The New Zealand government is reporting budget surpluses.

The New Zealand government practices economic investment that has tax returns producing a surplus. People are working and paying taxes. This model works. It secures the economic engine of the middle class.

The government also practices sound economic budgets. That is not necessarily a conservative achievement.

May 10, 2016
...The operating balance (click here) before gains and losses (obegal) was a surplus $167 million in the nine months ended March 31, compared with a forecast deficit of exactly the same amount, $167 million, in the half-year economic and fiscal update, the government's financial statements show.
Finance Minister Bill English is scheduled to release his eighth budget on May 26 and based on the Treasury's forecasts back in December, is facing an obegal deficit of $400 million in the year ending June 30.
The Treasury had previously projected a surplus of $200 million, but with little inflation, income tax, GST and resident withholding tax are down against historical trends. Still the better-than-forecast nine-month figures mark the third straight month that the cumulative data has exceeded expectations.
"Budget 2016 will reflect this government's continued commitment to responsible fiscal management," said English in a statement accompanying the Crown accounts release. "At the same time, it will build on the good progress we've made over the previous seven Budgets, with further investment in a growing economy and public services."...

Fiscal responsibility is about moral spending, but, with enough income to provide the economic governance to match.

The climate crisis is creating refugees that will last a very long time.

May 10, 2016
By AFP, Debra Killalea

They are the tiny islands that have literally disappeared. (click here)
Five islands in the Pacific Ocean existed as late as 2014; fast forward two years and they are nowhere to be seen.
A further six reef islands are also facing the same fate, in a disturbing warning to the world's scientists and other low-lying nations.
An alarming new study, published in Environmental Research Letters,reveals rising sea levels and coastal erosion are to blame for the predicament.
Scientists warn the findings could provide valuable insights for future research.
"At least 11 islands across the northern Solomon Islands have either totally disappeared over recent decades or are currently experiencing severe erosion," the study confirms....

Earth is flooding. Maps are changing. 

This is still going on. Forty years is a lot of documentation to wade through.

The law firm states it did nothing wrong. They mean they didn't do anything LEGALLY wrong. However, there is plenty wrong with their willingness to remove tax income from any country. It is a moral issue. There is a reason lawyers have ethics with brevity to leverage against attorney licenses.

9 May 2016

...The Panama Papers (click here) have shown how some wealthy people use offshore firms to evade tax and avoid sanctions.

The papers belonged to Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca and were leaked by a source simply known as "John Doe". The company denies any wrongdoing.

Last week it issued a "cease and desist " order to prevent the database being made public but the organisation that has the documents, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), went ahead.

• Who's been caught in the scandal?
• Ten things we have learned
• Tax havens and the new politics
• How assets are hidden and taxes dodged

The documents have revealed the hidden assets of hundreds of politicians, officials, current and former national leaders, celebrities and sports stars.

They list more than 200,000 shell companies, foundations and trusts set up in more than 20 tax havens around the world....

"Many of these homes have been rebuilt four or five times..."

May 9, 2016

Houston --

Montgomery, (click here) San Jacinto, Liberty and Fort Bend counties have all been added to the federal disaster declaration issued after last month's flood....

Americans are not taking these conditions seriously. It is one thing to have occasional storms and rebuilding, but, to defy the odds and staying in a flood zone is not and should not be a challenge to rebuild. This is about staying alive and not a personal priority to defy nature.

The USA spends considerable money to keep Americans alive and I am grateful it works, but, repeating the threat in ones' life is not advisable. It is troubling to realize Americans are willing to put their lives in the path of danger over and over again. I don't get it. It is heartbreaking when storms occur and people are effected. But, to allow that to happen repeatedly can't be good for anyone.

May 10, 2016
By Kelly P. Kissell

...BIG AND STRONG (click here) 

A twister 2.6 miles wide struck near El Reno, Oklahoma, on May 31, 2013, with winds measured at 290 mph about 500 feet above the ground. It was a bit larger than a tornado that hit Hallam, Nebraska, on May 22, 2004.

A May 3, 1999, storm that later killed 36 people at Moore, Oklahoma, had winds of about 302 mph at Bridge Creek, Oklahoma.

The wind speeds in these storms were measured using Doppler radar rather than traditional anemometers, which can be swept away when directly hit by a storm.

HOW TO STAY SAFE?

It's all about having a plan, and start planning early if possible....

Storm chasers have been killed.

The feeder system was somewhat limited to the tornado, but, it was a half mile wide. There have been feeder systems within the last six months that extended far outside the tornado shadow. Some of the tornadoes have pulled tractor trailers over at a distance on a highway.

I think this is irresponsible. The view below has cars in the picture for scale, but, the storm looks like a haboob at this point.

May 9, 2016
By Enjoli Francis

Storm chaser Gabe Cox (click here) today described the "awe-inspiring" tornado he captured on video this weekend as he and driver Scott Peake traveled through Colorado, on the lookout for twisters.

Cox said that he and Peake had not been expecting to see much Saturday evening as they set out on their trek, equipped with Doppler radar and forecast models.

"The ingredients for tornadoes was kind of marginal," Cox told ABC News today, "and so when we saw the storm developing, it was definitely a surprise to us at how big and how powerful this tornado ended up being."...

Does Merrium Webster ever remove words from the dictionary? I have suggestion, remove the word "war."

Ms. Lewinsky clarified any doubt about humiliation and punishment for "...a consensual sex with Bill Clinton." It was media.

Everyone needs to respect her words. She was 19 years old. Get over it. She has.

May 6, 2016
By Monica Lewinsky and Photographer Mark Selinger

...After the scandal, writes Lewinsky, (click here) “I turned down offers that would have earned me more than $10 million, because they didn’t feel like the right thing to do.” After moving between London (where she got her master’s degree in social psychology at the London School of Economics), Los Angeles, New York, and Portland, Oregon, she interviewed for numerous jobs in communications and branding with an emphasis on charity campaigns, but, “because of what potential employers so tactfully referred to as my ‘history,’” she writes, “I was never ‘quite right’ for the position. In some cases, I was right for all the wrong reasons, as in ‘Of course, your job would require you to attend our events.’ And, of course,these would be events at which press would be in attendance.”...

EPI (click here)

The Economic Policy Institute has a unique way of assessing an employer to decide about raising the minimum wage.

Assessment to raising the minimum wage explores the moral priorities of an employer.

The arrow in this case, for the "Head Football Coach states (plus $7 million in additional compensation).

EPI has been around for several decades. They advocate for the middle class. This particular article discusses the return of overtime pay by the Department of Labor. It also points to the fact the pay scale of employers is not centered no the majority of it's workers.

I have never worked a job where I wasn't paid overtime for time over my regular shift and/or 40 hours per week. It is completely alien to me to realize Americans are not paid for time over their daily shift and over 40 hours per week. The 40 hour work week is under attack and has been under attack. I was also paid time and a half when I worked holidays. I was appreciated. I didn't mind to be asked to stay a few more hours or come in on my day off, within reason.

Employees are not appreciated anymore in the USA. They are viewed as an expense and with international trade agreements abandoned. There is a great deal wrong in the USA and how APPRECIATED employees are to their employers.

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel far sooner than expected as long as fire fighting continues aggressively.

The Canadians may be catching a break. If it is exploited to end the flames it might stop it's progression if not it's heat. This are oil sands and will smolder and give off heat for awhile yet. 

May 8, 2016
By Ian Austen

Edmonton, Alberta — A week after it started, (click here) the enormous forest fire that attacked Fort McMurray, Alberta, had abated enough on Sunday to allow police, fire and health workers to move into hotels within the abandoned city.
Although the fire was far from vanquished, lower temperatures and light showers allowed firefighters to check its progress. Rachel Notley, the premier of the province, said the fire was “quite a bit smaller than we feared.” Instead of reaching half a million acres as forecast, she said, it had covered 390,000 acres by Sunday morning.
The fire’s path shifted away from Fort McMurray into a heavily forested and unpopulated area closer to the border with Saskatchewan, said Chad Morrison, Alberta’s wildfire manager. The change in weather, he added, should allow firefighters to start applying a “death grip” on the blaze over the coming days. But fully extinguishing the flames is likely to take months.
“It definitely is a positive point for us, for sure,” Mr. Morrison told reporters... 

While Prime Minister Trudeau has not need for international help at this point, it is important to note the international community has an sincere interest in these events. 

May 7, 2016
By Globe and Mail with contribution from Mark Blinch

- Fort McMurray’s fire chief says 85 per cent of the city is still intact (click here)
- Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says 2,400 buildings were lost, but praised firefighters for saving 25,000 more
- Hospital, municipal building and all functioning schools were saved
- She’ll also be meeting oil-company executives to discuss next steps
- Cooler temperatures are expected to help firefighters get a handle on the fire
- The blaze will take months to extinguish, an Alberta fire official says
- Police found some people in the evacuated city
- Moscow has offered to send water bombers, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there’s no need for international help at the moment
- Analysts are scaling back their projections for Canada’s economic growth because of the fire
- Canadian insurer Intact Financial Corp. is assessing the damage, and suggests it is of “unprecedented” scope

They are high energy tornadoes. These are not minor tornadoes. The tornado two days ago was an F4.

May 9, 2016
2215 gmt
Weather Channel Current Temperature Map

This is only May 9th.

The stark differences in temperature between 43 and 78 where the tornadoes are occurring is unreal. The troposphere has lost it's water vapor balance.

The difference between these two temperature maps is 20 hours.

May 9, 2016
0146 gmt













The center of the vortex in the center of the country has been there for a while.

May 9, 2016
5:35 PM EST

Wind Map (click here)







The water vapor satellite below was the beginning of that vortex. 

8 May 2016
0130.19z
UNISYS Hemispheric Water Vapor Satellite









8 May 2016
1637.23z
UNISYS Cental Plains Enhanced Infrared Satellite

I find this interview by Chris Wallace very revealing.

He stated there are no laws defining gender identity. This is a sincere strategy to dominate the political dialogue going into November 2016.

"This is no longer just a North Carolina issue..." say, "Governor of United States..."

"The federal government discusses sex...." He basically is saying sex is not an identifier. By stating GENDER identity are the correct WORDS for his legislation he is manipulating existing law to seek legitimately. The federal government defines issues with the word sex. There is not an absence of law, except in the manipulation by the Governor of North Carolina and his majority dysfunctional Republican legislature.

If I may?

The country already had this dialogue and voted for an amendment to the USA constitution with a ratification deadline of March 22, 1979.

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

Do driver's licenses in the USA state "gender" or "sex?" Sex is already an established and legal WORD in US law. The Governor of "oops" the Untied States, oh, I mean North Carolina wants to change the law making "sex" an act of affection rather than identity.

The people of North Carolina are hostage to politics. Not only hostage, but, ignorant hostages as well. The Governor of the United States McCrory is stating through his manipulation that voters are stupid regarding the very law of the land. He also expects Republicans to buy into his manipulation as a winning November strategy.

In the opinion of North Korea's Peace Committee, The West is painting an image that invites war.

BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes and Maria Byrne and cameraman Matthew Goddard were detained in North Korea. They were expelled after eight hours of questions and a signed statement of apology.

Kim is a different leader than his father. He wants to be taken seriously on the world stage. When leaders are taken seriously by the media they usually have government reform in mind that encourages and builds quality of life for the people.

At this point I think the BBC has an excellent opportunity to build a better relationship with Kim Jong Un. The three detained journalists signed a statement of apology. The BBC should seek to build on that.

Media frequently plays the role of bringing issues to the surface that allows authority to recognize a sincere problem and bring about reforms that benefit the people. Sometimes country's are victim to greater power, rightfully or wrongfully, that does not allow the path forward to a better quality of life for the people. I think media needs to deal directly with Kim Jong Un by offering interviews that identify the problems he faces as a leader in the global community.

North Korea is in a position of isolation. The Western media policies that handle reforms in governments are victimizing to the authorities of that country. North Korea's leader wants to be a voice in a global theater and not simply a target of hate for whatever reason found this week. If the western media wants to find a foothold to a welcome by the North Korean authorities it needs to build a relationship that helps the North Korean people through enlightenment of it's leaders.

It could be that Kim Jong Un has real problems with global power that does not allow him to adequately grapple with North Korea's entrenched problems that has existed for over half a century. I think it is the media's responsibility to find a path forward with Kim Jong Un to open dialogue with a global audience. Currently, the only image North Korea has is one of a hostile and aggressive militarized dictatorship. How does that serve North Korea to enter into a far different trade relationship with any country in the world?

May 9, 2016
By The AP
Pyongyang, North Korea  — North Korea's ruling-party congress (click here) on Monday announced a new title for Kim Jong Un, party chairman, in a move that highlights how the authoritarian country's first congress in 36 years is aimed at bolstering the young leader.
The news emerged Monday during the roughly 10 minutes that a small group of foreign media was allowed the watch the congress in the ornate April 25 House of Culture.
As a military band in full uniform played the welcoming song used whenever North Korea's leader enters a public place, Kim strode onto the stage, generating a long loud standing ovation from the several thousand delegates attending.
In unison the delegates shouted, "Mansae! Mansae!" wishing Kim long life.
He and other senior party members took their seats, filling several rows on a stage, below portraits of Kim's grandfather, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, and father, Kim Jong Il, the walls decked with banners of red with the ruling party's hammer sickle and pen logo embossed in gold. Kim Yong Nam, the head of the North's Parliament, stood to read a roster of top party positions — calling Kim Jong Un chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea for the first time....

He knows Americans. He knows how to win. His candidacy is headed to the west coast.

May 8, 2016

By Jeremy W. Peters

The rift in the Republican Party(click here) grew deeper on Sunday and threatened to upset the July convention as Donald J. Trump refused to rule out blocking Paul D. Ryan, the speaker of the House, from serving as the convention’s chairman.

Mr. Trump’s warning was his latest affront to Republicans who have urged him to adopt a more cooperative and unifying tone. And it amounted to an extraordinary escalation in tensions between the party’s presumptive nominee and its highest-ranking officeholder.

In a series of television interviews that aired Sunday, Mr. Trump demonstrated little interest in making peace with party leaders like Mr. Ryan who have called on him to more convincingly lay out his commitment to the issues and ideas that have animated the conservative movement for the last generation.

“I’m going to do what I have to do — I have millions of people that voted for me,” Mr. Trump said on ABC’s “This Week.” “So I have to stay true to my principles also. And I’m a conservative, but don’t forget, this is called the Republican Party. It’s not called the Conservative Party.”...     

"Good Night, Moon"

The waxing gibbous

9.6 day old moon

72.3 percent lit













8:49 AM Tuesday May 3, 2016

Astronomers (click here) using telescopes at ESO's observatories in Chile have discovered three planets around a dim dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth. These worlds have sizes and temperatures similar to those of Venus and the Earth, and they are the best targets so far found in the hunt for life elsewhere in the Universe.

Today is Mother's Day in the USA. I get a well deserved time off. The babies pictured are from Flint, Michigan.

May 8, 2016
By Jiquanda Johnson

Flint, MI -- Sean Gifford peers (click here) into the window of one of the family rooms at Hurley Medical Center to look at his wife. He stares momentarily and exhales.

"Look at her isn't she beautiful," he said as she held two of three babies the couple had on March 23. "This was all her. This wasn't me. I'm telling you she is phenomenal. She is amazing. She never lost focus."

The Gifford's made history at Hurley Medical Center in March when Nicole Gifford gave birth to triplets defying most odds that women face when carrying three babies.

According to Hurley Medical Center doctors, most women are lucky to make it to 32 weeks when carrying triplets, there was only a five percent chance that one egg would be fertilized let alone three and only one percent of triplet babies are delivered vaginally.

"As you can imagine I have been in practice for 30 years," said Dr. Mostafa Abuzeid, who specializes in in-vitro Fertilization at Hurley Medical Center "I have my share of patients who ended in triplets. To my knowledge this is the first patient that ended in vaginal delivery (for all three)."

Nicole Gifford not only made it to 36 weeks, the first-time mother delivered the babies in a little more than an hour.

Stella, Genevieve and Honour Gifford were all born at more than 4 lbs each and at 6 weeks are they are healthy and thriving babies....

It is important Islam does not create a schism among the different branches of Islam. Please don't allow hate speech of each other.

Indonesian Muslims pray between tombstones at the shrine of Sunan Gunungjati in Cirebon, West Java.


May 8, 2016
By Jewel Topsfield

...Sunan Gunungjati (click here) was one of the Wali Songo, or nine saints, credited with spreading Islam across Java in the 15th and 16th centuries. Pilgrims might visit his tomb to seek help finding a soulmate or with a financial problem, says Muhammad Jadul Maula, who runs an Islamic cultural school in Yogyakarta....

"They sometimes ask the Wali Songo to say a prayer to God about their problems. They believe Wali Songo are saints, close to God, and it is hoped their prayers will be answered," he says.

Sunan Gunungjati used wayang puppetry, a Hindu art form, to spread the word of Islam. This was typical of the Wali Songo, who embraced cultural practices from pre-existing faiths in their proselytising, including kapitayan, the ancient religion of Java.

This syncretism is part of what gives the Islam of Indonesia, known as Islam Nusantara, its unique flavour. It is also considered heresy by some Muslims, such as those who espouse the ultra-conservative brand of Sunni Islam known as Salafism or Wahhabism....

A forgotten population in the USA suffering with HIV/AIDS. They sometimes go without diagnosis.

• Among all gay and bisexual men, (click here) African American gay and bisexual men are most affected by HIV.
• Diagnoses among all African American gay and bisexual men increased 22% in the last decade but have leveled off since 2010.
• Diagnoses among young African American gay and bisexual men increased 87% in the last decade but actually declined 2% in the last 5 years.

They probably don't invest in their health with fundamental survival techniques such as condoms.

...socioeconomic factors—such as limited access to and use of quality health care, lower income and educational levels, and higher rates of unemployment and incarceration—that place them at higher risk for HIV infection. These factors may help explain why African Americans have not made greater gains on the HIV continuum of care. Of African Americans living with HIV infection at the end of 2012, 86% had been diagnosed, but only 37% had been prescribed antiretroviral therapy (medicines to treat HIV) and only 29% had achieved viral suppression....

"The Gay Black Man" Culture has to be understood and addressed.

...There are several ways to promote condom use (click here) among people at high risk for sexual transmission of HIV. Individual and group-level interventions help do this by directly addressing individual’s knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors related to condom use, while community-level interventions give a strong emphasis to changing social norms. Although, individual-level, group-level, and community-level interventions demonstrate moderate to high success in promoting condom use, they show the greatest effect in reducing the risk of HIV infection when combined with structural-level interventions.

Structural-level interventions, such as distributing free condoms in diverse venues, social marketing campaigns, or policy change, can address the social, economic, and political environments that shape and constrain individual, community, and societal health outcomes. CDPs become structural interventions when the environment is changed so that there is increased availability, accessibility, and acceptability of condom use....

Really? It is another mirage of the right wing media. The viewers are deceived by their media.

There is always Glen Beck and Rush.

May 4, 2016

...According to the In Touch story, Lima and Ed Henry (click here) first connected via Twitter. That escalated to meeting in person when he was in Las Vegas, where the Fox New reporter keeps a condo. She told the magazine, “We’d have drinks and he was kinda flirty, you know? I never expected anything to happen.” That all changed in the spring of 2015 when, she says, “He was staying at the Wynn and asked, ‘Do you want to come up to my room?’ I wasn’t really interested like that, but I did go up there.” She goes on to say they had sex that night.

Lima told the tabloid that “Whenever he was in town, we would pretty much just have sex,” adding that Henry, who is 44, has a “really high sex drive” and is a “kinky nice guy.” The magazine notes that when they contacted Henry he said, “I don’t know anything about [the affair].” But Lima says they were so close that Henry once covered her rent but wouldn’t give her money out of an ATM because it would be a “red flag.”...

The smoke from the fires (click here) is being carried to the USA. Considering the heat carried with that smoke there will be effects in the weather.

May 7, 2016

Planning is under way (click here) to allow evacuated Fort McMurray residents back home, but it’s unclear how long it will be before advances in fighting a massive wildfire opens the door to their return, a senior Alberta fire official said Saturday.

However, officials said they will be fighting the overall fire, expected to reach 300,000 hectares in size by day’s end Saturday, for months to come even if they make gains that allow the return of more than 80,000 residents to the northern Alberta city.

“It’s going to take quite a while for the wildfire fighters to actually get that under control, contain it, put it out,” Scott Long, executive provincial operations director for the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, told a Saturday afternoon briefing in Edmonton....

The US House needs a new Speaker.

May 7, 2016
By Maggie Haberman

...“I think it would be better if it were unified. (click here) I think it would be. There would be something good about it,” Mr. Trump said in the interview set to air on Sunday. “But I don’t think it actually has to be unified in the traditional sense.”...

Donald Trump is correct, the president nominee can go it alone on the Republican ticket. I think to clarify the party's loyalist Mr. Trump can offer to conduct fund raising with the state or federal congressional nominees. If they decline he should realize there are differences in the current Republican culture. I think Sarah Palin is correct in that even places like Wisconsin have an alternative in the primary that willingly represents the culture affiliated with Donald  Trump. Donald Trump could conduct fund raising with those members of the party, too.

Donald Trump lead the party's nomination through most of the primary contests. He won this thing by himself without any help from a Superpac or big money donors. That is admirable and the people recognized that. They are allowed to decide about their choice for nomination. They decided. The party needs to accept that.

Mr. Trump and the Tea Party Republicans needs to realize, there will be establishment Republicans that if elected again in November may not vote for their agenda in Congress. Evidently, Paul Ryan is representative of a different culture that could provide for more opposition in the Congress, including the Senate. 

The Republicans should have realized this outcome was destined at some point in time. I am surprised this hasn't happened before now, but, in reality the Tea Party Republicans were locked out of funding and Donald Trump didn't need any. I guess it was going to be him or the Tea Party would still be spinning their wheels.

This is a real chance for the Tea Party to solidify their base and the funding it provides. It is now or never. Now, is the time to build their funding base.