of the charges, Mogensen and his daughter, Meghan, who also is named in the complaint, could face a variety of outcomes, including having their zoo operation license suspended or revoked.

The most egregious violation included in the complaint is one that Meghan Mogensen did, in 2012 as director of the Reston Zoo in Reston, Va., drown an injured parma wallaby as a means of euthanasia and fabricated a euthanasia report. Mogensen was found guilty of those charges in a Fairfax County, Va., courthouse in 2012 and spent a month in jail.

"The poor girl made a mistake," Mogensen said. "It'll come out that there was a curator up there that was doing a lot of (the violations at the Reston Zoo), and it wasn't Meghan. She had one instance, everything else they mention wasn't her."..."

The certification for zoos applies to all zoos, not just the larger zoos. Many zoos invest a great deal of time and resources to provide a safe and quality experience for the public. There are some real tragedies that occur at zoos. It is the responsibility of the government to insure the public is safe.

July 9, 2015

L.A. Zoo seeks docents (volunteers without pay) (click here)

People who love animals and working with children can serve as a volunteer at the Los Angeles Zoo.... 

...The docent program, open to ages 18 and up, provides comprehensive training, with no experience necessary.

GLAZA’s 600 volunteers have contributed more than 76,000 hours last year to the zoo. Many volunteers have provided over 46 years of service.

Docents complete a 23-week training program offered at the zoo each fall in conjunction with UCLA Extension. Classes, which begin in October, meet from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. once a week on Mondays or Saturdays....

Zoos can receive attention in the age of iPhones and Facebook by having a prize daily or at the end of the season for the best animal picture of the day or of the season.

"PHOTOS: Baby animals draws crowds as zoos and wildlife parks." (click here)

Rules regarding the contest can be posted around the zoo and on the e-page of the zoo. Those rules must include lawful space between the photographer and the animals, including others in the SELFIE.

I'll be darn. The zoos still have baby giraffes. I thought they were going extinct. I thought the lions that ate them were in trouble, too.

This giraffe was born last November Tanganyika Wildlife Park. (july 8, 2015)

This entry made in memory of "Marius" and his subsequent friends now in the spirit world. (click here)

Don't even think about it, including drowning. People are watching.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article26839168.html#storylink=cpy

The post 9/11 family.

While I mentioned my father who died in 2010 as a dearly loved patriarch to the family. Anyone would ask him, including his right wing conservative friends, how he saw the presidency of George W. Bush.

Now, mind you my father was a veteran of the Korean War. Enlisted, volunteered, munitions expert for US Air Force. He took care of the bombs and the crew that loaded them onto the wings of jets.

In regard to "W," he would state, "I spent four years of my life in service to this country to make the world a better place for my children and their children. That four years in service also was to bring a better quality of life to the Korean people as well. Today, North Korea spits on the USA and freedom because "President W" made a political speech at the DMZ and put all that sacrificed into the trash bin of life. I didn't serve my country for a lousy politician to undo the commitment and deaths of my friends and my country."

He was referring to the "Axis of Evil" speech that spawned North Korea to remove the United Nation's seals on their nuclear reactors. I didn't even bring up the subject. At a Thanksgiving table with family surrounding him, he stated his feelings to let us all know he consented to some of the family's views. He was important to us and he knew it.

My father wanted a better quality of life for the North Koreans as well as American security. It has all been undone and that war outcomes wasted. 

He never agreed the Iraq War was necessary or should have been fought. He pointed out how the Iraq War removed assets from defeating al Qaeda quickly in Afghanistan.

US Senator Sanders has a long history in advocacy for the Middle Class.

Bernie Sanders held his son during a meeting in 1971 with colleagues from The Vermont Freeman in Burlington, Vt. Credit Frank Kochman 
 
July 3, 2015
By Sarah Lyall

...“The Revolution Is Life Versus Death,” (click here) in fact, was the title of an article he wrote for The Vermont Freeman, an alternative, authority-challenging newspaper published for a few years back then. The piece began with an apocalyptically alarmist account of the unbearable horror of having an office job in New York City, of being among “the mass of hot dazed humanity heading uptown for the 9-5,” sentenced to endless days of “moron work, monotonous work.”...

US Senator Sander's history and policy advocacy is very clear. He is a strong advocate for the Middle Class. He would be breathing down Scott Walker's neck because a Governor is suppose to worry about the people and not his next political office.

There is no doubt that besides the immediate health dangers of sand mining in Wisconsin there will be increased cancer levels in years to come.

Our parents, the current eighty year olds, were working for good wages because of unions. I know because my family is a union family. 

I've said this before, too. My father was a union secretary, one of six officers that resigned to close a contract that would bring far better working conditions to the entire membership. The membership wanted to continue a 90 day wild cat strike because the officers would have to resign. But, the six officers stated they would be okay, but, the real promise of the new contract was that all the others in membership would be okay, too.

That is the legacy of people like Bernie Sanders. That child sitting in his lap was more important than his own life. That is America. That is the America we talk about and the promise this country brings to every child that it will have a better opportunities and a life of upward movement because of that promise.

That is Bernie Sanders.

When Bernie speaks it is from that gravity center of caring about others. If that is socialism, then I guess it is.

Senator Sanders is on the campaign trail because decades of promise has disappeared from the American Landscape. The words "Working Poor" is completely alien to Senator Sanders. Those words are an oxymoron. Those works are in complete contradiction of itself.

The deterioration of the Middle Class is in direct alignment with the disappearing unions. They are equally supportive of each other. "The Right to Work" legislation by ALEC is designed to end unions and end the burden of good wages on Wall Street. 

The deterioration of the Middle Class is so profound that any job has risks to health that is only seen in the Third World. The USA is headed down the path of destruction. The USA will implode with citizens failing health and impoverishment. The Democrats are working very hard to pull the country out of the spiral it has been in economically. The growth is steady, not bubble and bust. The growth is sustainable so long as there is no outsourcing and people feel good about their future and their children's future. That is Bernie Sanders. He lives to uplift the USA back where it belongs, both internationally and domestically.

He really isn't an extremist. It only sounds that way in a political environment that has destroyed the American Dream as a duty to patriotism.

Oh, yeah.

One more thing.

When the EPA considers the carbon footprint of fracking along with it's methane footprint, it needs to consider the diesel fuel used in transportation of vast amounts of water AND that of the mining operation of vehicles for mining and the sands' transportation. When all the carbon dioxide and methane is added up; fracking for natural gas is a greenhouse gas intensive operation.

The US EPA doesn't necessarily get that correct.

Scott Walker, the Twitter-verse Candidate.

Indeed, Mr. Walker can hardly keep up with the latest ad from Kohl's. He likes to accumulate vast amount of purchase points for free stuff. I'll tell you something though; his shopping is covert. I have yet to see one report of anyone witnessing him shopping with his free Kohl's points. 

July 10, 2015
By Stephen F. Hayes

When Scott Walker (click here) formalizes his presidential run Monday with a long-anticipated announcement, he will have at his side a seasoned veteran of Republican politics and an architect of the modern conservative movement. THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that Walker is expected to name Michael Grebe as campaign chairman as early as Friday....

But the worst of Scott Walker as Governor is that he has used Wisconsin as a spring board into the Presidency. He is insincere and lacks morals of a real leader.

The people of Wisconsin are simply steps on his ladder. He'll walk all over them to satisfy his ambitions. He states, "If I'll do it in Wisconsin, I'll do it in the rest of the country, too." Those are words of a leader or a follower of chronic Koch money.

March 3, 2015

Wisconsin sand (click here) is in great demand by the natural gas industry. The sand, used in frac mining, is creating a business boom for the state while some debate the merits of the mining practice.


"We have great sand, and it's needed for the fracking industry," UW-Stevens Point Professor Anna Haines said. She said 100 new sand mines have been put online in just the last four years....

..."We have thousands of acres now in mines," said Ken Schmidt, a farmer near one of Wisconsin's sand mines. "If they go on for a while, thousands more, what are we going to have left after the mining industry is gone?"...

... "(You've) got a train engine running," he said of the noise created by the nearby mine and processing plant. "It's like that constant water drop on your head. Day after day. Hour after hour."

Shier said trucks come and go 24 hours a day, seven days a week. His family had to move out of their bedrooms to try to escape the noises. They now sleep in the basement....

...UW-Eau Claire environmental public health director Crispin Pierce said sand mines are hurting air quality. A pollutant called PM 2.5 can cause lung problems that could contribute to heart attacks, cardiovascular disease and lung cancer.

Pierce said sand mines are a source of PM 2.5, but the state is not measuring it....

That is not a leader, that is a man with ambitions while on a short leash to the Kochs.

The term fine particles, or particulate matter 2.5 (PM_2.5), refers to tiny particles or droplets in the air that are two and one half microns or less in width. Like inches, meters and miles, a micron is a unit of measurement for distance. There are about 25,000 microns in an inch. The widths of the larger particles in the PM_2.5 size range would be about thirty times smaller than that of a human hair. The smaller particles are so small that several thousand of them could fit on the period at the end of this sentence.

It seems silly to most people why such a small particle would be of concern. But, the facts are very plain, human lungs doesn't discern good particles from bad particles. If that was the case no one would have pollen allergies.

Everyone remember the damage of asbestos? 

Depending on their shape and size, asbestos fibers deposit in different areas of the lung. Fibers less than 3 mm easily move into the lung tissue and the lining surrounding the lung (pleura). Long fibers, greater than 5 mm (1/5 inch), cannot be completely broken down by scavenger cells (macrophages) and remain in the lung tissue. These asbestos fibers can cause inflammation. Substances damaging to the lungs are then released by the cells of inflammation that are responding to the foreign asbestos material. The persistence of these long fibers in the lung tissue and the resulting inflammation seem to initiate the process of cancer formation.

The smaller the 'rock' introduced into the lungs the more likely it will lodge in the tissues. This blog has discussed this before.

This is from the American Lung Association:

Silicosis is a lung disease (click here) that is caused by inhaling tiny bits of silica. Silica is a common mineral that is part of sand, rock and mineral ores like quartz. People who work in jobs where they could breathe in these tiny silica bits—like sandblasting, mining, construction and many others—are at risk for silicosis. The silica dust can cause fluid buildup and scar tissue in the lungs that cuts down your ability to breathe. Silicosis cannot be cured, but you can prevent it if you take specific steps to protect yourself and your family. 

While Wisconsin doesn't have as many fracking wells as Oklahoma and Texas, the mining of sand is as dangerous as the fracking wells and their dust and methane discharge. Wisconsin has a major health problem for residents and workers alike. It is time of OSHA to pay a visit to the workers and the EPA to set up air quality monitoring.

July 15, 2015

An Estonian man (click here) who ran an organized cybercrime ring that infected more than four million PCs in over 100 countries with moneymaking malware has pleaded guilty in New York to wire fraud and computer intrusion charges.

Vladimir Tsastsin, 35, ran an online Web hosting and advertising empire in Estonia called Rove Digital. From 2007 to 2011, Tsastin and six other men cooked up and executed a scheme to deploy malware that altered the domain name system (DNS) settings on infected computers (there were versions of the malware for both Mac and Windows systems).

Known as DNSChanger, the malware replaced legitimate ads in victim Web browsers with ads that rewarded Rove Digital, and hijacked referral commissions from other advertisers when victims clicked on ads. The malware also prevented infected systems from downloading software updates and visiting many security Web sites....

Rove is turning a favorite son in Donald Trump into a bastard child.

Rove stated Mr. Trump was another Todd Akin. That is a very bad decision by Rove. Rove is not a candidate and doesn't respect the office. But. I suppose that is obvious in his six testimonies before the Plame Grand Jury before he stopped lying under oath. 

July 9, 2015
By Katie McHugh 

In an exclusive interview (click here) with Breitbart News, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump doubled down on his criticisms of former Bush advisor Karl Rove, who called for repealing the Second Amendment and declared Trump was a “complete idiot.” 

“Karl Rove spent $430 million dollars on various campaigns last cycle. Didn’t win one. Which is pretty hard to do,” Trump said. “But Karl Rove spent $430 million dollars and didn’t win one race, and I think that’s pretty sad, and I can’t imagine how anybody would listen to him.”

Trump leveled the same accusation on Twitter at Rove days earlier. Rove responded in a Wall Street Journal op-ed:...

Rove volunteers with GPS. So, how do you make your money Mr. Rove, by investing in GOP legislated projects? Karl doesn't like Senator Cruz. Wow.

July 10, 2015
 
Cruz also claims that in 2009, (click here) as he considered a run for Texas Attorney General, he secured an endorsement from former President George H.W. Bush – only to have Rove push Cruz to downplay the senior Bush’s support.

“He suggested that the elder Bush was too old to have good judgment anymore”, Cruz wrote. “It was hard to imagine that Bush 41 was unaware of the consternation that his endorsement would cause Rove”.

“I am accustomed to being criticized for others’ political benefit, but am disappointed in how Senator Cruz decided to raise the name of one of the finest presidents our country has ever known, President George H.W. Bush“.

At the time, Cruz reportedly wrote, Rove was raising money for the younger Bush’s presidential library.

The spat escalated late Sunday when Cruz released an email exchange with Rove from 2009 that supports parts of the Cruz version, though not the assertion that Rove yelled at him or questioned the elder Bush’s judgment....

The reason Donald Trump is first in the country as a GOP nominee is because of his obvious virgin status as a politician, he represents the little guy and he has NO CRONIES.

July 10, 2015
Sophia Tesfaye

...This is the first national poll (click here) showing Trump leading the Republican field. He’s previously come second and third in national polls.
Ted Nugent is #TeamTrump 
Trump defenders are a special bunch. Right-wing rocker, Ted Nugent, has unsurprisingly joined #TeamTrump. Nugent wrote in a WorldNetDaily op-ed that Trump deserved the Medal of Freedom for speaking out against “the professional political punks in D.C.”:
Donald Trump’s message sings to Americans because he doesn’t play politically correct brain-dead games. He calls them like he sees them. That’s refreshing to millions of Americans who believe political correctness is a public cancer that has eroded free speech and everything else good about America....

Here is an example of the little people:

Los Angeles 
Trump Rises in New Hampshire (click here) 

To the Editor:

Considering the formidable nature of the current field, what are we to make of Donald Trump reaching a lofty second in a recent poll among GOP presidential candidates in New Hampshire? Granted, polls can be perfidious, but still, Mr. Trump’s early taste of glory suggests he actually appeals to the intellect in a state which reveres lucid thinking, recognizes sound logic and acknowledges penetrating insight. 

Or perhaps the candidate takes his exalted place among this pantheon of leaders because he is one of those who refreshingly “speaks his mind” — no matter what it is that lurks therein — an approach that seems to be all the rage among candidates this season.

There is, however, a measure of hope, especially if one considers that this builder of mighty casinos might be riding high simply because New Hampshire voters really do have a wicked sense of humor.

Tom Brody
Lebanon  

Personally, I think Donald Trump likes women. I also believe he respects them. His interview with Katie the other day was a man that took her seriously and even allowed some advise in asking questions.

The Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageant are examples of opportunities for women based on their beauty, brains and talents. I suppose some could say it is a cattle call, but, it is a legitimate way for women, even in 2015, to achieve a college education and map a career. It is that reason the beauty pageants still stand. If the pageants lost their legitimacy it would be all over, but, the opportunities are still there after decades of competition.

So, the Akin comment doesn't come close. I doubt the pageants require birth control.

And I doubt they require contestants to sign a plead to not raise taxes.