North Korea needs quality of life for it's people.

It was only recently South Korea pulled out of the joint operation of a factory area shared by both countries. I think North Korea moved into the factory city last week or so.

We know about the poor quality blast of some kind that shook the region and the missile launch that left a satellite tumbling out of control in space. And this was the reaction of South Korea.

14th February 2016
Seoul, South Korea (AP) — South Korea (click here) says most of the money it paid to North Korea for the now-shuttered jointly run industrial park was channeled into weapons programs and used to buy luxury goods for the impoverished nation’s elite.

I'd like to know who makes up the North Koran nation's elite, I think most are dead now, yes?

In a brief Sunday statement, the South Korean Unification Ministry says about 70 percent of the 616 billion won (US$560 million) paid to the North since the park was established in 2004 was used to develop nuclear weapons, missiles and for luxury goods. It did not explain how it arrived at that percentage.
The industrial park, which Seoul shut last week after Pyongyang’s rocket launch, employed some 54,000 North Koreans in more than 120 South Korean companies....

This is a nice picture of Kim talking to his space employees or communists or dictates, but, it is no indication of American safety at this time.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a banquet for contributors of the recent rocket launch, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on February 15, 2016.

President Barack Obama's top national security adviser Susan Rice (click here) said on Monday that she expects China will support new international sanctions on North Korea for its recent rocket launches.

"I think it unlikely that China wants to be seen by the international community as the protector of North Korea given its recent outrageous behavior," Rice told reporters at a briefing.

This space thing in North Korea has been on the agenda a long time, starting with Kim, Sr. So, before the war mongers get out of control that North Korea now has a renegade leader, the idea of a space presence by North Korea has existed for some time; at least for seven years that the rest of the world knows of. And there is nothing preventing China to bring on North Korean scientists with their space program to bring pride to half of the people of the Korean peninsula.

North Korea really needs to consider setting up nuclear controls again with the United Nations. Removing them was a reaction to a very wayward speech by Bush at the power seat of the USA Congress. Many Americans did not appreciate the language or implications for any of the countries he mentioned nor the USA. The USA was far more powerful than those three countries and it only alarmed them and that was unnecessary and completely unwise. 

The North Korean people were far better off with UN seals on the nuclear program. China is sincerely North Korea's ally and it is important because China can reassure North Korea of a safe progression through the future. As long as China is strong and can protect North Korea it is best to provide that alliance to dominate North Korea's nuclear program. Kim can do his country a huge favor by eliminating the nuclear program, except, for peaceful energy no different than Iran.

The tensions that exist today on the Korean peninsula and between the USA, Russia and China can be easily reversed by providing a good answer to Kim and his people. The world awaits for these five countries to find peace on the peninsula and a return to balance in the Pacific.

While China is having some issues with it's economy and the wealth of the middle class it should not inhibit improvements in not just communication between these two allies and perhaps Russia as well; but; North Korea is still attempting to manufacture their products for sale. I think China has a more than excellent position to bring about peace again on the Korean peninsula. China could provide a platform for economic engagement with North Korea and incentives to better living conditions of the people of North Korea. China could develop an economic incentive to allow North Korea to move away from it's fear of invasion and threat.

The Korean War ended in 1957. The Axis of Evil speech sent my late veteran father into a tirade. Most soldiers involved with that war fully expected the differences between the North and South to improve and resolve any hostility. My father finished his four year volunteer service to the country in 1954. He married later that year after courting my mother. This level of tension was expected in 1954, but, he never thought it would ever take over sixty years only to have ill will return again. My father felt violated by Bush's speech and had no patience with any war by the USA after that point.

North Korea, China, Russia and South Korea should know there are Americans that do not consent to any tensions that have resulted over decades. I think the United Nations should encourage resolution of these tensions and bring about better quality of life for the people of both countries on that peninsula. 

Please.

It isn't stealth anymore. Really? What kind of disclosure is this?

February 17, 2016

Four U.S. F-22 stealth fighters (click here) are flying over South Korea amid growing tensions following North Korea's rocket launch.

The high-tech planes capable of sneaking past radar undetected were seen flying near a U.S. air base near Seoul on Wednesday.

Pyongyang will likely view the arrivals of the planes as a threat as they are a clear show of force against the country.

The United States often sends powerful and sophisticated warplanes to South Korea in times of tension with North Korea.

Last month, the United States sent a powerful nuclear-capable B-52 bomber to South Korea following North Korea's fourth nuclear test.

I thought it was a bird at first. But, the more I thought I'd miss the best photo of the year I realized I was looking at a us stealth jet fly over my house in a wooded area. The darn things are black and easily seen against the sky. I didn't need radar and now everyone in the region is sending up jets to find out where they are because the radar wasn't picking them up.

The US military is this negligent in it's efforts to keep South Korea safe? And our pilots are at risk as of now that they weren't 12 hours ago. This disclosure is outrageous.

The tensions on the Korean peninsula started with "Island Mania." The reason North Korea did this supposedly is due to hunger within the country and this island provided additional fishing waters. The USA used to provide significant supplies of food and heating fuel to the North Korean people, but, that ended when Bush decided North Korea needed more of an incentive to peace. Taking food and heat away from the North Koreans was a strategy. 

November 23, 2010
By Mark McDonald

Seoul, South Korea — The South Korean military (click here) went to “crisis status” on Tuesday and threatened military strikes after the North fired dozens of shells at a South Korean island, killing two of the South’s soldiers and setting off an exchange of fire in one of the most serious clashes between the two sides in decades....

Then with tension rising, a larger presence of the USA and communications with North Korea; China began to push it's national borders into international waters. Now, we have disclosed stealth fighters that provide no edge to USA presence in the region.

Sympathizers to violence could begin in The West.

I am not accusing anyone, but, where there is curious money, there could be dire danger.

February 17, 2016

Auckland International Airport (click here) has sacked an employee and called in Police after finding more than a million dollars as been spent in unexplained transaction.

In an announcement late this afternoon afternoon the Airport said the "non-executive employee" was also being pursued through the courts over the transactions which added up to at least $1.84 million.

The revelation marks the third high-profile case of alleged financial misappropriation to hit large listed companies following earlier cases at SkyCity Entertainment Group and Mighty River Power.

Phil Neutz, the Airports' chief financial officer, said in the statement the company's auditors EY had been tasked with probing the matter and their investigation was still ongoing.

"It is important for investors to note that while this is a very serious matter, the sum of money involved does not impact our current financial statements or previous reported results," he said....

February 17, 2016

A Virgin Australia flight (click here) from Sydney to Los Angeles was diverted after the airline received a bomb threat that turned out to be a hoax, the airline said.

The plane was forced to land in the eastern city of Brisbane on Wednesday after the threat was called in.

Australian Federal Police searched the plane and determined there was no danger, the airline said in a statement. A spokeswoman declined to release further details of the threat.

The plane will resume its flight to Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

Dozens of schools around Australia have been receiving threats warning of bombings or shootings over the past month in what police believe is a hoax largely being orchestrated by a person or group overseas. Schools across the world " including the U.S., Europe and Japan " have received similar threats in recent months.

Corruption is not exclusive to Africa or communist countries. It is real and it has real dangers.

Chen Shui-bian, the former president of Taiwan, was prosecuted for corruption after leaving office in 2008. CreditBobby Yip

Chen Shui-bian, (click here) the former president of Taiwan, forfeited his Manhattan condo and his home in the scenic hills of Virginia’s wine country, just outside Charlottesville. The government said both were purchased with bribes paid to Taiwan’s then-first lady, Wu Shu-chen, by a Taiwanese financial services company seeking to expand its business.

Money from the bribes traveled through shell companies in the British Virgin Islands and Nevis and into Swiss bank accounts controlled by the couple’s son and used to conceal the family’s purchase of properties in the United States.

Both Mr. Chen and his wife were sentenced in 2009 in Taiwan to 20 years in prison for bribery, embezzlement and money laundering. Mr. Chen was granted a medical parole in 2015. Wu Shu-chen received a similar medical release in 2011....

Corruption at this level can create paid militias that will deny citizens their human rights. It is completely wrong to allow such corruption to exist no matter the country or social standards.

February 16, 2016
By Leslie Wayne

...The turnabout in Mr. Obiang’s fortunes (click here) is part of an effort by the federal government to recover assets it says were stolen by foreign officials — dictators, politicians and ruling elites — and laundered in the United States. Since its start in 2010, the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative has grown to include a dozen government lawyers and teams from the F.B.I. and Homeland Security....

The United States can and should enforce every opportunity to litigate corruption, in the private sector as well as government. It is the best prevention of government instability while lives are protected. It takes money to purchase small arms and such weapons as machetes.

Starve the dark market of arms and munitions. There needs to be a permanent understanding internationally, the USA will seek out and prosecute corruption at all levels of government and the private sector. The idea the initiatives should stop at the borders of the USA is not correct either. If there is knowledge of corruption that does not effect the USA, there needs to be further initiatives through international organizations capable of carrying out the same outcomes.

Additionally, when the USA passes on information to international corruption and it is not acted on, there should be public disclosure to the American people. Such lethargy in the international realm won't be tolerated by the American people at large. Transparency is the best weapon to end corruption, illegal weapon sales and the deaths of innocent people. The American people will bring an understanding to their governing representatives to bring action against such heinous dynamics.  

Currently, China is struggling to elevate their people into a large middle class. The Oligarchs are more interested in buying American companies and property than elevating the Chinese people. I consider that as much corruption as the sales of weapons to militias. There are many ways the populations of the world can be elevated into happy and healthier middle class people. 

Think about it. It has been decades power players have denied quality of life to nations of people. It has to end and in a better understanding the American people can bring pressure to bring about the result we all seek.

Disrupting peace both domestically and internationally is the enemy. Peace provides human rights, war promotes spending away from citizens and their quality of life. We know that is the truth. 

April 22, 2015
By G. Mandela Fernández-Grandon1¤ , Salvador A. Gezan2 , John A. L. Armour3 , John A. Pickett4 , James G. Logan1 

Abstract (click here)

Female mosquitoes display preferences for certain individuals over others (click here), which is determined by differences in volatile chemicals produced by the human body and detected by mosquitoes. Body odour can be controlled genetically but the existence of a genetic basis for differential attraction to insects has never been formally demonstrated. This study investigated heritability of attractiveness to mosquitoes by evaluating the response of Aedes aegypti (=Stegomyia aegypti) mosquitoes to odours from the hands of identical and nonidentical twins in a dual-choice assay. Volatiles from individuals in an identical twin pair showed a high correlation in attractiveness to mosquitoes, while non-identical twin pairs showed a significantly lower correlation. Overall, there was a strong narrow-sense heritability of 0.62 (SE 0.124) for relative attraction and 0.67 (0.354) for flight activity based on the average of ten measurements. The results demonstrate an underlying genetic component detectable by mosquitoes through olfaction. Understanding the genetic basis for attractiveness could create a more informed approach to repellent development.

From the article in "The New Zealand Herald." The above abstract was published in 2015.


February 17, 2016
By Tim Spector

Everyone (click here) who has ever been camping or walking in the wild with friends can't have failed to notice how insects seem to prefer some people's flesh to others. Some unlucky souls are totally covered in itchy red blotches and others are miraculously spared. Sometimes only some family members are affected. My mother has never been bitten by a mosquito (though fleas like her) while my brother and I are often the targets.

Previous observations have shown a higher mosquito preference for larger people(who produce more CO2), beer drinkers and pregnant women, and although diet was often suspected as a factor, nothing in what we eat (even garlic) stood up to scrutiny....

The capacity to serve food on a flight is vital to Qantas.

February 17, 2016
By Matt O'Sullivan

Cardboard meal boxes (click here) for Qantas economy passengers have been found smouldering in ovens at the back of planes and on one occasion caught alight.

In an incident just over two weeks ago, flight attendants discovered flames in an oven on a Qantas 737 aircraft just 5 minutes after they had begun heating cardboard boxes full of food such as meat pastries and sandwiches. 

The cabin crew used a fire extinguisher on the food which they had heated at the correct temperature of 275 degrees Celsius....

I am sure there is a better answer to Qantas' problems with their meal preparation. Qantas travels long miles on a regular basis out of Australia. The company requires the ability to provide good food to passengers. Serving free bags of nuts is not a good answer for Qantas.

Apple is unwilling to assist the federal government in discovery regarding San Bernardino.

Discovery is important for prosecution. Implications is a mysterious word. What kind of implications are there?

The FISA Court is well established. This stance by Mr. Cook is strange and unwanted. When do Americans and the country's national security take an important place in the world of telecommunications.

I don't see why opening a locked cell phone is a threat to that community. If there is ever a problem beyond opening this phone it is reasons to sue the federal government. The court order is to open one phone, not an entire industry.

I think Apple is making a mountain out of a mole hill, but, in the USA today that is the fashion. Apple is opening itself up for confiscation of it's records and damage to it's reputation. Once the Apple records are removed by the US Government there is definitely no containing the ability of any search. Cooperating and allowing this phone to be opened is far better for the status of the companies exclusive security system and it's customers.

Dangerous? Define dangerous.

Apple can't obtain the password into the phone? Just give them the password. Providing the password is the reasonable thing to do and doesn't require handing over the encryption technology. Providing the pass word to open the phone is defensible in court. Once the password is provided the FBI has no right to demand the encryption technology and is overreaching. Offer to open the phone without compromising it's customer model. 

To oppose the court is not dangerous, but, disastrous.

February 16, 2016
By Charlie Savage

Washington — A newly declassified report (click here) by the National Security Agency’s inspector general suggests that the government is receiving far less data from Americans’ international Internet communications than privacy advocates have long suspected.

The report indicates that when the N.S.A. conducts Internet surveillance under the FISA Amendments Act, companies that operate the Internet are probably turning over just emails to, from or about the N.S.A.’s foreign targets — not all the data crossing their switches, as the critics had presumed.

The theory that the government is rooting through vast amounts of data for its targets’ messages has been at the heart of several lawsuits challenging such surveillance as violating the Fourth Amendment....

The court is looking for a way to secure information the FBI needs, not the surrender of a company to government scrutiny into the future. This issue can be contained by opening ONE PHONE. If the FBI is pushing for relinquishing the technology it is definitely an action that is a STRATEGY against the industry and not a reason to obtain valuable information within the phone. A strategy is a reason to refuse cooperation and I would hope a court would uphold that fact as a government out of control, but, to not open ONE PHONE will only bring a greater compromise to the iPhone market. 

February 17, 2016
By Katie Brenner and Eric Lichtblau

...In his statement, Mr. Cook called the court order an “unprecedented step” by the federal government. “We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand,” he wrote.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond publicly to Apple’s resistance.
The F.B.I. said that its experts had been unable to access data on Mr. Farook’s iPhone, and that only Apple could bypass its security features. F.B.I. experts have said they risk losing the data permanently after 10 failed attempts to enter the password because of the phone’s security features.
The Justice Department had secured a search warrant for the phone, owned by Mr. Farook’s former employer, the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, which consented to the search.
Because Apple declined to voluntarily provide, in essence, the “keys” to its encryption technology, federal prosecutors said they saw little choice but to get a judge to compel Apple’s assistance.
Mr. Cook said the order amounted to creating a “back door” to bypass Apple’s strong encryption standards — “something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create.”
In 2014, Apple and Google — whose operating systems are used in 96 percent of smartphones worldwide — announced that they had re-engineered their software with “full disk” encryption, and could no longer unlock their own products as a result....

I keeping hearing this and it is an invalid statement and a mute point.

February 16, 2016
By Mark Landler adn Jennifer Steinhauer

...But Mr. Obama (click here) — who defended his own role in an effort to block a confirmation vote on Samuel A. Alito Jr. in 2005 — said he understood the political stakes of a nomination that could change the balance on the court. “I understand the pressure that Republican senators are now under,” he said. “This would be a deciding vote.”...

Alito is on the court. Unfortunately. When examining the Alito vote on the court, there was a strong reason for the filibuster that failed.

You really want to debate Alito? I wouldn't go there. Really. 

Confronting the hate is not appropriate. Confronting the fear is where we can help other Americans the most.

Seeking exclusion of a religion is unconstitutional in the USA.

The experience of Anwar al Awlaki is about as close as it comes to outlawing a religion. He is a learning experience or should I say he should be a very important learning experience for the USA.

The New York Times did an extensive timeline regarding this man.

Type ‘‘Anwar al-Awlaki’’ (click here) into YouTube’s search bar, and you get 40,000 hits. Most of them bring up the earnest, smiling face and placid voice of the first American citizen to be hunted and killed without trial by his own government since the Civil War. Here is Awlaki on what makes a good marriage; on the nature of paradise; on Jesus Christ, considered a prophet by Muslims; on tolerance; on the holy month of Ramadan; and, more quirkily, on ‘‘obesity and overeating in Islam.’’ Here is Awlaki, or Sheikh Anwar, as his many admirers still call him, easily mixing Quranic Arabic with American English in chapters from his 53-CD series on the life of the Prophet Muhammad, once a best seller among English-speaking Muslims....

He was an American and had unrestrained hate not entered his life he might have been a great American Muslim leader. The hate that entered his life was not simply social where he could turn off his laptop and end the idiocy, it was formal and structured hate. It was 'in his face' hate.

A man this well educated and coming from a family that loved him and raised him to be loving is a sincere reason to reexamine all the issues surrounding his life and death and the death of his son. And we have. Those who saw that small glimmer of 'what the heck happened here' has asked all the right questions and have come to all the right conclusions.

When South Carolina voters want to eliminate an entire religion from the borders of the USA, it is not a joke; it is an extension of exactly what happened with Anwar al Awlaki. 

He became a very profound danger to the USA. He was an American exposed to incredible hate and pressure and he decided he was no longer a citizen of this country because he could not resolve the difference between his faith and his treatment in his country of birth.

He left the USA and without a second thought began to council other American Muslims online. He turned his estrangement by his homeland into a reason to end the power of the USA. He no different than any of the others that have sought to bring down the 'great power' of the USA failed. It cost him his life and that of his son, however, he had no understanding his son would meet the same fate. 

His actions in counseling other Muslim Americans is what haunts me more than anything else about his life. He is a martyr today. He is esteemed today. He is still with us today. And his identity and the fact he was a holy man carries a great deal of brevity in the world of terrorists. Americans should realize their ambivalence of the American Muslim community and it's love of this country and respect for diversity is inappropriate. The ambivalence is completely in inappropriate. They are no different than any other American. 

The faith is an Abrahamic faith and holds respect for life and love of peace at the center of it's teachings. Unfortunately, there are criminals in the world that are Muslim and turn to some of the TEXT of the holy book as an exclusive invitation to kill innocent people.

We have witnessed the cruelty of these international terrorists and their demand for civilized infrastructure to address the violence and chaos they cause within our lives. The lives of innocent individual people. 

It is completely wrong to politicize a religion and allow that level of demand of control to exist in the USA dialogue. That dialogue will provide a platform as a legitimate statement of American priorities. 

Fear is a terrible thing. It exists all too often in the USA. It is palpable among some people and it is legitimate when they reference events that have been attributed to international criminals. They can't understand how a text of a holy book can carry such brevity of violence. When engaged I remind them the Crusades of the middle ages were conducted from text of a holy book.

Anwar al Awlaki is not a sinner or a saint. He is however an example of America at it's worst. We all need to remember that when we provide any reference of a hostile dialogue. Any dialogue should not contain violence and end the hate. We need to resolve fear and not deal with the hate. That is what was at the heart of the terrible treatment in the USA of Anwar al Awlaki and could easily happen again.

When people openly state there should be an end of a religion in the USA there is fear at the heart of those statements. It is the fear that needs dialogue and a platform, not the expression of hate itself.

The Late Justice Scalia?

I had to search my heart about his death. He is one of nine people that touch Americans lives, including mine. I think I have a right to express my thoughts about him.

As far as an autopsy I accept the family's decision to forego an autopsy. They love him and know him and have direct contact with his doctors on a regular basis and I accept their decision.

As far as the actions in Texas, it is my first time hearing about the legal structure in West Texas and it concerns me. I think Texas plays fast and loose with unexpected death.

We all know about the right to die and there is usually an extensive medical record leading up to those decisions in the USA. We expect the news that a loved one has passed because of a long standing medical condition. It hurts just as much, but, it is expected. This is different.

Setting aside this was Justice Scalia. I am very surprised there are such loose standards for unexpected deaths. I don't feel comfortable with it. I think it allows to many questions and this is a death, not an injury or a hunting accident; this is a death.

So, in the case of Justice Scalia, whom I believe has been a very colorful character from the bench, I defer completely to the family. But, I also think his death raises important questions. 

I wish his family complete peace with his passing. He is a great man and there should be undeniable respect for him in the history of the USA.

I wanted to know if the ASEAN Summit would provide stability and promotion of peace to international waters. Who knows?

As usual, the press showed no interest in the topic at hand or the policies being developed. The press is rude and have no interest in the ASEAN countries and any pending tensions. The media in the USA will become interested, however, when tensions lead to greater problems with brinkmanship to war, then the media will have greater interest to play a part in their rating race.

So, when tensions explode in the Pacific and Americans are astounded by those tensions existing at all will be more than willing to 'go to guns' because they feel threatened. The only press coverage of ASEAN related to the next Supreme Court judge with absolutely no mention of the late Justice Scalia, except by President Obama. The press focused on THEIR ratings priorities in demanding more information about a Supreme Court nomination not yet made.

It is embarrassing after a SUMMIT to watch a press conference where there is no interest by the press of the Summit and it's members.

This is one of the moves by China that has been troubling for some months now. Will it be solved by the ASEAN Summit? Who knows, the media could not care unless there are military exchanges and death.

November 8, 2015
By Wendell Minnick Taiwan — China’s deployment o(click here) f the more advanced J-11BH/BHS fighter aircraft to Woody Island, revealed in photographs released via online Chinese-language media websites in late October, underscores how seriously the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is taking its claims to the South China Sea.
The placement of advanced fighter aircraft on Woody Island, located in the Parcel archipelago, extends China’s fighter aircraft reach an additional 360 kilometers into the South China Sea from the PLAN air base located on Hainan Island.
The new location could prove troublesome for US surveillance aircraft, such as the EP-3 Aries and the P-8 Poseidon, that fly through the area on a regular basis. In 2001, a collision between a Chinese fighter and EP-3 resulted in the death of a Chinese fighter pilot and the forced landing of the EP-3 on Hainan Island. In 2014, a Chinese fighter harassed a P-8 in the vicinity of Woody Island, which followed with a strong verbal protest by the Pentagon....

TPP and the South China Sea are not cohesive and peaceful partners.

President Obama stated the very essence of what I have been pointing to about TPP; in that there are already regional organizations that can deal with trade. TPP is not necessary and should be ended as soon as it is implemented.

President Obama spoke about setting up hubs of trade to better facilitate it. What else needs to be done? Nothing. The organization of ASEAN does not need to divide up it's capacity to promote each country's economic strength and fluidity.

It has been my understanding of ASEAN that TPP will only complicate trade with the organization of countries. There are only four members of ASEAN engaging TPP and that alone sets up more difficult standards for non-participating countries. Why do it? He invited other countries of ASEAN to join the TPP. It makes no sense and will compromise their standing with other international strengths and countries.

Rancho Mirage, Calif.
By Jeff Mason

President Barack Obama (click here) gathered with leaders from Southeast Asia on Monday to strengthen trade ties and form a common stance over the South China Sea in a summit that the White House hopes will solidify U.S. influence in the region.

Obama, who leaves office next year, has championed a foreign policy pivot to Asia during his presidency and is determined to present the United States as a Pacific power.

His meeting with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was aimed at cementing that legacy.

"This reflects my personal commitment, and the national commitment of the United States, to a strong and enduring partnership with your 10 nations," he said at the start of the two-day summit at Sunnylands, a California resort....

China is not a member of TPP. It doesn't need to be a member of TPP. And to indicate the USA is now involved with ASEAN in a way that brings tension to the South China Sea is a worry. The entire focus of the Pacific of the USA has been a worry since it started. These countries need alliances with trading partners that can strengthen their economy and provide paths to peace that are long lasting providing security for their economies and people. Having the USA seek to bring about TPP, which creates different standards within ASEAN is not a peaceful purpose.

I have stated from the beginning, the USA's focus on the Pacific will create tensions that do not belong in the Pacific. There would be complaint after complaint about islands that have no purpose besides extending a country's boundaries. Those extending boundaries doesn't even bring purpose with them. There needs to be stability in the Pacific, but, it is not going to be resolved by tensions, it will be resolved by UN negotiations that enforce international waters and provide economic purpose in maintaining those international waters. TPP is not a peaceful or purposeful trade agreement and causes more problems than it solves.

Did the Bush stimulus do anything except pay the bills for one month? That is the same thing.

President Obama stimulated a dead economy with the Recovery Act in 2009 with a bolus of cash to the people. But, that bounce in the economy was sustained with tax reductions in the FICA tax. When the FICA tax reduction ended due to economic growth the big box stores started to grown, because, that was millions every week removed from the economy.

China is trying to build a middle class to sustain economic viability. Bolus of cash into a Chinese economy is to stimulate a bounce so people begin to move into a better quality of life. China is a communist country. The government provides housing and infrastructure. Until the current manufacturing structure in China pays a GOOD wage, the Chinese monetary issues will continue to spin chaos in the global economy. No trade agreement is going to correct it. As a matter of fact the trade agreements make it worse because it cuts in the the middle class income in the USA.

Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump has absolutely nothing to do with the global recession.

February 11, 2016
By Raul de Frutos
...In commodities, (click here) a bubble formed on hopes that China's rapid growth would feed an ever-expanding appetite for raw materials. Moreover, in 2008, China launched a huge $586 billion economic stimulus plan, leading to higher demand for commodities and, therefore, rising prices. But prices weren't reflecting real growth, either. They were inflated as fake demand was created on the construction of excessively extravagant government buildings and uninhabited "ghost cities" in China....

Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are responsible for the Wall Street problems.

Wall Street's problems are due to the over leveraging and extensive investment in China.

Young people find purpose in Flint, Michigan.

February 15, 2016

By Elizabeth Suarez

The Ohio State Department of Athletics (click here) is hosting a bottled-water drive until Thursday evening to provide clean drinking water for the community of Flint, Michigan, in response to their public water crisis.

The idea for the drive began when Joy Cheek, assistant coach of the women’s basketball team, reached out to Caleb Clark, assistant director of fan experience and promotions for OSU athletics, after the women’s team played in Ann Arbor on Jan. 21.

“She asked if it would be possible to do something like this and donate some water to Flint,” Cheek said.

The collection effort kicked off at the men’s hockey game against Minnesota on Friday, and it will continue throughout the week. Fans can donate bottled water at the men’s basketball game against Michigan on Tuesday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. outside the Schottenstein Center at the Northwest Rotunda....

February 16, 2016

Rolling Meadows, Ill. (AP) — A volunteer association (click here) of plumbing products manufacturers has donated hundreds of faucets and other supplies to Flint, Michigan.

The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reports that Plumbing Manufacturers International of Rolling Meadows provided the fixtures in response to Flint's drinking-water crisis, in which high levels of lead have been found. A team of nearly 470 plumbers from local unions installed the faucets, supplies and water filters....

The USA military is administered from the US Defense Department, NOT, the Force For Freedom Department.

The US Defense Department is not a 'force' it is comprised of human beings, not disposable soldiers.

Any political figure STUCK on the USA military and find entitlement for his personal identity has issues. 

This is the USA. Does the government care about the people? From incarceration to a heating planet, do Americans matter?

Americans are not human beings to their government. They are objects of incarceration, victims of violence, those stranded in 'nowhere' because of severe weather and in need of services such as education. But, even when in need of services such as education, the government rather give the money to private industry than actual improvement of lives of Americans.

We are objects and classified for the purpose of expediency.

February 16, 2016

Six weeks after her arrival at Rikers Island, (click there) an argument over who should clean a jailhouse shower sent Candie Hailey to solitary confinement - known as "the bing."

It was the first time, but it would not be the last.

A month later, records show, she cursed and spit at a guard and resisted when she was put in a hold. Ninety-five days in the bing. She later got 70 days for cursing at an officer, splashing the guard with toilet water and refusing to stop. Among other infractions: fighting (40 days), disrespect of staff (30 days) and blocking her cell window (15 days).

Of her first 29 months in jail, Hailey served about 27 alone in a 6-by-10-foot cell, with a bed, a toilet and a few books to pass the time. When she did go outside, it was just for one hour in 24. And she had yet to be tried for any crime, let alone convicted.

At least eight times in the course of her more than three-year incarceration, she would be taken to the hospital after suicide attempts in solitary that included trying to swallow hair remover product, pills and the chemicals inside an instant ice pack, banging her head on a wall and trying to electrocute herself by putting a phone cord in her cell's toilet....

...Hailey's month-long trial last May ended with a verdict of not guilty. Hailey was free to return to the Bronx....

..."I would say I've been through hell and back," she said. "My soul died but my body is alive."...

This just gets more bizarre.

February 16, 2016
1130.18z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of north and west hemisphere (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)

Winter Storm Olympia (click here) will continue to produce hazardous travel conditions as it spreads snow and ice through the East into Tuesday. The storm has caused multiple accidents across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania due to icing, while up to a foot of snow has piled up in the Appalachians. Over the weekend, Olympia brought snow to the Midwest, resulting in several multi-vehicle accidents....

That is an enormous area of land to be effected by ONE STORM.

That air mass is twisting. A twister the length of the east coast of the USA. It occurred on the 15th at 0530z. 

February 15, 2016
By Harold Gater

Emergency management officials (click here) in Mississippi say Monday's storm system caused damage in at least 20 counties, including minor injuries at a mobile home that was destroyed in Lincoln County, the Associated Press reported.

Thunderstorms in the central and southern parts of the state damaged buildings including a K-12 school in Wesson where students were attending class. Mississippi Department of Education spokeswoman Patric Guilfoyle says two gymnasiums and a library were most heavily damaged, but no students were reported injured.

A gas station and some homes were damaged in Sylvarena in Smith County....

February 16, 2016
1130.16z
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Satellite of north and east hemisphere (click here for 12 hour loop)

The pinwheel has turned into a structure. The heat exchange hasn't resolved yet. There is still a need to move water vapor off the ITCZ.


Spring is a little over a month away and the direct solar rays are moving north. 

Solar Ray Clock (click here)

The day on this solar clock is February 17, 2016. The water vapor structure is due to increased heat from the direct solar rays moving north.

Ben Carson (click here) is the only candidate that ever came close to besting Donald Trump since he has lead the Republican primaries.

It doesn't matter whether the voter is Democrat or Republican, as a country, we don't accept lies as a funny part of politics. We aren't laughing anymore.

The Republican electorate doesn't know who the candidates are. Rubio is a robot. Carson is oppressed and victimized. Cruz is an unknown potential because of his birth status. Kasich is a mimic except where he tapes into angry voters tired of the nonsense. Bush has is pathetic and out of money. Donald Trump is rock solid in his pledge to be a man they can trust with the future. This is not rocket science. Trump is unafraid of the establishment.