Let me help everyone out with any myth there is billions of new exploration in China.

This is a Chinese company. It has a history dating back to the 1970s. They are listed on the "Heng Seng Index" (click here) and have for a long time. 

If anyone is interested in developing wealth from the sea with minerals; invest in the company. Their performance is already known.

In the late 1970s (click here) legendary businessman and statesman Mr Rong Yiren established the China International Trust and Investment Corporation on instructions of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It had a registered capital of RMB600 million. In the 1980s and 1990s CITIC was a key window on China for both foreign and domestic investment, and a pioneer in Chinese overseas investment. It was the Chinese partner of choice for many foreign companies, and a leader in finance industry issuing China’s first foreign currency bond, in Yen in 1982, listing CITIC Pacific in 1991 and issuing the first Chinese Yankee bond in 1993....

This e-page is where their activities and investments are stated.

Our resources business covers (click here) exploration, mining, processing, trading and electricity generation. We have been actively engaged in overseas acquisitions and exploration of mineral and oil resources, with various interests in development projects in countries and regions which have rich resource reserves, including Australia, Brazil, Gabon, Indonesia and Kazakhstan. We operate our resources and energy business through CITIC Resources, CITIC Mining International, CITIC Metal, CITIC United Asia, and Sunburst Energy....

It seems to me the Chinese beat most others to development of their resources. Just sayin'.

I simply hate people that don't give a damn. A sales pitch. Amazing. They know nothing, but, will sell the opportunity to mine for those rare earth minerals.

NN: Do you think sea floor mining (click here) is a method that you expect to grow in the rare earth element sector?

RR: Yes, it’s something that is unlike terrestrial rare earth elements. It’s coming from a whole different suite of minerals associated with it in the sea floor sediments as opposed to land based.  There does not appear to be near the environmental issues associated with that. The things that you’ll have to contend with environmentally in the ocean, of course, would be sediment plume when you’re putting tailings back down at the ocean bottom and things of that nature.  It could be disruption to some of the fish and mammals, whale species and some of the things of that sort, by noise and lights and things like that.  So those are the sort of issues that you need to watch out for.

Now, you know, there will be no discharges into the upper levels of the water, everything would go back down to the ocean bottom.  We’re talking five kilometers down so it’s very, very deep.  It’s so deep that shells cannot even exist, calcium carbonate shells, anything with a shell, it dissolves at that depth....

Rare Earth elements/minerals are not rare. There is absolutely no reason to drill into the deep ocean. There is life at depth. Children absolutely love the natural world. They are part of the natural world. Everything is new and untainted by adult issues.

Diversity of species on Earth is vital to the planet's health and that transcends to the very life people live everyday. Earth is our home. Our common home that we share with all others.

Reverence for our common home is often absent when it comes to the value of Earth and not just it's surface chemistry. There is no reason to drill the deep ocean. It is vastly expensive and very dangerous.

Passive observation conducted by NOAA and others do not challenge the dangers, they respect the dangers while investiging Earth to understand it better. This expedition to the deepest ocean trench in the world is rare, but, when conducted brings a far deeper understanding of Earth. It is an amazing planet. It's life giving properties are amazing and rare in our solar system.

20 October 2016
By Matt McGrath

...One of this year's key expeditions (click here) mounted by the US National Oceanogrphic and Atmosphereic Administration (NOAA), was a 59 day exploration of the Marianas Trench, the world's deepest underwater canyons.

As well as discovering three new "black smoker" hydrothermal vents stretching up to 30 metres in height, the voyage also revealed some rarely seen, mysterious creatures....

Llanthanide series and (usually) scandium and yttrium (rare earth elements)

List of Pure Rare Earth Minerals (click here)

Information on mineral deposits containing rare earth elements and yttrium from around the world with grade and tonnage, and mineralogy.

To the left is the USGS map (click here) of the world where Rare Earth Elements can be found. The rarity is an economic assessment and not actual minerals/elements.

Rare earth elements (click here) are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare earth elements since they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties.  While named rare earths, they are in fact not that rare and are relatively abundant in the Earth's crust.  What is unusual is to find them in quantities significant enough to support economic mineral development....

Ah, yes, The amateurs. It is strange to realize this man arrives to find diamonds and knows nothing. He knows absolutely nothing.

It is a drilling rig.

The Debmar Atlantic is one of five deep-water mining vessels operating off the Namibian coast. 

By Ettagale Blauer

Diamonds (click here) have a habit of burying themselves in some of the most inhospitable places on earth. Some are in the frozen north of Canada and Russia, others in the hot sands of Australia. But there are few places more difficult to “mine” than the cold Atlantic Ocean, off the southwest coast of Africa. The task falls to the intrepid workers who live and work on diamond dredgers, led by the mv Mafuta, the newly christened ship registered in Lüderitz, Namibia, a coastal town in the southwest area of the country. Previously known as Peace in Africa, the ship moved to its new port in April 2013 and assumed its position as the world’s largest mining vessel. It is one of a fleet of five challenging the high winds and cold, rough seas of the region to recover diamonds from the ocean’s depths....

I am sure most people know about the diamone mines of South Africa.

The diamond mines of South Africa are very deep. I believe a miner can remain in the mine only 15 minutes because of the heat and they must return to the surface. 

At any rate, if one comes to understand how diamonds were found that deep in the land there can be an understanding garnered from that reality.

To the left above is what is called an alluvial flow, also known as the delta. Basically, alluvial flow is the sediment carried by a river to the delta.

Now imagine a world far more hot than it is today and it's forge bringing elements to the surface and then over flowing and running into the ocean. That is what occurs in the ocean bottom of South Africa. An ancient alluvial flow deposited the chemical formula that formed into diamonds. Is it not known that diamonds form under pressure? Well. Here it is. In the coldest waters lies diamonds from the volcanic mantel of Earth.

I have respect for Earth because it's process are immense. It did not form diamonds for the purpose of wealth of people. It HAPPENED to form diamonds out of it's natural processes. Simple chemistry, really.

The ocean floor. Basalt is a rock in the deep ocean. The ocean floor closer to the continents (continental shelf) is mafic to felsic.

Mafic minerals are the olivines, pyroxenes, amphiboles, and the micas biotite and phlogopite. They are dark minerals. To the right is basaltic olivine. There are gemstones called peridot that are a form of olivine. It is named for it's dark green color. 

Felsic minerals are light in color. Below is Felspar. Each of these minerals are formed under dense heat from Earth itself. Of course heat at depth is far 
hotter than in more shallow water. The ocean waters eventually cool the lava to form these rocks.

Earth is literally a oven that creates its' own distribution of these elements.

In Earth's deep ovens these elements don't exist. Rocks are manifestations of surface conditions. If you want to know more study geology. It is a fascinating planet.

It is stated the innor core of Earth is nickel and iron. Why isn't there any Felspar? As lava moves upward to the surface of Earth, rocks will form according to the mixture of elements that arise.

I only touched on ocean mining before.

...However, (click here) seafloor mining also has the potential to take a toll on the life in the sea. Anytime the seafloor is disturbed, so too are its fragile ecosystems—though the mining industry maintains that it is using and developing environmentally sensitive techniques, and many ocean habitats often appear to recover from damage. At the same time, the interest in mining is helping scientists study both the oceans’ chemistry and clues about how the planet formed.

Biologists are particularly concerned about the potential for mining to disrupt or destroy unique communities of exotic life forms, such as those at hydrothermal vents and seamounts. The result could be the subsea equivalent of replacing an old-growth forest with a field of dandelions. On the other hand, animals similar to those that originally inhabited the vent site could eventually return. Too little research has been conducted to know for sure.

The argument for protecting species is the same as that on land—diversity is at the heart of functioning ecosystems; it helps life adapt to changing conditions.

No two vents discharge exactly the same mixes of fluids, so no two vents are colonized by exactly the same life forms. Researchers continue to find new vent species just about every time they look for more. What each deep-sea vent ecosystem has in common are conditions that would be incredibly hostile to most other life: extremes of temperature, intense ocean pressure, hot acidic fluids. Yet they foster rich communities, including extraordinary microbes that harness energy from chemicals rather than from sunlight as plants do. These strange life forms may hold clues to how life started on Earth. So little is known about them that if vents are mined, we may never know what species have been lost....

It's Sunday Night 

Anyone hear that FBI Director Comey caught and extradicted those Russian hackers that turned Democratic emails of hubris and ambition into a scandal? No? That figures. Russia doesn't extradite citizens, assuming the hackers were Russia citizens. But, then there are many other ethnicities in Russia anymore, huh?

I think he is a disgrace. He not only played politics with absolute nonsense emails, he disregarded the well being of the country. 

Diamonds (Dave Aude 100 Extended) by Rihanna (click here for official site - thank you)

Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond

Find light in the beautiful sea, I choose to be happy
You and I, you and I , we’re like diamonds in the sky
You’re a shooting star I see, a vision of ecstasy
When you hold me, I’m alive
We’re like diamonds in the sky

I knew that we’d become one right away
Oh, right away
At first sight I felt the energy of sun rays
I saw the life inside your eyes

So shine bright tonight,
You and I
We’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky
Eye to eye,
So alive
We’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky

Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond
Shining bright like a diamond
We’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky

Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond
Shining bright like a diamond
We’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky

Palms rise to the universe, as we moonshine and molly
Feel the warmth, we’ll never die
We’re like diamonds in the sky

You’re a shooting star I see, a vision of ecstasy
When you hold me, I’m alive
We’re like diamonds in the sky
At first sight I felt the energy of sun rays
I saw the life inside your eyes

So shine bright
Tonight,
You and I
We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky
Eye to eye,
So alive
We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky

Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond
Shining bright like a diamond
We’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky

Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond
Shining bright like a diamond
We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky

Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond

So shine bright
Tonight,
You and I
We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky
Eye to eye,
So alive
We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky

Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond

Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond

Shine bright like a diamond

Being elected isn't that difficult.

US Senator Minority Leader Reid found another historic figure and promoted solid Democratic values. The people need to know you care about them enough to protect them. It is still fashionable to care and want a better world for every American. 

By Bill Theobald

Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto's (click here) victory in the Nevada Senate race is groundbreaking for the Silver State. She is the first woman to represent Nevada in the Senate and the first Latino woman in the chamber's history. Her paternal grandfather immigrated to Nevada from Chihuahua, Mexico.

The former two-term attorney general replaces retiring Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid. Losing the seat would have been a devastating blow for Democrats, though even with this win they did not take control of the Senate.

Cortez Masto, 52, ran an aggressive campaign based on foundational Democratic policy proposals — raising the minimum wage, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and passing comprehensive immigration reform.

She was the candidate whom Reid hand-picked to replace him after serving in the Senate for nearly 30 years. Reid helped to remake the face of Nevada by using his power to direct federal funding to the state....

Donald Trump lit the fuse and knows it.

When asked about the rise in violence ane protests he stated, "But. I won." That is the problem. He openly admits his ranting and raving that drove his victory was the exact strategy he needed to win. So, lighting ever fuse in the USA is now burning. That is not an election strategy that should be tolerated. He was hate speech. It was yelling "Fire!" in a theater. Where is the decorum of the politics that prevents violence. 

It would seem with Donald Trump, "The end justifies the means." That is what our politics is accepting as 'normal.' I am not impressed.

November 19, 2016

Washington -- Police had to get involved Saturday afternoon, (click here) after a protest turned violent on Pennsylvania Avenue, CBS affiliate WUSA reports.

Approximately 300 protesters were gathered outside of the Reagan building, to voice their concern with the National Policy Institute, a group that has been called Anti-Semitic, racist, and xenophobic. When two people, claiming to be NPI staff, entered the crowd with a camera, they were attacked by some members of the crowd.

NPI was in town for an annual convention, which often invites protest. The protest this year was intensified due to the recent election, as many of the signs were anti-Trump as well.

“White nationalism is ugly,” said Eric Hamlin, who was protesting. “It’s gross.”

“I’m a person of Jewish faith,” said another protester, who went by Zay. “I don’t want any Nazis in my city. I don’t want them in my country.”...

February 29, 2016

This is what I find facinating about the Louisiana Senate race.

Some one realize the people of the of southern Red States have not moved into the middle class with little hope of changing that. I could get into the stagnant economy of the south as a function of their politics, but, that isn't the point right now.

The Democrats mostly represent those struggling to achieve for whatever reason and those with wealth but have a conscience and practice a morality when measuring their comfort with others. In all these races, especially since Citizens' United, the Democratic Party is behind the eight ball by 20 percent in these states. In Louisiana nearly 20 percent of the people are in poverty. Can they actually donate any monies to an election? AND. Realizing these are the Working Poor as well, do they have time to donate to the election of a candidate? The answer to both those questions is, No. 

November 17, 2016
By Richard Rainey

...Donations (click here) from around the country, some as small as $5, have flowed this week to the campaign coffers of Foster Campbell, a public service commissioner, Democrat and long shot to succeed retiring GOP Sen. David Vitter in the Dec. 10 runoff against Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy....

Someone took a hard look at this Senate race this year and decided the only way the impoverished people were going to be represented in supporting their candidate was to donate from out of state. It makes perfect sense to me. I also believe Mr. Foster Campbell is better prepared for the US Senate. 

The DNC has to always have a 50 state strategy for this reason alone. The DNC needs to provide monies to all the Red States because they are not able to support alternate candidates other than the Republicans. Additionally, the DNC has to be able to speak to these people. The Democratic candidates have to, at the very least, be given a chance to win. If there is potential in the Red States for Democratic candidates to win the rest will take care of itself. 

I think the people that have and are donating to Mr. Campbell's run for the US Senate are great people themselves. Donating to Democratic races around the country that are underfunded because the poverty rate is so high is pure genius and among the most compassionate acts ever witnessed in American politics.

Pat McCrory needs to grow up and all the ballots to be counted. His crying foul isn't going to change the number of votes cast.

There is absolutely no proof there are any wrongful ballots AND that they are numbers large enough to change the election. This is nonsense and histrionics and desperation to attempt to contaminate the ballots by some country clerk that is sympathetic.

Pat McCrory is promoting voter fraud at the county level.

November 18, 2016
By Colleen Jenkins

Winston-Salem (Reuters) - North Carolina's gubernatorial race (click here) was undecided 10 days after the Nov. 8 vote and new allegations by the Republican incumbent's campaign about felons and dead people casting ballots could leave the outcome in limbo for weeks.

Republican Governor Pat McCrory, trailing Democratic challenger Roy Cooper by about 6,300 votes according to the state elections website Friday afternoon, has not conceded. Under state law, Friday was the deadline for counties to certify their results.

But challenges over the validity of hundreds of votes and reviews of provisional ballots were expected to delay the reports from many, if not all, of the state's 100 counties, elections officials said.

The uncertainty has been punctuated this week by a war of words, with McCrory's campaign accusing Cooper of being lax on voter fraud and Cooper's campaign calling the incumbent dishonest and desperate....

A little discussed fact about a favorite holiday mixer.

November 20, 2016
By Imogen Blake

Ginger beer (click here) has undergone a major rebrand in the last few years as companies target the middle classes with artisan bottles that boast traditional recipes and botanical ingredients.

But despite its sophisticated image, a shocking new study has revealed that the fiery beverage contains more sugar than any other fizzy drink - even beating Coca-Cola, Daily Mail reports.

The average glass of ginger beer contains a whopping 38.5g of sugar - the equivalent of just over eight teaspoons - according to the research by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Open.
A glass of Coke, on the other hand, contains 35g - that's about seven teaspoons.
But ginger beer's cousin, ginger ale, was found to be the fizzy drink with the lowest amount of sugar on average....

Protect the entitlements now!

How many Americans knew there was an slight lifting of "The Cap?"

....The federal government (click here) has increased the Social Security cap significantly for 2017. The amount of workers’ earnings that is subject to Social Security taxes is capped each year (called maximum taxable earnings). In 2016, the maximum earnings subject to Social Security taxes was $118,500. In 2017, the cap will increase to $127,200, an increase of $8,700 or 7%. If your income exceeds that cap, you don’t pay Social Security tax on what you earn beyond the limit. The Social Security tax rate will remain unchanged at 6.2%....

...Increasing the Social Security cap helps, but it does not solve the impending Social Security shortfall. The tax cap would actually have to be eliminated entirely to close a significant percentage of the Social Security gap, according to calculations by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a think tank that publicizes Social Security and other federal budget issues....

The entitlements need to be protected and "The Cap" must be eliminated entirely. Raising the minimum wage also increases the monies flowing into the Social Security Trust Funds.

Social Security Benefits are decided upon an American's income. If the minimum wage continues to be far lower than it should, the working poor will continue their impoverishment, but, they are also looking at a retirement whereby they receive no relief from work or aging. The current generations not earning a good pay check are not going to do well in their senior years either.

Donald Trump demanding an apology from the cast of "Hamilton" is oppression of the First Amendment.

The Arts and Trump (click here) How ironic Donald Trump began his oppressive threats at "Hamilton" of all places. Amazing.

...As the play ended, (click here) the actor who played Aaron Burr, Brandon Victor Dixon, acknowledged that Mr. Pence was in the audience, thanked him for attending and added,

“We hope you will hear us out.”

“We, sir — we — are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights,” he said. “We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf all of us.”...

Brandon Victor Dixon in July. At the end of the show on Friday, he told Mr. Pence, “We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf all of us.”

Mr. Pence could not handle eye contact with someone who was expressing their First Amendment Right to the free and open dialogue of descent. He left the auditorium either out of shame or insecurity or fear of providing a political oppotunity of the people.

We all have been through this before and it will be terrible. From every aspect of the Trump presidency it will be terrible for many, many people. 

There are many cities in the USA that have tourist economies. If the arts are attacked there will be economies that will suffer and the overall GDP will be effected. The Arts are important and stand in their strength under the First Amendment of Freedom of expression. 

Enough.

Donald Trump is forgetting his roots in New York City and delivering oppression to the USA. If Americans descent they are reprimanded and in that reprimand is a threat to funding. 

Donald Trump will not play dictator in chief. He is not the boss, he is the president and he answers to US!

New York is not the only city in the USA that thrives on freedom of expression.

Donald Trump has a job to do, either he does it or not. He has already accumulated ethics issues with his settlement of Trump University.

Senator Sessions will be the next Attorney General. What needs to be understood is his loyality to his predecessors in that office.

Revenge is a common experience in the Republican Party, not necessarily in fighting, but, everytime some kind of nomination has to move through the US Senate there are always past defeats of the past mentioned. Robert Bork will live forever as the most avenged judicial candidate in history. That is part of their political strategy. Fear. Revenge as a political priority is to instill fear and over ride any legitimate objection to their power. There are plenty of people who have suffered because free speech was viewed as a weapon and not a right by Republicans. 

What needs to happen during the US Senate nomination process, this time, is to have US Senator Sessions accept and be loyal to the work of previous Attorney Generals.

November 18, 2016

By Mary Troyon and Brian Lyman

...But the road to Senate confirmation (click here) will be rough based on the reaction from Democrats and a whole host of civil rights organizations who fear Sessions’ views on immigration, civil rights and criminal justice – many of them dating back to his time before he was in the Senate – will move the Justice Department in a sharply conservative direction after eight years of President Obama.

Among the harshest critiques was from Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., who called Sessions “anti-immigrant and anti-civil rights.’’

“If you have nostalgia for the days when blacks kept quiet, gays were in the closet, immigrants were invisible and women stayed in the kitchen, Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions is your man,’’ Gutierrez said in a statement.

The most important reviews of Sessions’ record, however, will come from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who will decide whether to recommend him to the full Senate for confirmation. Senators traditionally show great deference to their colleagues when they are elevated to positions in the executive branch. And there were no signs Friday that any Senate Republican, even those who opposed Trump, had reservations about the appointment.

Sessions’ Democratic colleagues were signaling that his path to the Justice Department will not go unchallenged.

“Sen. Sessions has served on the Senate Judiciary Committee for many years so he’s well aware of the thorough vetting he’s about to receive,’’ said California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Judiciary’s ranking Democrat. “And while many of us have worked with Sen. Sessions closely and know him to be a staunch advocate for his beliefs, the process will remain the same: a fair and complete review of the nominee.’’

The confirmation hearings, which could start even before Trump is sworn in Jan. 20, are expected to relive a series of events more than three decades ago in Alabama that had a profound impact on his career....