Parties that normally would not see the light of day across the spectrum of politics are using the "Trump Muslim Hate Model" to gain acceptance.

That hate model does not necessarily hold up to the sunshine. Australia has had it's problems with terrorists no different than the USA. They are domestic and inspired. That fear of being hurt or killed brings different loyalties during elections. 

March 3, 2017

By John Hewson

When I first got involved in public policy (click here for audio) in the early 1970s I did so in the belief that good, evidence-based policy would be good politics and ensure good government with a relatively short lag.

Since then, the accelerating drift to short-term, populist, opportunistic politics has increasingly worked against serious policy development and good government. "Evidence" has been progressively replaced by misrepresentation, fear and prejudice....

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia got it right.

March 2, 2017
By Paul McGeough

Washington: Scandals are cruel. (click here for audio) Dogged by a trio of Russia-related rackets, Donald Trump learnt late on Wednesday local time that, inevitably, they control a president.

Last week the administration was in damage-control mode after disclosures that Trump's Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had been pressuring the FBI's two most senior leaders to "knock down" a report by The New York Times, which disclosed that communications intercepts had revealed an inordinate level of communication between the Trump campaign and people in Russia last year....

For USA allies negotiating environmental provisions with the USA, realize how one species impacts the entire carbon load of one USA national park.

Donald Trump's cabinet is disarming protections for the national parks. There are rare buffaloes heading to market. Everything has to have a profit. Open hunting on any creature is more than likely.

Tourism means nothing to him unless it accompanies a golf course.

It is impossible to build in Yellowstone, it is a caldera. It may as well be magnificent in it's own right.

The Russian Invasion needs an independent prosecutor. The US House is diverting the issue.

March 1, 2017
By Michael B. Marois

A congressional investigation of Russian interference (click here) in last year’s presidential election will also look at whether classified information gathered by U.S. spy agencies was leaked to the public.

The House Committee on Intelligence said Wednesday it would look at what Russian activities were directed against the U.S. during the election and whether anyone connected to the campaigns was involved. It would also examine if classified information about the intelligence community’s assessment of the hack was improperly disclosed....

They are separate issues that carry different degrees of brevity. The Russian Invasion needs to be handled by a special prosecutor and the US House can go forward with a domestic leak investigation. The very fact Sessions is involved and never disclosed the facts demands a special prosecutor.

When is the USA bringing Snowden home?

March 1, 2017
By Matthew Rosenberg, Adam Goldman and Michael S. Schmidt

Washington — In the Obama administration’s last days, (click here) some White House officials scrambled to spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election — and about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russians — across the government. Former American officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isn’t duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators.

American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials — and others close to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin — and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence.

Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trump associates....

President Obama did what, as the President of the United States, he was suppose to do; he investigated an attack on the USA.

There are no guarantees Trump will do the same thing. Trump has far different priorities and most likely will hobble any further investigation into Russia's interference with USA elections.

A special prosecutor is required!

Happy Birthday, Yellowstone.

On this day 145 years ago, the world’s first national park, Yellowstone National Park, was created. For anyone who has visited this incredible land of fire and ice and marveled at the amazing wildlife and unique geologic features, there’s little doubt why Yellowstone is considered one of our nation’s greatest treasures. Even if you weren’t one of its more than 4 million visitors last year, you can still discover fun facts about the park.

1. Half the world’s (click here) hydrothermal features are found at Yellowstone. Yellowstone National Park preserves more than 10,000 hydrothermal features -- an extraordinary collection of hot springs, mudpots, fumaroles, travertine terraces and -- of course -- geysers. Microorganisms called thermophiles -- meaning “heat loving” -- live in these features and give the park its brilliant colors....

Trump made teleprompters an icon to victory. Really?

His staff can't get him to be civilized unless Donnie takes his new favorite pet to the speech.

The Houthis are resorting to children for their reinforcements.

March 2, 2017

An estimated 1500 boys (click here) have been verified as child soldiers in Yemen, but the actual number of children who have been drawn into the war is probably far higher, a United Nations spokeswoman said yesterday.

Most of the boys were recruited by Houthi rebels over the past three years, spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said at a press briefing in Geneva.

Recruiters often entice the boys by promising them financial rewards or social status. "Many are then quickly sent to the front lines of the conflict or tasked with manning checkpoints," Shamdasani said.

All child soldiers in Yemen must be immediately released, the UN human rights office demanded.

Meanwhile, Yemen has food reserves for only two to four months, bringing it to the brink of famine as fighting escalates, a senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on his return from the country, which is on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula....

There is growing concern for the escalating famine in Yemen. Hungry children cannot be that difficult to defeat. Drop humanitarian aid from the sky and tell the children in pictures who is their friend. Given their age I doubt many can read.

27 February 2017

For almost two years, (click here) the United States has backed—with weapons, logistics and political support—a Saudi-led war in Yemen that has left over 10,000 dead, 40,000 wounded, 2.5 million internally displaced, 2.2 million children suffering from malnutrition and over 90 percent of civilians in need of humanitarian aid....

...This AP report (2/21/17) (Left) notes that “in Yemen’s conflict, nearly half a million children have ‘severe acute malnutrition’”–but it doesn’t mention the US government’s contribution to that conflict....

...A separate Guardian editorial (2/23/17), while briefly mentioning the war was“fueled in part by British and US bombs” in the text of the article, insisted in the headline the UK was “sitting by” as “disaster unfolded.” The UK is, of course, not “sitting by.” The British government has provided £3.3 billion in arms sales—as well as logistical support, surveillance assistance and political cover—to the Saudi regime primarily responsible for the disaster in question....

...Like the US, the UK has not been “sitting by” but actively contributing to famine in Yemen.

One notable exception was the New York Times (2/22/17), which expressly mentioned the US and Saudi role in the war in its report on the UN’s findings.

Over the past six months, the humanitarian crisis in Yemen—to say nothing of the US’s role in it—has been virtually nonexistent on cable and broadcast news. NBC News, Fox News and MSNBC have all neglected to cover the story. When it was covered on TV news, as with CNN (10/7/16) and ABC News(10/28/16) last October, the role of the United States in fueling the crisis was omitted altogether.

The US’s role in the war in Yemen is even more urgent of late, with President Donald Trump ramping up support for Saudi Arabia’s harsh tactics, including possibly cutting off access to the critical port of Hodeidah on Yemen’s west coast—an act that the Huffington Post (2/22/17) insists could “spark a full-blown famine in Yemen.”

A first step to putting political pressure on Trump to mitigate the suffering in Yemen is for the US public to speak out about their government’s role—a condition unlikely to be met if corporate media never bother to mention it.

1 March 2017

By Samuel Osborne

Children have died (click here) as a result of Saudi Arabia delaying aid for Yemen by months, a children's rights group have warned.

Save the Children said shipments of aid are being delayed for months, denying hundreds of thousands of people access to urgently-needed medical aid.

In the first two months of the year, the Saudi-led coalition has prevented three of the charity's shipments of medical supplies from landing at the country's main group of Hodeida, the group said, forcing them to be rerouted and delaying their arrival by up to three months.

The shipments were carrying enough aid to help around 300,000 people, including antibiotics, surgical equipment, medicine to treat diseases like malaria and cholera, and supplies to support malnourished children....

Where is the money going? All the monies from some time ago coming from Saudi Arabia is going into investments that will increase the financial relationship between the two countries, but, it does nothing for the people, yet alone ends any famine. These monies in the billions were given to Yemen in 2012. There has been nothing that came in the way of changes for the people.

Jeddah: Vice Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Prince Salman (click here) yesterday held talks with Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Basindawa at his office in Al-Salam Palace on major regional and international issues.
Prince Salman and Basindawa also reviewed bilateral relations and explored ways of strengthening cooperation between the two countries. Basindawa thanked Saudi Arabia for its support to Yemen in all areas. “The Yemeni government and people appreciate this continuous Saudi support,” the prime minister said.
Basindawa, who was in the Kingdom to attend a meeting of global donors in Riyadh, later flew back to Yemen.
The Riyadh meeting mobilized $ 6.4 billion aid for Yemen’s reconstruction.
Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf signed three agreements with Yemeni International Cooperation Minister Mohammed Al-Saadi detailing Saudi aid package, which includes a $ 1 billion deposit in Yemen’s Central Bank, a $ 1.75 billion grant, and $ 500 million to finance and guarantee Saudi exports to Yemen.

Throwing money into Yemen has never done anything to stabilize the country. Saudi Arabia tried and failed to elevate Yemen with such efforts. The people are never the focus and that leaves them in poverty and opens victimization by radical factions such as the Houthis.

Today, there is profound famine and child soldiers. This has to end otherwise the people will die in far larger numbers than they have already. There needs to be air drop shipments to the people. The ports won't be open because those in control are worried about arms shipments. 

Air drop the relief to the people and the children and provide information to them as to who is sending the aid and why. Ask them to end any aggression and allow the fighting to stop.

11 January 2017

By Ahmed al-Haj

Sanaa, Yemen: Yemeni security officials (click here)  say heavy fighting continues to rage near the strategic Red Sea strait of Bab Al-Mandab in western Yemen, leaving dozens dead and wounded.
The officials say that, since Monday, fighters aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi have been making advances and seizing more territory from Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition provided air cover for Hadi’s forces, they said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The war in Yemen is entering its second year after Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and forced Hadi to flee the country. The Saudi-led coalition has waged an extensive air campaign since March 2015 aimed at restoring Hadi’s government. The northern region remains under Houthi control.

Famine can certainly end a war. It just seems to me the war is already over and no one is realizing it.

Yemen security officials is an oxymoron.

February 27, 2017

By Amy O'Connor

Insurers have paid out (click here) more than $31.6 million on 2,801 claims from tornadoes that hit Mississippi last month.

The Mississippi Insurance Department reported the figures through Feb. 3. Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said immediately after the storms he expects insured damages could reach the $100 million mark, with $50 million in uninsured losses.

Chaney said on Feb. 22 MID is continuing to assist people in Lamar, Forrest, Perry and Lauderdale counties who were affected by one of the three tornadoes that struck the state on Jan. 21. The most powerful tornado, categorized as an EF-3, tore a 31-mile path across south Mississippi killing four people and destroying more than 1,100 homes, with the most significant damage in the towns of Hattiesburg and Petal.... 

The tornadoes also last longer. This is the May 7th tornado of 2016.

Ottawa, Illinois saw at least one death.

Tornadoes (click here) driven by warm spring-like conditions have killed at least three people and caused extensive damage across the US Midwestern states.

That is a very powerful tornado.

March 1, 2017
By Kelly P. Kissel

Tornadoes touched down (click here) in the upper Midwest and northern Arkansas, killing at least three people as the spring-like storm system rumbled eastward on Wednesday.

Compact but strong storms known as supercells raked parts of the central U.S. on Tuesday and Wednesday, causing damage from Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Meanwhile, wind-whipped wildfires destroyed homes in Texas....

There could be additional casualties with at least two other people in serious and critical condition. Amazingly, the residents of a nursing home with significant damage in Ottawa.

March 1, 2017
By Kevin Barlow

Hail the size of baseballs fell in Ottawa, Illinois

...A second line of severe thunderstorms (click here) swept quickly through Bloomington-Normal about 11 p.m. with heavy rain, winds of up to 50 mph and hail. Police were investigating initial reports of blown-over semitrailer trucks near Goodfield and north of the Twin Cities, but no other serious damage was reported from that wave....

The high school is being used as a place for the homeless to find shelter after the storm.

The weekend in Massachusetts proved to have a record setting storm. The earliest such a storm occurred in that state was March 1st. This time an EF 1 took down a barn, closed a church indefinitely and did significant damage throughout the area.

This is the way things are now. There is no tornado season when A SINGLE MONSTER of a tornado could be expected to touch down somewhere in tornado ally. Today, the tornadoes come in "outbreaks" and the single tornado is a rarity. 

February 27, 2017

The National Weather Service (click here) confirmed a tornado touched down in Massachusetts during Saturday's storm...

There is also no rhyme or reason to the "tornado season." It is not a dependable measure of the voracity of the storms. The storms are occurring frequently and now with this Ottawa tornado it is proof of a far stronger and dangerous troposphere.

February 27, 2017
By Sarah Scinto and Jon O'Connell

A resident wheelbarrows a load of tree branches from the Kielb Property Sunday

Pittston Twp. (Pennsylvania) — Guy Fasciana (click here) was cleaning his saltwater fish tank Saturday when the sky grew eerily dark.
His wife, Patti, was in the kitchen of their home off Chapel Road.
They had just been joking about severe weather alerts that lit up their cellphones. They doubted a tornado would ever pass so close to their home.
Then, the patio furniture slid from one side to the other as Patti Fasciana watched from her kitchen door. Something didn’t feel right.
They took refuge in their basement while a sudden, thumping wind howled above. Their stay below lasted only few minutes.
When it ended, Guy Fasciana emerged to survey the damage. He found utter destruction.
A tornado swept through Plains Township, Pittston Township and Moosic Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service said....

An overview from "The Weather Channel."

February 27, 2017
By Linda Lam
At least four tornadoes, (click here) one a February first on record in Massachusetts, tore through parts of the Northeast on February 25, 2017, also spawning damaging straight-line winds as far north as the Canadian border....

I didn't watch it and I won't. Trump is a farce and this is still more proof.

March 1, 2017
By James Fallows

...But because this was by Donald Trump, (click here) and because stylistically it was such a contrast to his other big-deal rhetorical presentations, it is in my view receiving a significant grading-on-the-curve benefit. For other presidents, sticking close to the pre-released text was a normal expectation. In Barack Obama’s case, it was the source of right-wing criticism that he was “slave to the teleprompter.” In Bill Clinton’s case, a prompter emergency gave rise to his policy-detail improvisation in a big speech on health-care policy in 1993. But before Trump, no one wondered or worried whether a president could stick to the text, or felt relief that he had....

No human being magically changes overnight as if a phoenix. The only way a person can change a perception is if they were first wrongly perceived. He was never wrongly perceived after he began his cabinet nominations. It was all too obvious.

The real Donald Trump finally stood up after the election, previous to the election he was a manipulated image to the American voter. Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannow created "Trump the candidate." Who he is as President is completely obvious and not at all resembling Trump the candidate.

I won't participate in the VALUE of his speeches since, they are not from the image he was when elected. He will always be a vicious power broker with a manipulated image as a populous candidate.

It was never a power grab.The rule is to protect the waters of Americans especially due to the Climate Crisis.

True to form extremists always are dysfunctional communicators taking everything to unbelievable heights that every person uneducated about such a measure as this will be screaming to stop and end the torture of businesses

That is an incredible drought map. See the heart over Oklahoma and Arkansas. 

That heart shaped area are the San Bois mountains (click here) and drainage has left it in drought.

Below is a map that illustrates the geological location of the San Bois mountains.


February 28, 2017
By Evan Halper

...The directive (click here) to undo the clean water initiative is expected to be closely followed by another aimed at unraveling the Obama administration’s ambitious plan to fight climate change by curbing power plant emissions.

“It is such a horrible, horrible rule,” Trump said as he signed the directive Tuesday aimed at the water rules. “It has such a nice name, but everything about it is bad.” He declared the rule, championed by environmental groups to give the EPA broad authority over nearly two-thirds of the water bodies in the nation, “one of the worst examples of federal regulation” and “a massive power grab.”

While the executive orders are a clear sign of the new administration’s distaste for some of the highest profile federal environmental rules, they also reflect the challenge it faces in erasing them. Both the climate and the clean water rules were enacted only after a long and tedious process of public hearings, scientific analysis and bureaucratic review. That entire process must be revisited before they can be weakened. It could take years....

For Earth to have achieved that drought map, it removed all the water vapor from the ITCZ, sent it to the north pole. Then the Arctic Vortex renewed with turbulence from the exchange of hot and cold water sent it back down to lower latitudes along with some sublimed ice. And then there were floods and floods and more floods. The ITCZ and the Arctic Circle is a very large volume of water vapor. Snow and rain and more snow and more rain and the USA has currently very little worry about drought; ie: California's high altitude Oroville Dam.

The "Waters of the United States" rule developed over decades is a fairly sophisticated rule. It acts to protect water that serves as potable water to the American people. One of the things we know about the Climate Crisis is there will be shifting water sources over time. When a river floods it doesn't simply go back into it's banks, it can erode the banks and change it's course. That is also true of small creeks, streams and headwaters. That is why watersheds are assessed for any problems.

This rule would allow the US EPA to enforce potable water without going through individual episodes of contaminated water sources due to flooding or drought. 

During times of drought, (click here) vegetation is visibly dry, stream and river flows decline, water levels in lakes and reservoirs fall, and the depth to water in wells increases. As drought persists, longer-term impacts can emerge, such as land subsidence, seawater intrusion, and damage to ecosystems. Unlike the immediate impacts of drought, however, long-term impacts can be harder to see, but more costly to manage in the future.

The rule empowers the people of the USA to maintain clean water supplies. That is what this rule was drafted for. If a water source develops contamination for one reason or another, the people can take action quickly to resolve the problems. It is a good thing, however, a President "Hubris" Trump is in the Oval Office so anything goes, including a valuable tool to protect citizens from the effects of the climate crisis. 

There are other ways of doing things. It will just take longer.

I am far more interested in the group, it's members, what was discussed and what was promised.

Ms Conway (click here) tries to capture the perfect photograph.

Ms. Conway is former campaign staff. This posture is not unusual for her. I am sure Mr. Trump's staff is far more informal in their demeanor as well.

Isn't that the Kennedy desk?

It looks like it to me.

On second thought, maybe not.

Please don't disgrace a Navy Seal by retreating into political antics. That is beneath this country's integrity.

February 28, 2017
By Matthew Rozsa

Less than a week (click here) after President Donald Trump’s raid on Yemen was denounced by the father of the SEAL who was killed in combat there, officials are reporting that it has not provided meaningful intelligence — which was initially cited as the reason why the raid had been a success.

Senior officials are saying that they don’t know of any so-called “actionable intelligence” gathered by the raid, according to NBC News. One senior congressional official with inside knowledge also told NBC News that he didn’t know why al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was even targeted by the SEAL raid, since he is unaware of any impending threat from that particular al-Qaeda chapter....

THAAD - Parking missile defense at the borders of Russia and China.

February 28, 2017

South Koreans (click here) have staged a protest against a land-swap deal which will see their country host the controversial US defense missile system THAAD. Some living near the host site have also filed a lawsuit against the Defense Ministry, according to attorneys.

Demonstrators holding signs and chanting slogans gathered in front of the Seoul headquarters of retail giant Lotte on Tuesday to protest its deal with the South Korean government....

General Mattis is expected to speak to Japan about THAAD as well. It should be obvious why North Korea is in such a hurry to arm itself.

IT SHOULD ALSO BE OBVIOUS WHY RUSSIA HAS SUCH A DESIRE TO BE COMFY WITH TRUMP!

It doesn't matter if Mattis is promoting THAAD, he is operating under his own steam. There is a good chance Trump may be disapproving Mattis activities. Trump can't complain about General Mattis priorities, he demanded Congress legislate his place in history.

February 3, 2017
By Bruce Harrison

The new U.S. secretary of defense, (click here) retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, arrived in South Korea Thursday where he recommitted Washington to deploying an advanced missile defense battery to the Korean Peninsula.

But amid South Korea’s fractured politics, it’s still very unclear if the deal brokered under the leadership of now-impeached President Park Geun-hye will hold up.

“Mattis sought to lock in the case, but he has little leverage over the political dynamics in Seoul,” said Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Mattis is the first member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to make an overseas visit. Key Asian ally South Korea is his first stop; Japan is next on the itinerary.

After campaign threats of possibly drawing down military support for South Korea, Trump may be trying to soothe hurt feelings by sending Mattis to Seoul. He may also be attacking an early challenge to his administration: North Korea....

The reporting by CNN is important and valued outside the USA as well.

February 27, 2017
By Rebecca Harrington

The formal independence of the Justice Department dates back to Watergate. (click here)

After President Richard Nixon resigned because of the scandal, President Jimmy Carter sought to give the Justice Department as much insulation from politics as possible, to keep investigations independent of meddling from the White House or Congress.

Other administrations have since strengthened this distinction, explicitly outlining what officials can and cannot do in Department of Justice memoranda.

But President Donald Trump's administration appears to have flouted this longstanding ethical protocol, experts and former FBI and Justice Department officials say, prompting new questions about the impartiality of the FBI's look into Trump and his associates' ties to Russia.

CNN reported Thursday that the FBI (which is housed within the DOJ) rejected a White House request to publicly shoot down a New York Times story reporting repeated communications between Russian operatives and the Trump campaign....

What would Bernard Shaw say about speaking to power?

By Gabriel Sherman

At his press conference last week, (click here) President-elect Trump refused to take a question from CNN reporter Jim Acosta, denouncing the network as a purveyor of “fake news.” Trump’s ire was in response to CNN’s explosive report that U.S. intelligence chiefs had briefed Trump on claims that the Kremlin had collected compromising information on him. In the wake of CNN’s report, BuzzFeed published the unedited, and unverified, opposition-research dossier referenced in the intel briefing, which included lurid allegations about Trump’s behavior and his campaign’s ties to Russia.

On Tuesday morning, I sat down with CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker for a wide-ranging discussion about that controversial scoop, Trump’s threat to press freedom, and why he’s not worried about losing access to the White House....

The protests should start now and continue through to the next election cycle. It worked when "W" wanted $2 trillion from Social Security.

February 28, 2017
By Noam N. Levey

Republicans came into office this year (click here) promising to rescue Americans from rising healthcare bills by repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.

But the party’s emerging healthcare proposals would shift even more costs to patients, feeding the very problem GOP politicians complained about under Obamacare....

...Meanwhile, other GOP plans to overhaul Medicare — which Ryan and Price have championed — would provide seniors with vouchers to shop for commercial health plans, an approach that independent analyses suggest could leave many patients paying more.

Those are politically risky ideas, said Robert Blendon, an authority on public attitudes about healthcare at Harvard University. “Skin in the game has been never popular,” he said. “It may be an economist’s dream. But it’s never been something people say they want.”

The GOP proposals — many bedrock conservative healthcare ideas — also could prove a major obstacle as Republicans labor to convince increasingly skeptical Americans that they have a better alternative to Obamacare....

"W"s announcement regarding his plans to take $2 trillion from Social Security was a disaster as well.

Social InSecurity; Bush 's $2 Trillion Boondoggle. (click here)

Republicans always covet other people's money. They do it when there are elections and take monies for buying elections and they attempt to remove monies in places the American people consider sacred. It never fails. They always tamper with success of large programs funded by the American people.

February 28, 2017

President Donald Trump held a meeting with executives (click here) to get them on board with Republican plans to dismantle the health law.

...CQ Roll Call: Trump To Health Insurers: We've Got A 'Great Plan' 

President Donald Trump told insurance executives Monday his plan to overhaul the health care system would be "a great plan for the patients, for the people, and hopefully for the companies." He shared no details about the proposal but said it will be “a very competitive plan” that reduces health care costs and improves access to care “very, very substantially." "I think people are going to like it a lot," the president said, according to a pool report. Participants included top executives from major insurers, including UnitedHealth Group, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Anthem, Kaiser Permanente and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, as well as several smaller plans, including Florida Blue, Independence Blue Cross, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. Matt Eyles, an executive vice president at the insurance company's lobbying arm America's Health Insurance Plans, also attended. (Mershon, 2/27)....

Florida and North Carolina do not have the Medicare Expansion and people have died because of it.

I don't know if Trump is baiting the companies to take over the reform effort so it works or holding them hostage.

Will the NYTimes, LA Times  and Time magazine kindly ask the CEOs in the room what insight they can provide and what they object to about the Affordable Care Act. Then be sure to ask if a Public Option would have made a difference in the rollout in 2014?

February 28, 2017
By Sarah Varney

Princeton, Ill — Commuting past the barren winter fields in northern Illinois, (click here) Cathie Chapman worries about the future.

More than a year ago, she lost her job at a nearby rural hospital after it closed and, as Republicans work to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, wonders whether she’ll soon be out of work again.

“Many of my friends did not find jobs they love,” she said. “They’re working for less money or only part time. Some haven’t found any jobs yet, even after a year.”

Now she runs the pharmacy at Perry Memorial Hospital here, warily watching the Republicans’ repeal efforts.

“I think everybody who works in health care now feels a little uneasy,” said Chapman. “We don’t know what’s coming around the corner, and how it will affect us. But we know that change is happening so fast, it is exhausting and difficult to keep up with.”

Rural hospitals have long struggled to stay open. They have far fewer patients and thin profit margins. Dozens have closed across the country in recent years, mostly in states that didn’t expand Medicaid....

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Kasich is not president, but, his statements are a clear understanding of his citizens, their needs and the best approach to protect their health.

As Governor Chris Christie has stated, "...this administration has no experience in government..." That statement was a bit pandering for sympathy for the Trump administration. I am sorry, Governor Christie, but Americans don't have time for the Trump administration to 'get up to speed' to protect their health. The ethical issues and the speed this administration is racking them up should be a very clear warning sign to Americans.

They were living the dream.

February 27, 2017
By the Editorial Board

“I have a question (click here) in my mind,” Sunayana Dumala said after her husband, an Indian engineer, was shot dead last week in a Kansas bar. “Do we belong?”

There is no satisfying response to her concern, which is widely shared. The gunman reportedly yelled “get out of my country” before killing Ms. Dumala’s husband, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, as he was having a glass of whiskey after work with a friend, who was wounded.

President Trump and his administration have not only tried to keep many immigrants and foreign visitors out of the country, they have done so by casting them as criminals, potential terrorists and trespassers, out to steal the jobs and threaten the lives of Americans.

Ms. Dumala and millions of other members of minorities are integral to the United States, which is almost entirely made up of immigrants and their descendants. But this history might not comfort marginalized groups who hear the administration’s words and see what is happening in this country and wonder if it is safe to stay here, or come here....

25 February 2017
By Rajini Vaidyanathan

Sunayana Dumala last saw her husband when he left for work on Wednesday morning

The widow of an Indian man (click here) killed in a suspected race crime in the US has said her husband "loved America" and came to the country "full of dreams".

Sunayana Dumala, who flew to India after the shooting to be with her husband's family, told the BBC she was "devastated" by his death.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot dead in a bar in Olathe, Kansas. His friend Alok Madasani and an American were injured.

Adam Purinton, 51, has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder.

Ms Dumala said that she had grown anxious about racial hatred after the election of Donald Trump, but she said her husband was "dedicated" to their life in the US and to his job as an engineer.

"Just last week we drove to Iowa to see our friends and their new baby," she said. "When we came back, he was working in the car while I was driving. That's how much he loved working... He personally wanted to do so much for this country."...

The Trump Administration cannot continue to exist within their own dreamscape.

...The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, initially dismissed as “absurd” any link between it and Mr. Trump’s rhetoric, but on Monday called the anti-Semitic attacks and the Kansas shooting “equally disturbing.” Each act of hate is easily explained away as the work of a disturbed person. Yet, had these attacks been perpetrated by a Muslim or an undocumented immigrant, the president would surely have claimed that he was right all along....