Wednesday, February 24, 2016

If the Supreme Court justices were to be replaced by the popular vote; they would be on the ballot. Congress has no safe harbor in obstructing the replacement of the late Justice Scalia.

I wonder if there are gay Evangelicals?

There is a new social contract for Republicans; Donald Trump knows it and understands it.

By Ben Domench '
...But since 2012, (click here) the nation has changed. Romney ran the last campaign of the pre-gay marriage era. The years since have seen an explosion of controversy over political correctness, with battles over safe spaces, speech codes, and the assertion of privilege spreading from academia into the broader culture. The flashpoint in this new phase of the culture war is the issue of speech: what our culture and politics will allow you to say, and where you are allowed to say it.
For southern evangelical Americans, the culture has changed rapidly and dramatically, in ways they find at odds with their understanding of their faith and their country. For decades, religious leaders have spoken about the risks facing the nation in apocalyptic terms—and in a sense, the difference between 2012 and 2016 is a post-apocalyptic one for social conservatives....

The GOP is in denial and are AFRAID of competing on a stage with Democrats on POLICY.  Republicans don't create policy, they create obstruction and since 2010 the current Republican majority has no ability to legislate without rhetoric inclusion to PRETEND they can actually legislate their own brand into law.

The Supreme Court upheld the ACA. The Supreme Court upheld Gay Marriage Rights. The rhetorical Republican no longer exists in the ideology that was the electorate base of the GOP.

2016's Evangelicals wants policy that is constitutional and actually makes the country better and stronger. They aren't interested in, "Let's Pretend" anymore. They are embarrassed by it. They want their vote to matter and want to decide about the country's REAL path allowed by the US Constitution. Evangelicals are not radicals, regardless, of some legislators that are. When looking to the Evangelical agenda, most if not all are unconstitutional. These folks are also hit by the climate crisis.

They aren't stupid and they know the longer the country suffers with a dysfunctional government the worst their reality and the reality of others will be adversely effected. They love their children and they can send them to religious based schools if they want to. Their freedom is not effected in the way rhetorical leaders want them to believe.

We have a unique responsibility (click here) to promote sustainable development, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and build a thriving culture of life that protects human dignity. At their core, climate change and air pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels are pro-life issues. The toxic pollution released from coal-fired plants and chemicals spewing into rivers and oceans present especially grave risks for life in the womb, young children and the elderly. The costs of delay are unacceptable....

...As Catholic and evangelical leaders, we are deeply inspired by Pope Francis’ recent encyclical that draws attention to the shared responsibility we have to be prudent stewards of creation.

We are clergy, university presidents, women religious, theologians and advocates committed to redoubling our efforts in confronting a crisis that disproportionately impacts the poor and most vulnerable. Pope Francis has issued a bold call to action, and the clock is ticking on a challenge that requires a collective effort in service of the global common good.....

Evangelical children have no challenge to their faith, but, their lives literally are at risk with the negligence of government to recognize the climate crisis. We are stewards of Earth and that is the case no matter the religion or non-religious. Morality exists in the USA. American morality is not suppose to be defined by petroleum industry profits.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

February 23, 2016
2030.18z
UNISYS water vapor USA satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

So far, tonight, there are two dead from the climate crisis. Anyone care about that?

That climate crisis storm is about two thirds the size of the country RIGHT NOW. 






February 23, 2016
2030.16z
UNISYS water vapor GOES East satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)


Below is a severe weather warning map from the Weather Underground (click here)

Severe thunderstorm watch and severe winds dominate the map, but, there is also flooding, tornadoes and fire warnings. It isn't a good night for the USA. 

This video is protected by the First Amendment of the USA Constitution.

It doesn't have anything to do with police officers. Try again.

It is as much about police as flood waters. Stop demonizing her. She is a great woman and a great entertainer. She is a very generous person and appears without being paid for a charity or two.

She is incredibly beautiful, voluptuous and obviously sexy. And she is married. 

The video is 4 minutes and 52 seconds long and the background police content is 22 seconds and I am being generous. This video is not about police. Not at all. 

There is going to be a lot of turbulence. The temperature differences along the fronts are too drastic.

February 23, 2016
2045 gmt
The Weather Channel Current Temperatures.

It is a hemispheric system. (click here) These winds have been located in this part of the country since last week. It has just been building up velocity.




February 23, 2016
3:35 pm est
NDFD (National Digital Forecast Data Base)










February 23, 2016
2030.18z
UNISYS Water Vapor USA Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)




Senator McConnell is running for the presidency of the Academy Awards.

The Academy Awards work on a one year cycle. The nominees begin on midnight at the start of 1 January to midnight at the end of 31 December.

Senator McConnell has overthrown the USA Constitution for the Constitution and By Laws of the Academy Awards that accumulate it's nominees in one calendar and votes on them in the next. 

It is treason.


Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has drawn the line: President Obama will not get another Supreme Court nominee confirmed.

February 23, 2016
By Joan McCarter

...It's a dangerous plan,(click here) as vulnerable Republicans like Rob Portman, Pat Toomey and Mark Kirk know. McConnell's abysmal approval rating is already an anchor around their necks, and they will face very real backslash for his obstruction. 

Democratic Leader Harry Reid responded by pointing out what this means not just for Senate Republicans, but for the Republican party in general, setting the narrative for 2016. The Republican party is "abandoning its last vestiges of decency and unconditionally surrendering its moral compass to Trump and Cruz." Pretty much....


Transcript of Article 1 Section 6 Clause 1 (click here)


ARTICLE 1
BY
BRIA CONNER
&
TRENT LEE
Section 6 Clause One
First, congressmen get paid by the government, at a salary they set themselves.
The idea here is to ensure that the president can't abuse his powers by arresting or jailing legislators who disagree with him. 
Second, congressmen have "legislative immunity"; that is, they cannot be charged with a crime for anything they say in Congress, and they cannot be arrested or harassed by the police unless they have committed crimes or other serious treason.


A citizen council needs to draw up the charge of treason for those willfully opposing the judicial nomination PROCESS of the USA.

The Senators and Representatives...shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same....

Koch just bought Rubio.

February 23, 2016
By Mike Allen 

Marc Short, (click here) the Koch brothers’ top political adviser in Washington and a trusted member of their inner circle for five years, is making a surprise move to the Marco Rubio campaign as a senior adviser as the Republican establishment ramps up efforts to stop Donald Trump.
Short — president of Freedom Partners, the Kochs’ umbrella political organization — will join the campaign in about a week and brings deep connections to the donor and grass-roots worlds....

September 16, 2013
The current of dark money (click here) that has flowed into the U.S. political system over the past three years -- as anonymously-funded outside groups have proliferated -- depends on secrecy.

And yet, even though anonymous donors have become a commonplace part of national elections, it came as a shock last week when a little-known group with strong ties to the Koch brothers stepped forward and acknowledged itself as the source of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars given to conservative groups in 2012. Freedom Partners, as the group is now called, was a silent behemoth during the last election, able to make use of the FEC's disclosure rules to keep itself in the shadows during a presidential campaign.

At the head of the organization is Marc Short, who serves as Freedom Partners' president and on its board of directors. A longtime political operative who has worked for various conservative organizations and Republican politicians over the past 20 years, Short assumed his role at Freedom Partners in March 2013. A former "Koch operative," Short is now running an organization that Koch Industries maintains operates "independently of Koch Industries." A Freedom Partners spokesperson declined to go into details about just what role Short has in the group's grant-making process. And so we're left with questions, as is often the case when it comes to the world of dark money....

It is corruption. The organization, Freedom Partners' PRETENDS to be an autonomous organization from the PRIVATE Koch Industries.

...Freedom Partners' donor/members are reportedly drawn from the Koch brothers' semi-annual conferences, and membership reportedly requires paying at least $100,000 in annual dues. Freedom Partners claims "more than 200" members, but it raised more than $250 million between November 2011 and November 2012, suggesting that some members have contributed well over the minimum dues....

...And its board of directors is packed with individuals who currently work or have worked for the Kochs and Koch Industries in a variety of capacities. Short's official affiliation with the Kochs is, by comparison, relatively recent....

The Kochs are trying to mimic Goldman Sachs and it's disbursement of fledglings into government.  The difference is obvious. Members of the Koch Industry family working in the governments require patience and working through policy changes. Then, only to have such initiatives taken to court as the Koch's have no viable industries, they are always cleaning up from old, deserted methods of a country's economy.

The Kochs being involved directly with a Republican favorite son, creates the opportunity to create policies for Rubio to espouse as his own. So, no surprise when Rubio makes it into the Oval Office that the Republicans are prepped for what is to follow.

But, entertain this. Donald Trump is running a full head of steam into the RNC convention. There is every indication he will have a full compliment of delegates at the convention and cannot be challenged as the nominee. What if Adelson and Kochs provide large amounts of money into the campaigns of the remaining candidates competing with Donald Trump.


The crooked billionaires are attempting to create 'a drag' on the Donald Trump momentum. Who knows what is coming next from these jerks that want to control the power of the American people. When are the American people going to see this mess for what it is. It victimizes them and depersonalizes them into objects to control for a favorable outcome to private companies the public will never realize as stockholder returns.

If the other candidates can accumulate enough delegates to the convention, it might leave Donald Trump short and creates a brokered convention. These billionaires have too much money. Some of it belongs in the USA Treasury. I suppose that is what they are hoping to avoid by defeating Donald Trump.
\

If Ted Cruz is stating Nevada will be purged of it's federal lands, he is backing militias.

February 11, 2016
By Camila Domonoske

After 41 days, (click here) the Oregon occupation is over: All four militants who remained at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have surrendered to the FBI.
David Fry, Jeff Banta, Sean Anderson and Sandy Anderson were the last four militants left at the wildlife refuge near Burns, Ore., on Thursday morning. A group of armed anti-federalists had taken over the refuge in early January, saying they were protesting the convictions of two Oregon ranchers on arson charges.
Banta and the Andersons left their weapons behind and walked into FBI custody on Thursday morning. More than an hour later, Fry followed them.
"No one was injured, and no shots were fired," the FBI said in a statement....

These are the guys Ted Cruz is pandering to for a base of support in Nevada.

"...not a pax Americana..."

We were a country that hated ignorance.

It isn't just politics. 

The USA has lost the vision of itself for it's peoples, our allies and the world.

The USA has forgotten it's heritage and what it is in the world, except, of course for war.

It has forgotten what peace is and how to achieve it. 

One of the reasons COP 21 is the most important document on Earth isn't because the USA can't react to flooding and sea level rise.

The reason COP 21 is the most important document on Earth is because the majority of the world is not the USA. By the way, Europe is way ahead of the USA for the explicit reason they believed the scientists and set policy to end any interruption of their lives. This past year has proven a challenge for the dams and sea walls around the cities, but, it would have been far, far worse without a government that believed the scientists. 

Countries like Bangladesh are an entirely different issues. Bangledesh is a delta. Asia could lose most of that coastal plain and then what comes of people already living in boats because there is no land for them to build on.

It is easy to ask people to practice population control, but, it is never applied in the way it needs to be and all too often, belief systems get in the way and any progress is lost completely. 

How can American policies ask people in Bangledesh to practice population control when it doesn't promote 'Planned Parenthood" within it's own borders? AND, it doesn't provide help to countries in a need to address it's population growth? 

There was a time when the USA was a model country for most of the world. It's people thought wisely about the future, wanted quality of life for it's children, valued public education from K or Pre-K through the university for a future of cutting edge everything. 

Today the USA is a disgrace for it's loss in leadership in the world and allows it's children to live in poverty with educations that will take them nowhere except more poverty.

Case study: coping with flooding in Bangladesh (click here)

Bangladesh is an LEDC. The land is densely populated. Most of the land forms a delta from three main rivers - Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. Twenty-five per cent of Bangladesh is less than 1 metre above sea level. Flooding is an annual event as the rivers burst their banks. Bangladesh also experiences many tropical cyclones. The low-lying land means it is easily flooded from the coastal waters.

There will be problems. but, don't think it is contained in the coastal USA.

What will the height of the Mississippi River be, when there is sea level rise in the Gulf of Mexico?

Water can be very clear and potable directly from a stream because it runs so fast and over rocks. While every American has not experienced a clear and clean mountain stream, they exist. What happens to water in rivers and streams when it's height rises permanently and the flow rate slows?

Is the USA ready for the challenge or will it continue it's EMERGENCY RESPONSE which never solves the problem, but, provides a bandaid to it. 

How many cities and towns in the USA have a hydrologist working on it's water issues with the changing climate? Is the USA able to do better than react to emergencies? If not, why not?  

February 22, 2016
By Justin Gillis 
 
The worsening of tidal flooding in American (click here) coastal communities is largely a consequence of greenhouse gases from human activity, and the problem will grow far worse in coming decades, scientists reported Monday.
Those emissions, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels, are causing the ocean to rise at the fastest rate since at least the founding of ancient Rome, the scientists said. They added that in the absence of human emissions, the ocean surface would be rising less rapidly and might even be falling.
The increasingly routine tidal flooding is making life miserable in places like Miami Beach; Charleston, S.C.; and Norfolk, Va., even on sunny days.
 Though these types of floods often produce only a foot or two of standing saltwater, they are straining life in many towns by killing lawns and trees, blocking neighborhood streets and clogging storm drains, polluting supplies of freshwater and sometimes stranding entire island communities for hours by overtopping the roads that tie them to the mainland.
Such events are just an early harbinger of the coming damage, the new research suggests....

Syria may be finding a governance and India shows the signs of losing it. Why? The same reason as Syria, water shortage.

New Delhi — A state government (click here) in India promised to introduce a bill to grant coveted “backward” status to a relatively prosperous caste group, officials said Monday, in an effort to quell protests that have raged for the past four days.

Typical socio-economic answers to environmental stress. The wealthy become priviledged from some bargaining point, in this case, a return of the caste system. And what is the result? Violence.

India is a billion people. It is not Syria. 
 
The protesters, members of the Jat caste group, had blocked roads around the capital, set fire to railway stations and cars, and temporarily shut down a crucial canal that is a major source of the city’s water. Nineteen people were killed in the violence in surrounding Haryana State, and fears of water shortages led New Delhi to close its schools to conserve its supply.

This isn't about war. it is about promoting higher values and recognizing the trigger to the violence. I cannot think of a better leader for India to move past old stereotypes and move into an understanding of life as it is, not as an excuse to environmental stress.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very well equipped to lead India into a civil peace BEFORE it gets uncontrollable.
 
The main thoroughfare in the area, Grand Trunk Road, which had been reopened on Sunday, was blocked again by fighting on Monday morning, the police said. Still, a state official said, 80 percent of the roads that had been closed were open again on Monday morning.
Roshan Shankar, an adviser to the Delhi government, said the authorities had regained control of a canal that supplied water to New Delhi, though the canal was badly damaged. For now, he said, the government was using existing reserves and other water bodies to meet the need. He said severe, widespread shortages had not been reported so far....

The visit of Nepal's Prime Minister is a perfect example of Prime Minister Modi. He seeks peace as the basis of relationships. He trusts and then builds on that trust. I am sure he didn't expect his people to need him in a way that would maintain the peace in face of environmental stress.

February 22, 2016
By Ankit Panda  
Nepal’s Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli (click here) is currently on a six-day trip to India. His trip has the overarching purpose of restoring ties between Nepal and India, two neighbors and historic partners that have drifted apart over the past year due to a political crisis stemming from Nepal’s new constitution, which was promulgated last year. Before leaving Kathmandu for India, Oli acknowledged that “in the last few months there have been many misunderstandings between our two countries.” Accordingly, he said, “We now want to get our relationship back on track.”

This is not about a vetting practice.

There is no training for the role of taxi driver. What Uber reveals in the USA is the condition of the people as well. Both, Uber and the American people are in a desperate state to provide services to make money. 

I realize Jason Dalton did unspeakable violence, but, he has a witness to a phone call that sent him over the edge. I want to know who was on the other end of that phone call? 

He was a father of two. I am assuming the children are okay and nothing happened while there father was trying to earn money as an Uber driver. I want to know if Uber dispatch was at the other end of the phone. What broke him into a maniac driver? 

It isn't unusual for free lancing taxi drivers, even gypsies, to be armed. Something happened and I want to know what it is. From the sounds of it he experienced at least temporary insanity. There is a witness to that fact.

The story is too big to let go. This is about the state of affairs of the poor in American. The working poor to be exact.

Kalamazoo, Michigan has about the same unemployment rate as Michigan's average at 5.9 percent. Michigan's unemployment rate is 5.4 percent. 

There are two children tonight that don't know what happened to their father. To top it all off, the victims make it to the emergency room alive only to be evaluated for organ harvest.

There is so much wrong with this picture and it doesn't get better. Americans complain about the condition of their quality of living and nothing changes. Not for the working poor. These folks need training and encouragement. They have impossible situations and for some reason can't find their way out of them. Working for Uber is an impossible situation. No one drives for Uber because they are successful, happy and experiencing job security.

I can only wonder what goes on with Air B&B, too. All these internet companies that toy with the lives of 'room for profit space' are detrimental to the American economy. They are not only detrimental to the economy, they are detrimental to quality of life and consumer safety. Those companies should have already dissolved for the liability they create, but, they are rescued because someone wants to find a better vetting process. 

Since when does the American public have information to improve an Uber vetting process? This is a company that doesn't care about people, if it did it would have closed up shop a long time ago and liquidated to pay liability payoffs.

So, we have a driver over the edge because of a phone call, a hospital already over the edge and playing god to improve the delivery time of harvested organs, children abandoned and a country that actually thinks it can 'work through' any problem a human being can have as a community of caring and wonderful people.

NOT!

February 22, 2016
By Alexandria Sage and Mary Wisniewski 

The deaths of six people in Kalamazoo, Michigan, (click here) who authorities say were shot by a driver for Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL], have revived scrutiny over how the ride service vets its drivers, an issue that has plagued it for years.
Uber, which said it is cooperating with the police investigation, said its safety protocol is robust and adequate. The San Francisco company will not change the way it vets its drivers in the aftermath of the shooting, Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan said Monday.
"If there is nothing on someone's record, no background check will raise a red flag," Sullivan told reporters on a conference call.
Jason Dalton, 45, who is being held without bail, had no prior criminal record and passed the company's background check.
But critics, including taxi companies that compete with Uber, say the car service could do more to protect passengers.
Uber has been criticized over allegations of rapes and other assaults by its drivers around the world, and on Friday a former Uber driver in Boston was convicted of assaulting a passenger, according to the Boston Globe....

There was a time in the USA when Concealed Carry actually meant something. It is a joke now. 

Republicans have puppet strings and they are directly attached to profits and this is the result of deregulation of every aspect of American life to find the profits where they are hiding. 

Monday, February 22, 2016

What happened to this guy that sent him off the deep end? What kind of pressure are these Uber drivers under?

February 22, 2016
By AP

...Mellen sat in front. (click here) About a mile into the trip, Dalton got a phone call, and when he hung up, he began driving erratically, blowing through stop signs and sideswiping cars, Mellen said.
"We were driving through medians, driving through the lawn, speeding along, and when we came to a stop, I jumped out of the car and ran away," Mellen said. He said he called police and that when he got to his friend's house, his fiancée posted a warning to friends on Facebook.
Mellen said he also tried warning the ride-hailing service.
"I'm upset because I tried contacting Uber after I had talked to the police, saying that we needed to get this guy off the road," Mellen said....

What is the report about a victim who was actually alive as discovered by a family member; but; the medical staff was preparing her for surgery.

I want an investigation!

The victim had a heart beat. Why was she considered brain dead? No nurse or doctor did neuro checks that ask the victim to squeeze their hand, or in the case of severe head, neck trauma, squeeze the hand to see if they squeeze back? How hard did the staff try to arouse cognition? This needs a complete review.

She squeezed her sister's hand. She was in there. Why didn't anyone else notice it?

What was the staffing like that day?

Who wasn't listening to who? Was there any staff member that had a response but it was suppressed by another authority. I don't care if it was a nursing assistant or a unit secretary. Who was making decisions that caused an emergency room staff to prepare a victim for transplants while still viable?

There should be no piece of paper or driver's license that preempts viability!

There is only ONE WAY of determining brain death and that is after three successive EEGs that PROVE there is absolutely NO BRAIN ACTIVITY! This is one of the reasons I absolutely hate Living Wills when it comes to Emergency Rooms.

I already know Brain Death has to be legislated and defined as three flag EEG's over three consecutive days even with a living will !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Syrian Truce will be a test of the governing strength of the two parties to enter a power sharing agreement.

Warring factions should be able to provide an orderly structure to stop battles. Being able to end the war long enough for a cease fire is important in establishing authorities that can actually govern.

February 22, 2016
By the AP

...The U.N. special envoy for Syria (click here) says he will convene a task force designed to help monitor a new cease-fire agreement as soon as it takes effect later this week.
Staffan de Mistura says the cease-fire reached by the United States and Russia and set to begin at midnight Saturday in Syria gives the two world powers the task of making sure that everyone else abides by it, too.
The agreement does not apply to the Islamic State group or the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front. De Mistura emphasized the U.N. considers them terrorist groups, and "no one else."
Russia, a strong backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has faced claims that its airstrikes have hit opposition groups that Moscow considers terrorist groups, but the U.N. does not....

If Syria is finally recovering from the complete anarchy and death regime of Daesh, it is time to look to Libya to resolve the last of their strong holds.

There are no safe haven for them anymore. If Syria is coming to a resolve of governance, the only place still an anarchy is Libya.

February 21, 2016
By Eric Schmitt

...Even as American intelligence agencies (click here) say the number of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria has dropped to about 25,000 from a high of about 31,500, partly because of the United States-led air campaign there, the group’s ranks in Libya have roughly doubled in the same period, to about 6,500 fighters. More than a dozen American and allied officials spoke of their growing concern about the militant organization’s expanding reach from Libya and across Africa on rules of anonymity because the discussions involved intelligence and military planning....

The good news continues. An alliance of Muslim countries never before imagined.

22 February 2016
By Reuters

Riyadh: The Middle East’s largest ever war games (click here) are now underway and will boost military cooperation between the 20 Muslim nations taking part, host country Saudi Arabia said on Monday.
The Northern Thunder exercises, which began on Feb. 14 and will run until March 10, involve more than 150,000 troops from the Gulf Arab nations, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Jordan, Sudan and Senegal.
“The Council of Ministers ... expressed the hope that these exercises achieve what was defined as their goals in exchanging expertise and raising the level of military coordination,” cabinet said in a statement.
The statement also praised “the levels of preparedness and administrative and supply capabilities” shown by the nations participating in Northern Thunder exercises....

The RNC doesn't care. I would think that is evident, especially when it comes to the little people and what matters to them.

Just for the sake of recognition, Marco Rubio were stating the same problems with the Ted Cruz campaign as Donald Trump was stating.

Senator Rubio disproved the statements about false accusations about the Bible. But, he went on to bring up the issues with Ben Carson and Donald Trump. Basically, There are at least three candidates for President stating Ted Cruz is not honest and lies about other candidates to gain favor with the electorate.

Marco Rubio also stated, while it seems to be complaining, there is reason for it and no one is carrying out any fact finding within the RNC and state organizations.

The issue with Ben Carson is really egregious. Someone from Iowa needs to carry out fact finding and submission to the RNC and I would think to each of the candidates so they can pursue legal remedies.

If I am not mistaken, Ted Cruz won his Senate seat by lying and carrying out ruthless strategies. Ted Cruz defeated a long standing Republican, Kay Bailey Hutchison. He didn't fight fair and his election was a surprise.

Ted Cruz has issues of which one was not reporting monies received from Goldman Sachs where his wife words, during his Senate run. That was a very big omission which he apologized for, but, the RNC should have examined the facts more closely.

Before his victory in 2012, he worked for a private law firm where he represented Wall Street interests. No surprise there.

I think Senator Rubio, Donald Trump and Ben Carson have legitimate issues that go beyond ethics violations, including the forgetfulness about Wall Street money donations.

Then there is the issue of his birth taking place in Calgary, Canada.

MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell's panel states, "Donald Trump is not for the little guy."

Really?

I think Donald Trump needs equal time to respond to that.

A million dollars to veteran's organizations is nothing I suppose. I know he raised it effortlessly, but, that doesn't translate to organizations working with veterans. Funding is funding.

MSNBC is uphappy they lost their "Mission Accomplished" banner.

The Open Skies Treaty is used for SPECIFIC military use of treaties.

February 22, 2016
By AP

Russia will ask permission (click here) on Monday to start flying surveillance planes equipped with high-powered digital cameras amid warnings from U.S. intelligence and military officials that such overflights help Moscow collect intelligence on the United States.

Russia and the United States are signatories to the Open Skies Treaty, which allows unarmed observation flights over the entire territory of all 34 member nations to foster transparency about military activity and help monitor arms control and other agreements. Senior intelligence and military officials, however, worry that Russia is taking advantage of technological advances to violate the spirit of the treaty.

Russia will formally ask the Open Skies Consultative Commission, based in Vienna, to be allowed to fly an aircraft equipped with high-tech sensors over the United States, according to a senior congressional staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the staff member wasn't authorized to discuss the issue publicly....

A general application is not what is at the heart of that Treaty. Russia knows that.

When Non-Proliferation is honored among the signators it is verified when nuclear warheads are dissembled and the nuclear material degraded for peaceful uses. Non-Proliferation isn't really served by the Open Skies Treaty. Unless Russia is convinced on new imaging there are new missile silos in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.


Members of a Russian (click here) crew pose on the tarmac next to a Tu-154 aircraft together with their U.S. counterparts during an observation flight over the territory of the United States under the open Skies Treaty, July 2000.
OSCE photo / Jul 2000




The Open Skies Consultative Commission (OSCC) (click here) is the implementing body for the Open Skies Treaty. It consists of representatives from each of the 34 States Parties to the Open Skies Treaty. The OSCC meets at the headquarters of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, Austria....

I think most countries have a doubt about the application of the treaty. In the case of Slovakia, there was a specific reason why it was appropriate to implement the Open Skies Treaty. I am sure Russia has it's reasons, but, I can't imagine what they might be.
     
The Open Skies Treaty (click here) entered into force in January 2002, and covers territory from Vancouver to Vladivostock. The Treaty establishes a regime of unarmed aerial observation flights over the entire territory of its 34 signatories. It is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless of size, the possibility to obtain information on military or other activities of concern to them. Open Skies is the most wide-ranging international effort to date to promote openness and transparency of military forces and their activities....

A Saab-340B aircraft on the tarmac during a joint US-Swedish training flight over Slovakia, 28 May 2008, under the Open Skies Treaty. (OSCE/Mikhail Evstafiev)



Fifty Shades of Grey was horrible.

It seduced an innocent young woman into being a sex slave to a powerful and wealthy man. It glamorized violence as a legitimate method of guiltless sex.

"You are mine. You are all mine." Who needed the shrink more, him or her?

Those relationships are litigable in a court of law. It objectifies sex and women.

It grossly insults men and the fantasy of 'ordering up sex, without guilt or relationship.' It was the strangest fantasy ride that played to R ratings. It was horrible.

Those relationships are dangerous. If a man wants to perform violence on a woman, call it what you want, but, don't call it legitimate. It is on the fringes of the purposeful relationships that occasionally seek a spicy playtime. It was a torture chamber he called a playroom. It stopped at blood letting, but, given the whips, chains and belt beatings it left out the blood that would accompany such treatment.

The degree of cruelty he alluded to in "Fifty Shades of Gray" belongs behind bars and quite frankly isn't likely contained within a playroom. It was not at all realistic in any way, shape or form.

I was waiting for the FBI to show up.