There is only one word to understand that defines the instability in the middle east.

Deba'athification

Lessons of De-Baathification in Iraq (click here)

From page 31:

...It is sad and ironic that deBaathification was designed and pursued without reference to modern experience, but instead reached back over 50 years to a flawed and ultimately unsuccessful model, deNazification. Thus it was that deBaathification was to a large extent needlessly partisan, controversial, flawed, and ineffective....

I don't make stuff up. Deba'athification caused the instability and created an opportunity for the creation of a militia, today called Daesh.

Obamacare

I stated the reason Medicaid Extension was paid for 100 percent for the first two years because there would be considerably more expense in the first two years. Why? Because people who did not have good quality health care will be receiving care they needed but never went to doctors. So, until Americans are seen by doctors and receive care there will be increased expenses. 

In a short period of time Americans will have received health care and will be moving into preventive care. Preventive care happens once a year. Other than colds and flu there isn't' much people need to see doctors. 

The first years are not exclusive to the Medicaid, but, it was an easy example. If politicians come in after these initial years and change things and the costs are less, well guess why.

Stand by The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. People are getting better care. Americans are becoming healthier. And if listening to the people of Kentucky they are getting health care, in some instances, for the first time in their lives. They are grateful and happy.

The Republican Congress has yet to write a new AUMF. There isn't anything else to say.

Ask President Obama about his decisions after Congress answers for it's actions.

I wish Presidential candidates wouldn't lie. Russia has been an ally of Syria for a very long time. 

...The First Syria-Soviet Ties

In the aftermath of World War II, (click here) the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the two strongest world powers that competed covertly and overtly for influence around the globe. The Middle East, a vital source of oil, was of strategic importance to both camps.

In 1955, Moscow invited Syria, along with Egypt, to join a pro-Soviet pact. Turkey, a U.S. ally, mobilized troops along its southern border in an attempt to dissuade Syria from joining this pact. Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov threatened Turkey not to use force against Syria, prompting Ankara to back down. The Syria-Soviet relationship was soon cemented. From 1955 to 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev provided Syria with more than $200 million in military aid to solidify the alliance and to counter U.S. influence in the region.

Soviet support to Syria was part of a greater regional strategic battle playing out in the Middle East. The Kremlin supported likeminded Arab nationalist and socialist governments including Egypt, Libya, and Iraq. The pro-Western governments of Israel, Iran (prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution), Jordan, and Saudi Arabia comprised the U.S. bloc.

In May 1967, Syrian and Egyptian provocations against Israel brought the Middle East to the brink of war. However, the Soviets never came to the aid of their clients when Israel launched a two-pronged, blitzkrieg pre-emptive strike. In just six days in June 1967, Israel defeated the armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. In the aftermath of the Arab's military debacle, the Soviet Union pledged $2.5 billion in military aid to Syria from July 1967 until December 1968, and severed ties with Israel to defy the West.

Assad's Alliance

In 1971, when Air Force Commander Hafez al-Assad became President of Syria by way of a coup, he elected to maintain a strategic policy of close cooperation with the Soviet Union. In February 1972, Syria signed a peace and security pact with the Soviet Union as a means to strengthen its defense capability. During that year, Moscow delivered more than $135 million in Soviet arms to Damascus....

President Obama has a brain initiative.

On April 2nd in the East Room of the White House, (click here) President Obama announced the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. He began his remarks by emphasizing the importance of scientific research and innovation and how the resulting technology and knowledge have contributed to our country’s economic growth and changed our lives. Computer chips, GPS, the Internet and the human genome were a few of the examples that he gave. The BRAIN initiative, and President Obama’s concept of this as “one of the Administration’s Grand Challenges of the 21^st century,” presents an extraordinary opportunity for the neuroscience community and for patients with brain disorders. There is no accurate accounting for the toll that brain diseases exact but estimates are that more than 1000 brain disorders affect 100 million Americans and that the cost exceeds $5 billion....

CASA (click here) 

Where does CASAColumbia stand? (click here)
CASAColumbia believes that health policy should be based on scientific evidence, not public opinion. Barriers, including marijuana’s DEA classification as a Schedule I drug, make it difficult to conduct needed research. These limitations have created a blind spot in truly understanding the utility of marijuana for medical purposes. Regardless, forgoing FDA review and allowing state legislators or voters to make health policy decisions without this centralized review of the evidence poses an unnecessary and unwarranted risk to our public’s health and welfare.
We fully support the use of marijuana-based medications that have undergone the FDA’s comprehensive drug approval process. We also encourage more research on the value of marijuana for medical purposes. But we remain wary of state legalization of medical marijuana, especially in forms that are not medically appropriate and are not properly regulated....

Which Civil Service would be reformed? (click here)

Civil Service reform is not about Civil Service reform.

Fighting for Federal Employees Since 1917 (click here)

The National Federation of Federal Employees was proud to celebrate its 95th anniversary on September 17, 2012. This organization has a long history of supporting working-class federal employees and their families. NFFE was founded in 1917 and was headed by H.M. McLarin, NFFE's first president. It was the first union in the United States to represent civil service federal employees (postal workers unions have been around longer). Today, NFFE is affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and with them, represents 110,000 federal workers....

In 2016 Civil Service Workers at the basement levels were increased one percent. Kindly note, Grade 1 entry levels are begun at $18,343 annually.

The American people get a bargain, but, they have good retention rates, because they are good jobs and reliable employment. The pay rates increase as an American works their way through the ranks of the different grades.

Politicians like to deceive the public about the monies saved when the civil service ranks are drained and pay rates cut. It is a soft target that amounts to problems in real American lives that have families, house to pay for and hopes for the future. Cutting people out of good paying jobs vital to the government in Civil Service is done because Republicans always promise to balance budgets and do so on the backs of the middle class. Civil Service is a middle class job from lower middle class to upper middle class; but they are all middle class jobs. SOFT TARGET. 

Democrats should never shy away from defending unions and vital persons working in our Civil Service.

Table below: (click here)

We don't need to focus on creating a bank or computers to establish a mental illness bank for the NRA.

Mental Disorders in America. Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older or about one in four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.

We need to find the problems for the mental illness in the USA and begin to move our society forward into MENTAL HEALTH. Guns need control UNTIL the USA is to point where it is REALISTIC to have a bank of computers that record the profoundly psychotic.

There is not enough data space to create a super computer for 26.2 percent of Americans. It also enters into invasion of privacy. It is not possible to create a data bank of mental illness in the USA. NOT POSSIBLE. 

It is convenient political rhetoric and that is all it is.

February 28, 2014
By Victoria Bekiempis
Every year, about 42.5 million American adults (click here) (or 18.2 percent of the total adult population in the United States) suffers from some mental illness, enduring conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, statistics released Friday reveal.
The data, compiled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), also indicate that approximately 9.3 million adults, or about 4 percent of those Americans ages 18 and up, experience “serious mental illness” – that is, their condition impedes day-to-day activities, such as going to work....

A significant number of deaths in the USA every year are suicides and there are often suicides with murders of the family. It is time to get real. The difference between 26.2 and 18.2 are children in case you didn't figure that out. 

Judge Scalia did not practice absolute anarchy with guns. Judge Scalia would agree that California had the right to ban the guns that were used in the San Bernardino shootings.

December 3, 2015
By Ashley Jones and Dan Frosch
The rifles used in the San Bernardino (click here) mass shooting were illegal under California law because they were modified and violated the state’s ban on assault weapons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined on Thursday.

Where are the new water pipes and how soon will the water be coming from Detroit?

February 18, 2016
By Alex Johnson

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (click here) said Thursday he's sending an additional $2 million to help replace Flint's lead-contaminated water system....

...The grant announcement came a day after Weaver dismissed a separate plan offered by Snyder to study whether any of the pipes could be coated temporarily to get drinkable water flowing into city homes....

February 18, 2016
By Kate Gibson

The heavy toll exacted on the residents of Flint, Michigan, (click here) goes beyond the potential health consequences of consuming lead-contaminated water. It turns out that households in the city paid dearly for the privilege, with the poisoned water flowing through the city's taps last year being the most costly in the nation.
Data released Tuesday found that as of January 2015, the yearly water bill for a resident of Flint came to $864.32, roughly $500 more than what the average U.S. household paid for water from other public utilities, according to Food & Water Watch. The advocacy group reviewed the 500 largest U.S. community water systems. On the other end of the spectrum, the report says household water use was most affordable in Phoenix, Arizona, where the annual tab came to $84.24.

The report (click here) found large, for-profit owned systems charge 58 percent more than large publicly owned ones, with 87 percent of U.S. water customers getting their water from the latter....

This is the first time I heard of this group. Where have they been?

February 18, 2016
By Kathleen Gray and Paul Egan

Lansing — Without debate, (click here) the Michigan House of Representatives unanimously approved providing $30 million to Flint to help pay water bills for residents and businesses in the city.
The bill would give a credit that would be applied to how much water people consume — roughly 65% of the water portion of a resident's bill. Businesses would be eligible for credit of 20% of the water portion of their bills. Residents and business owners would still be responsible for paying the sewer portion of their bills.
Residents have long complained about having to pay for water they could not drink. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court this week seeks more than $150 million in refunds and compensation for damages for water that the plaintiffs allege was dangerous, undrinkable and unusable....

I am grateful for Pope Francis. He has a right to say what he thinks.

Pope Francis is not difficult to understand. He wants peace and the end of suffering. Those are not unreasonable requests of every world leader. I would hope everyone would value the Vatican and protect it from harm.

February 18, 2016
Pope Francis (click here) is full of surprises and Donald Trump has a full list of feuds. Twitter erupted Thursday after the pope jumped into the U.S. election fray, saying of Trump: "A person who thinks only about building walls ... I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that." Trump called the comment "disgraceful," adding, "I am a Christian and proud of it." His Holiness also suggested some wiggle room on contraceptives — where the Zika virus is a risk. Abortion, however, is still an "absolute evil" in such cases: "Taking one life to save another, that’s what the Mafia does."...

Here we go. When is an ally not an ally? When it's Turkey.

February 18, 2016

Turkey wants to create a secure zone 10km within Syria, which would include the town of Azaz, Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan stated, as cited by Reuters. The move comes after Ankara’s shelling of Syrian Kurds for four successive days.

...However, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (click here) mentioned on Wednesday that Ankara does not intend to stop shelling Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. He also called on the US to choose whether it wanted to back Turkey or the Syrian Kurds.

Turkey has shelled Syrian Kurdish forces in northern Syria for four consecutive days as Ankara tries to stop the YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units) from claiming the town of Azaz, just 8km from the Turkish border....

Turkey needs to be reminded, genocide is illegal. Erdogan is doing this because of Turkish politics. It has nothing to do with reality. Erdogan is dillusional. The United Nations has resolutions regarding countries coalition and it's focus to end Daesh. He actually thinks he is going to change all this and if not he'll confront Russia and the coalition. 

January 22, 2016
By Daily Sabah
...Erdoğan (click here) said that the PYD terror organization, which is known to be supported by Russia, is no different than the Daesh terror organization. 
"There is no difference between them. We will also talk with Mr. Biden about this issue in detail tomorrow," Erdoğan said.
He also emphasized that Qatar, Germany, France and the U.K. were part of the issue....

Turkey is declaring war on the Kurdish people. Where is NATO already?

It is just what Syria needs, more violence and confusion of the battlefield. Turkey is putting itself right in the gunsites of Russia. Does Turkey not consult with any other country before diving into attacks of all Kurds?

For years, Turkey has been completely absent from the porous border with Syria and not it is shooting down Russian jets and muscling other Russian jets. It openly attacked Kurdish fighters that are attempting to defeat groups carrying out violence and now this. Is Turkey connected to the real world or one it made up about itself? Seriously. Turkey is out of touch with reality.

There needs to be a UN Resolution to rein in Turkey from causing WWIII.

February 18, 2016'
By Ercan and Humeyra Pamuk

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (click here) blamed a Syrian Kurdish militia fighter working with Kurdish militants inside Turkey for a suicide car bombing that killed 28 people in the capital Ankara, and he vowed retaliation in both Syria and Iraq.

A car laden with explosives detonated next to military buses as they waited at traffic lights near Turkey's armed forces' headquarters, parliament and government buildings in the administrative heart of Ankara late on Wednesday.

Davutoglu said the attack was clear evidence that the YPG, a Syrian Kurdish militia that has been supported by the United States in the fight against Islamic State in northern Syria, was a terrorist organization and that Turkey, a NATO member, expected cooperation from its allies in combating the group....

Turkey needs a profound reality check. This is NOT the 1950s. If Turkey keeps this up, it will find itself occupied by the radicals in Syria because it will increase the area of the war.

The men and women (click here) who make up the fighting force come from local communities and are mostly Kurdish, but there are also non-Kurdish soldiers from the area including Syrian, Assyrian and Armenian Christians.  And there are a small number of Americans and Europeans who’ve volunteered individually to join YPG in the fight against ISIS....

It seems completely obvious to me there is seething hatred during President Obama's presidency.

The USA has never seen such hatred of a President by Congress. President Obama's leadership has been challenged during every aspect of his leadership with an exception of the TPP, a Republican promise to Wall Street. When the death of Justice Scalia was announced to the public, it was literally minutes before Mitch McConnell was announcing obstruction of any nomination. It proves Republicans have only one thing on their mind, the control of power and not the needs of the American people.

If we didn't have President Obama in office, the people would still be attempting to rise out of the Great Recession.

February 17, 2016

By Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin

Charleston, S.C. — As he left Martha Lou’s Kitchen, (click here) a soul food institution here on Wednesday, Edward Gadsden expressed irritation about the Republican determination to block President Obama from selecting Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement on the Supreme Court.

“They’ve been fighting that man since he’s been there,” Mr. Gadsden, who is African-American, said of Mr. Obama, before pointing at his forearm to explain what he said was driving the Republican opposition: “The color of his skin, that’s all, the color of his skin.”

When Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said after Mr. Scalia’s death on Saturday that the next president, rather than Mr. Obama, should select a successor, the senator’s words struck a familiar and painful chord with many black voters....      

It would appear Pope Francis has influence in his messages of the impoverished.

February 18, 2016

By James Estrin

The judges for the World Press Photo Contest (click here) have awarded the organization’s top prize for 2015 to a moody black-and-white image depicting the hardship of the migration crisis.

The photograph, lit only by the moon, is of a Syrian man passing a child under barbed wire in their attempt to cross the border from Serbia into Hungary.

Made by the freelance Australian photographer Warren Richardson, the image also won the contest’s spot news singles category....         

Pope Francis brings his loyalty from the underground Catholic reality to sunshine.

February 11, 2016

By The Rev. Andriy Chirovsky

...Moscow considers the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (click here) to constitute the great wound between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Disparagingly referring to the members of this dynamic Church as “uniates,” Moscow consistently complains of “violent takeovers of churches” in western Ukraine by these Eastern Catholics.

This has been going on since the de-criminalization of the Greek Catholic Church on December 1, 1989 (the day that Mikhail Gorbachev met with Pope John Paul II).

But Moscow’s case fails on two very important points....

Ukraine does have a strong religious ethic. They do look to Pope Francis for hope in their lives.

Pope Francis was nothing short of heroic at the US - Mexican Border.

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico — Stepping *click here) to the concrete edge of the Rio Grande, Pope Francis on Wednesday went to a militarized divide of the United States-Mexican border and prayed for compassion toward immigrants. He never set foot in the United States, but he did step directly, and deliberately, into the acrimonious American debate over immigration....

It is time to end the poverty in Cuba with opportunity for business growth and tourism.

Before Sandy became Superstorm Sandy in 2012, it was Hurricane Sandy. 

Off topic, NASA has an incredible file on Sandy (click here) if anyone is interested.

Cuba received winds and rains from that hurricane. The rain fell in Cuba at a maximum of 40 mm or one and a half inches per hour. 

The Cuban people are regularly in the path of such storms. They don't necessarily get loans from FEMA. They have to live the best they can and move forward to better repairs as the government can carry them out.

The Cuban people need an economy that brings them out of poverty and into a 21st century country of opportunity. The oppression by the USA to force Cuba to change their policies regarding prisoners and otherwise has not worked. The Cuban people do not have the power to change their country's path. It is time to get out of the way of unproductive policies and improve the opportunity for the people's quality of life.

I know there are issues. President Obama knows there are issues. As Americans we continue to work on them. 

Below is a short film that shows the outcome of Hurricane Sandy and Sandy was mild for a hurricane when it hit Cuba. Do we really want to continue to punish the people for power they do not have? I think it is immoral to continue on that path.

The Republicans need to stop complaining and do something for the people of Cuba, including the people that live in Guantanamo.

One more Republican Assault against higher education in the USA. Amazing.

Alternative Crediting Model

Marco Rubio wants to call the current college accrediting bureaus a monopoly. Is everything the Republicans talk about a business?

There always has been alternative crediting opportunities to people in the USA. 

Alternative Methods of Earning College Credit (click here)

The Republicans always want to tear the country down and rebuild it into their own ideology. Will the new accrediting model require the worship of Christianity as a primary qualification into college?

The goal of accreditation (click here) is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality. Here you will find lists of regional and national accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as reliable authorities concerning the quality of education or training offered by the institutions of higher education or higher education programs they accredit.

Colleges and universities have gone through a great deal to achieve accreditation. It is not easy to move into a position where universities' graduate credentialed individuals accepted into a profession. Currently, the Universities and the Colleges of the USA have a solid footing on producing a COMPETENT brain trust. It would be an enormous mistake to even begin to break down the accreditation system of universities and colleges in the USA. 

It isn't just about the standards of colleges and universities. It is about THE PROFESSIONS. When a university graduates a medical doctor it is because that student has performed exceptionally well in their studies and have demonstrated they are competent to sit for exams and enter internships to become an MD and then move on during their years of practice to specialize as they choose.

The standards for graduating a person into the medical profession is NOT decided by the university, it is decided by the profession of medical and surgical practice. The universities that carry the curriculum to achieve these incredible standards in the USA have to meet the scientific basis for their studies. There is no taking it apart. Engineering is engineering. Psychology is psychology. Agronomy is agronomy. Zoology is zoology. Any idea by a presidential candidate that believes they can simply tear apart the accrediting of colleges and universities to serve their own priorities has NOTHING but an ego so inflated he can probably float without helium.

Invest in Financial Market to pay for college in the future

Marco Rubio's top funding source is Goldman Sachs. (click here) End of discussion. 

Why not simply take the entire paycheck of any person and invest it to pay for college and pay for the house they want to buy and pay for their retirement and ultimately pay for the kids when they are born.  This is such nonsense and I am being nice. 

NO. 

There is nothing stopping Goldman Sachs from developing an investment model for PARENTS to invest monies to pay for their children's college. Nothing is standing in the way. For companies like MetLife, they are called Life Insurance and cash value at the time a child is ready for college. 

To think there has to be a federal program to invest in the financial industry to pay for college is nothing but hot air. There is no reason for it. Currently, some states have programs that contributions are paid into on behalf of a child as they grow that at the time of entering college pays for tuition and costs. 

"Michigan Education Savings Program" (click here) It is my opinion these state programs are far more secure than any investment Wall Street can offer.

"Right to know before you go"

Roughly a year ago, (click here) U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced Senate Bill 2098, "The Student Right to Know Before You Go Act," which quickly gained Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as a co-sponsor. I posted an extensive review of the bill at that time, but the introductory paragraph from that post, which I've included at the end of this piece, covers the basics. Essentially, the bill would greatly increase the role of state longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) in higher education data collection and reporting, with the explicit goal of providing to the public employment and income data on recent graduates by not just institution, but by specific majors and programs within institutions....]

In other words, it isn't difficult enough deciding where to attend college and what to study, now the federal government wants a future student to understand there is no need for their educational passion anywhere in the world.

This idea has to be defeated, because, the next step is to penalize students that attend degree programs that do not necessarily lead to a job at graduation in the current job market. That is nonsense. A career destiny is not the same today as it will be in four years or six years or eight years. This is harassment. There is no place for it in the educational system in the USA.

The legislation does not guarantee your choice in earning. It is nothing but a history of past performance of the American economy. There is no need or place for it. Currently, GUIDANCE COUNCILORS can be invaluable to young people in their decisions in high school courses and their choice of higher learning for applications. This is all baloney and UNNEEDED and expensive infrastructure.

This is the kind of nonsense passed by Congress in order to get other more controversial legislation to pass, like Early Childhood Education or Restructuring of the Student Loans. This empty legislation is to gain leverage in other areas of public policy. There is no need for it. It proves NOTHING to a student and is not a crystal ball. 

The graduates of 2008 didn't expect to be in Zuccotti Park demonstrating to bring attention to Occupy Wall Street and their complete lack of appreciation for their birth right to a job in the USA. A job of their choosing called A PROFESSION.

The global economic recession of 2008 is PROOF such legislation is nothing by appeasement by Democrats of Republicans to pass legislation VITAL to our young people. KNOCK IT OFF. Stop the appeasement and become leaders in legislation. Let the American people KNOW exactly the facts and how Republicans simply hate Americans rather than elevate their birth right. 

I am glad Marco Rubio found his sweetheart. I am curious. Did she require a financial statement before or after the first date?

The USA Air Force needs to get a clue.

This the White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster).

The bird is perching on a branch and has one foot raised to rest it. It is not injured. This eagle has a great number of white feather and they are on the underside of the bird.

Why would such a powerful bird ever need anything except feathers that covers it's body for warmth and mating. The bird is a hunter. It is a raptor. In order to capture it's prey it has to be a stealth approach.

So, that doesn't really explain the white feathers, right? Well, actually it does.

Imagine being a fish, a good sized fish, one that can put up a fight for escape. Fish do look through water to see what is on top. What is often on top of the water the fish are looking through are insects, flies, spiders and all sorts of interesting dinner items.

So, let's just say, the white bellied eagle is searching for dinner for the kids at the very same time the fish is looking for it's dinner. Who is going to be successful in the ability to catch dinner and live through it? The answer is the white bellied eagle.

The fish won't see the eagle coming. Even if the fish comes to the surface water to swallow the insects on top. But, the fish will never see the bird because the SKY IS LIGHT in color, pale blue and white clouds. I am sure there are times fish will see approaching birds and that lends reality to the time the eagle's talons come up empty.

The truth about US Air Force jets is the fact they are usually made of metal and the color is silver. Does silver act as a camouflage? It sure does. It not only acts as a camouflage, it also reflects sunlight into the sees of any enemy if the angle is right.

Why does the USA have a stealth fighter that isn't really stealth?

See, the White-bellied eagle has dark feathers on it's back. Why would that be? For the very same reason fish and marine mammals have dark color of their skin even though their bellies are white? Camouflage.

Natural selection over hundreds and thousands of years have protected these species with camouflage from beneath and above. If one is flying above the eagle, it may not see the raptor because it is looking down on a color scheme that is there to confuse the eye of any predator.

The expression 'eagle eyes' indicating exceptional ability to discern all the details of a view; comes from the fact eagles have very keen eyesight to carry out predatory hunting.

It just seems to me a covering that provides stealth movement of USA jets without detection on radar only does half the job.

Have a better day.

E-cigarettes used by teens leads to tobacco use.

E-Cigarette vapors have one third the amount of nicotine. E-Cigarettes develop dependency no different than tobacco.

A whole new vocabulary for parents and educators. We have seen similar trends with caffeine as well. There are hyper-caffeinated beverages today that would never have been on the market 15 years ago.

February 3, 2016
By Consumer Reports

Teens who vape—use an e-cigarette (click here) —were almost three times more likely to have started smoking tobacco cigarettes a year later than those who had never vaped, according to a recent study in the journal Tobacco Control.

“That’s worrying news,” says Consumer Reports chief medical adviser Marvin M. Lipman, M.D. “Although the long-term safety of e-cigarettes and other nicotine vaporizers is still unknown, there’s no question that nicotine in any form is an extremely addictive drug and that tobacco products can be deadly,” he says.

To find out how vaping affected teen’s cigarette smoking habits, researchers from the University of Hawaii Cancer Center asked 2,338 9th and 10th graders at six Hawaiian high schools in 2013 about their vaping and smoking habits. One year later the scientists quizzed the teens again. The upshot: 20 percent of the e-cigarette-using teens had started smoking traditional cigarettes. By contrast, 2 percent of the non-vapers had started smoking tobacco cigarettes, 10 percent had tried vaping, and 4 percent were both smoking and vaping....

The conversation among those seeking safer lives for teens talk about e-cigarettes as a gateway drug to tobacco.

The compromise of lung immunity is not unique to teens only.

February 16, 2016
By Yvette Brazier

As evidence emerges that e-cigarettes (click here) are not as safe as advertisers claim, a new study shows that flavorings classed as "Generally Recognized as Safe" by the US Food and Drug Administration are best avoided in smoking. The findings are presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Washington, DC...

...Jaspers, who is also deputy director of the UNC Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology, explains:

"The digestive systems and respiratory systems are very different. Our stomachs are full of acids and enzymes that break down food and deal with chemicals; this environment is very different than our respiratory systems. We simply don't know what effects, if any, e-cigarettes have on our lungs."

Researchers studied the effects on smokers of cinnamon-flavored e-liquids and cinnamaldehyde, the chemical that gives cinnamon flavor to an e-cigarette.

Results showed that the cinnamaldehyde e-liquids had a significant negative impact on epithelial cells that could set off a chain of cellular mechanisms potentially leading to impaired immune responses in the lung.

Jaspers elaborates: "The chemicals compromise the immune function of key respiratory immune cells, such as macrophages, natural killer cells and neutrophils."...

Lung physiology

Innate immunity (click here) is a primordial system that has a primary role in lung antimicrobial defenses. Recent advances in understanding the recognition systems by which cells of the innate immune system recognize and respond to microbial products have revolutionized the understanding of host defenses in the lungs and other tissues. The innate immune system includes lung leukocytes and also epithelial cells lining the alveolar surface and the conducting airways. The innate immune system drives adaptive immunity in the lungs and has important interactions with other systems, including apoptosis pathways and signaling pathways induced by mechanical stretch. Human diversity in innate immune responses could explain some of the variability seen in the responses of patients to bacterial, fungal, and viral infections in the lungs. New strategies to modify innate immune responses could be useful in limiting the adverse consequences of some inflammatory reactions in the lungs...

Americans can raise the morality of countries unrecognized and victimized.

February 17, 2016
By Ian Urbina

Palau v The Poachers (click here)

Late on a January 2015 evening in Shepherdstown, W.Va., a data analyst named Bjorn Bergman, surrounded by whiteboards scribbled with computer code, was orchestrating a high-stakes marine police chase halfway around the world. Staring at his laptop in a cramped ground-floor office, he drank from his sixth cup of coffee and typed another in a long series of emails: ‘‘Try and cut them off rather than making for the last known position.’’ Nearly 9,000 miles away, the Remeliik, a police patrol ship from the tiny island nation Palau, was pursuing a 10-man Taiwanese pirate ship, the Shin Jyi Chyuu 33, through Palauan waters. Bergman, working for a nonprofit research organization called SkyTruth, had mastered the use of satellite data to chart a ship’s most likely course. Instead of pointing the police to where the pirate ship was, he would tell them where it was about to be. He took another sip of coffee, studied his screen, then typed again: ‘‘It may be advisable for the Remeliik to turn southeast.’’...

Millenials are not building wealth for their retirement.

February 17, 2016

Contact: Nina Smith

Lack of Access to Savings Tools Threatens Millennials’ Retirement Prospects

Less Than Half of Low-Income Millennial Workers Have Access to an Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan

Washington–In part thanks to the Great Recession, (click here) more Millennials are finding work in industries that offer lower wages and fewer benefits. But we know less about how this is affecting Millennials ability to save and what tools they use to maximize their nest egg for retirement. Today, Young Invincibles is releasing a new scientific opinion poll of 800 Millennial voters (ages 18 to 34 and with an oversample of African-Americans and Latinos) that provides insight into Millennials’ access to retirement plans through work, savings behaviors, and how the generation would spend additional earnings....

There is a federal government program. President Obama announced it during his State of the Union speech. I think that was last year.

You have to know as well, unions do conduct pensions for their members.

As you approach retirement, (click here) there are many things to think about. Experts advise that you will need about 80 percent of your pre-retirement income to continue your current quality of life. The exact amount, of course, depends on your individual needs. Some important factors to consider include:

• At what age do you plan to retire?
• Can you participate in an employer's retirement savings plan, such as a 401(k) plan, or a traditional pension plan? 
• Will your spouse or partner retire when you do?
• Where do you plan to live when you retire? Will you downsize, rent, or own you home?
• Do you expect to work part-time?
• Will you have the same medical insurance you had while working? Will your coverage change?
• Do you want to travel or pursue a new hobby that might be costly?...
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This is a very significant problem for the country. The American people are impoverished in many instances and even working multiple jobs to make ends meet does not meet with enhanced retirement benefits.

At this point, the Americans over the past two decades have been robbed of their Social Security when they reach retirement. The retirement benefits issued by Social Security is based in the amount contributed over the working years.

As Millennials ask for their report on benefits from Social Security they will see a disaster occurring to their lives as they age. This is like a very bad joke in their lives. It has to be addressed and raising the minimum wage is a good place to start.

Hillary Clinton is sincere in all her words regarding minorities in the USA. She has never taken them for granted in a voting block. Her loyalty to the community is long standing. President Bill Clinton's office is in Harlem.

I think what Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders has to show the community where they can lead to end the horrible practices that plague them.

The Republicans like to call this "Identity Politics." That is a defaming statement to the impacts on real lives in this community. Seeking support from this community has to be more than superficial identification of them and pledging support. The approach has to provide where solutions can be found and policies written.

Donald Trump should not entertain a lawsuit against Ted Cruz. It is waste of good money.

Cruz has dug a hole for himself while in Congress. He won't be elected nationally. Cruz is too radical.